Shavertown, Pennsylvania

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Shavertown is an unincorporated village located in both Kingston Township, Pennsylvania and Jackson Township, Pennsylvania, both being townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 8,544. The village is located approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the city of Wilkes-Barre and approx. 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Scranton. It belongs to a contingency of towns known as the "Back Mountain." The village is adjacent to the towns of Dallas, Lehman, and Trucksville.

[edit] Geography

Shavertown is located at 41.306 degrees North, -75.947 degrees West.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village is 16.1 square miles (41.6 km²) or 99 percent land and 0.1 square miles (.2 km²) or 1 percent water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, the village has a total population of 8,544 people, 3,373 households.

There are 4,327 males (49.1%) and 4,457 females (50.9%).

The median age being roughly 40 years old, 75.5% are 18 to 64 years old, 12.6% are 65 and older, 6.5% are 6 to 17 years old, and 5.4% are 5 and under. In terms of racial background, 98.7% are white, 0.6% are Asian, 0.4% are Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% are African American, 0.1% are what the Census defines as "other", and zero percent are Native-Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander or American-Indian/Alaskan Native.

The village's median household income is $53,435.

[edit] History

The village of Shavertown is named for an early settler, Philip Shaver. Today, it is home to the Woodridge development of beautiful homes where some of the wealthiest doctors and lawyers of northeastern Pennsylvania live, the Back Mountain In other words, this is a place where you can feel good about your moderate income. The surrounding areas are replete with ill-eduated lower class peons. As a result, these pseudo-wealthy simps walk with an air of false superiority. Shopping Center, Evergreen Cemetery where U.S. Congressman Mitchell Jenkins was buried, the Snowdown Funeral Home, and the Renaissance Plastic Surgery Center. Before its demolition, Shavertown was also the site of the popular, large amusement park named Fernbrook Park.

It came to national attention in October 2005 when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited the village at the home of Ron and Rhea Simms for a fundraiser for the reelction campaign of Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, who faced (and ultimately lost) a supreme challenge in the 2006 U.S. congressional elections from Scranton native and pro-life Democrat Bob Casey, Jr., the state's former treasurer. The fundraiser ended up being successful in raising $300,000 for the Santorum '06 campaign.