Indiana, Pennsylvania

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Indiana is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States, part of the Pittsburgh DMA. The population was 14,895 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Indiana County.^GR6

For decades the major industry of the town was coal mining, but as mines closed throughout the latter half of the twentieth century the area has had ongoing economic difficulty. Natural gas surveying and production have picked up some of the slack, and Indiana serves as the home of the largest privately owned drilling company in the United States, S.W. Jack Drilling Company. It also counts a number of other production and service firms as members of the community, as well as three publicly traded companies: S&T Bancorp, Inc., First Commonwealth Financial Corp., and Superior Well Services Inc. - unique considering the size of the community.

The borough and the region as a whole promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World," as at one time the area cultivated the largest number of Christmas trees known to man. While this is no longer the case, there are still a large number of Christmas tree farms in the area. The largest employer in the borough today is the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the largest of 14 state universities in Pennsylvania.

Indiana was the birthplace and hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart, who was born there and lived at 104 North 7th Street. Despite leaving the area upon graduating high school, the town took an almost sycophantic approach to Stewart, with the local newspaper periodically publishing rumors in his later years that Stewart planned to return there to live. On May 20, 1983, Stewart was given a 75th birthday celebration by the town, after which he never made another public appearance in the area. Before Stewart's death, a museum to his memory was fabricated from part of the local public library, and a bronze statue of Stewart was erected in his honor at the county courthouse during his 75th birthday. The town annually holds a Jimmy Stewart film festival as part of the town's "It's A Wonderful Life" holiday celebration.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 Environment
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Indiana, Pennsylvania is located at 40°37′16″N, 79°9′18″W (40.621084, -79.154903)^GR1. The borough is an independent municipality surrounded by White Township. For some time in the 1990s there was discussion of merging the borough and township, but the matter was never acted upon.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 4.6 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 14,895 people, 4,804 households, and 1,666 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,267.6/km² (8,440.0/mi²). There were 5,096 housing units at an average density of 1,117.9/km² (2,887.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 91.51% White, 5.19% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.89% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.

There were 4,804 households out of which 14.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.5% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 65.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the borough the population was spread out with 8.2% under the age of 18, 59.4% from 18 to 24, 13.7% from 25 to 44, 10.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $21,279, and the median income for a family was $47,192. Males had a median income of $26,506 versus $22,471 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $12,317. About 11.2% of families and 44.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

Indiana University of Pennsylvania(or IUP) is a public university founded in 1875. At present, it is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. It offers over 100 undergraduate majors and is the only doctoral degree-granting institution in the system.

For public K-12 education, the Indiana Area School[1] district support four neighborhood elementary schools, a middle school and high school, which are accredited and recognized for quality. A Catholic affiliated Pre-K through grade 6 program is offered at the St. Bernard School[2].

Early care and education programs for pre-k children abound. The non-profit IndiKids[3] or (Indiana County Child Day Care Centers) offers NAEYC-accredited care for children of students and community members on the campus of IUP and throughout the community.

[edit] Environment

Indiana County is known for the Homer City Generating Station, owned by Edison International, and the Conemaugh Generating Station near New Florence, PA and the Keystone Power Plant in Shelocta, PA, both of which are owned by Reliant Energy. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reports that the Keystone plant is the #4 emitter of mercury in the United States, while the Homer City plant has placed controls on one stack to reduce emissions from almost 3,000 pounds annually to approximately 1/5 that. Keystone and Homer City are the third and fourth top power plant emitters of sulfur dioxide in the country according to the EPA's Emission Tracking System, and Keystone was the top emitter of mercury in 2001.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports the Homer City plant as being the #2 overall polluter within the state of Pennsylvania. Within Indiana proper, the S.W. Jack Cogeneration Plant repeatedly violated federal and state emissions for nitrous oxides, starting with the commencement of operations in 1988. Additional problems with connecting rods within the engines led the owner, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, to file suit with the manufacturer, Cooper Industries, who eventually paid $1.5 million. Based on EPA data, PlanetHazard reports the cogen facility produces 430 tons of carbon monoxide, and over 200 tons of nitrous oxides annually, making the State System of Higher Education the fourth largest polluter in Indiana County, and the largest in the borough of Indiana.