Back Mountain, Pennsylvania
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Back Mountain is a census-designated place (CDP) in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is near the cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The population was 26,690 at the 2000 census. The name, "Back Mountain" refers to the CDP's location directly behind the Endless Mountains and it is also a general term for the area covered by the towns of Lehman, Harveys Lake, Dallas, a part of Wyoming, West Wyoming, Trucksville and Shavertown (Trucksville and Shavertown both belong to Kingston Township). Each township or borough in the CDP is independently governed.
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[edit] Geography
Back Mountain is located at (41.320230, -75.972645)[1].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 109.2 square miles (282.8 km²), of which, 107.0 square miles (277.0 km²) of it is land and 2.2 square miles (5.8 km²) of it (2.05%) is water.
It is located directly behind the Endless Mountains of Tunkhannock, PA.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 26,690 people, 9,267 households, and 6,894 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 249.5 people per square mile (96.3/km²). There were 9,997 housing units at an average density of 93.5/sq mi (36.1/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.45% White, 4.30% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.
There were 9,267 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.1% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $49,298, and the median income for a family was $57,342. Males had a median income of $39,566 versus $27,202 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,105. About 4.8% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Famous residents
- Hugo Selenski, now acquitted of murdering Back Mountain residents but imprisoned for "abusing corpses", he made national headlines by escaping a Wilkes-Barre prison and later turning himself in at his Wyoming home on Mount Olivet Drive. Selenski is currently charged with two further homicides.
- Mitchell Jenkins, Former U.S. Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania who lived in Shavertown toward the end of life
- T.C. Harding, first assistant director of the 2005 short U.S. comedy film, "One More Beer"
- Benjamin Harvey, Harveys Lake founder who was famous member of the colonial-era Sons of Liberty, the group that defeated Great Britain's Stamp Act.
- William Conyngham, founder of Trucksville's famous Hillside Farms dairy store, which is planned to grow into a U.S. historical site akin to Williamsburg, VA.
- Raw Meat, world renowned Grateful Dead expert, chemist, shaman, spiritual leader, truth seeker, fire fighter, expert marksman and trained knife fighter.
- Jay McCarroll, winning designer of Season 1 of Project Runway grew up in Lehman and attended Lake Lehman High School.
[edit] Attractions
- Big Ten Subs and Pizza, A rustic, hand hewn Log Cabin restaurant in the Lehman area of the Back Mountain on Route 118 west. Carl Kern and family constructed the log structure by hand in 2000 using logs that were sawed, planed and grooved by the Kern family. This unique eatery features Wood-Fired pizza and contemporary pizza and an assorted menu of Subs, Wings, Appetizers as well as delicious Penn State ice cream. Legal beverages are served as well.
- The Lands at Hillside Farms, a small 18th-century style popular Trucksville dairy store, famous for its ice cream styles & originally fresh milk which comes via an adjacent farm of cows. The store and farm are planned to be expanded into a major facility that surrounds a highly anticipated historical site the likes of Williamsburg, Virginia.
- Twin Stacks Professional Complex, a Dallas wifi hotspot and industrial hoopla of various businesses, among them a famous, urbanized restaurant
- Harveys Lake Circle, the road that encricles Harveys Lake is famous for featuring fine-dining restaurants, various lake-associated activities, etc.
- Hayfield Farms, a Penn State-provided public recreational area for bike-riding, rock climbing, soccer, etc. with a special tour of a campus building preserved for hundreds of years, all in Lehman at the PSU:W-B campus
- Huntsville Golf Club/ Dam/ Cemetery/Christian Church, an inner-community of Dallas with a highly-acclaimed golf course named the second best non-private U.S. golf course in 1995's Golf Digest, a beautiful reseirvoir a non-denominational church with tons of features, and a historically informative cemetery
- Woodridge Development, a Shavertown development of large, beautiful, expensive, spacious homes owned by wealthy doctors, lawyers, etc.
- The Rock Recreation Center, a large rec. center, that belongs to the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly in Trucksville, featuring basketball, free weights, a cardio room, physical education, volleyball, racquetball, summer camps, and much more
- Major Performing Arts Center, a Trucksville acting school, ran by 1984 Ms. Pennsylvania Gina Major, of an ensemble of kids (from Pre-k to teenagers) composed of actors and dancers that put on shows for the area, all duplicated from Broadway or other major theatrical industries
[edit] Colleges & Universities
- Pennsylvania State University: Wilkes-Barre Campus in Lehman
- Misericordia University in Dallas
[edit] References
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Back Mountain, Pennsylvania is at coordinates Coordinates:
