Sharon, Pennsylvania

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Coordinates: 41°13′48″N 80°29′56″W / 41.23, -80.49889
Sharon
City
Nickname: The Friendly City
Country Flag of the United States United States
State Flag of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
County Mercer
Elevation 1,000 ft (305 m)
Coordinates 41°13′48″N 80°29′56″W / 41.23, -80.49889
Area 3.8 sq mi (10 km²)
Population 16,328 (2000)
Density 4,342.6 /sq mi (1,677 /km²)
Established 1795
 - Incorporated (borough) 1841-10-06
 - Incorporated (city) 1917-12-17
Mayor Robert J. Lucas
Timezone EST (UTC-4)
 - summer (DST) EDT (UTC-5)
Zip code 16146
Area code 724
School district Sharon City School District
Location of Sharon in Mercer County
Location of Sharon in Mercer County
Location of Sharon within Pennsylvania
Location of Sharon within Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Website: www.cityofsharon.net

Sharon is a city in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in the United States, 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Pittsburgh.

Sharon was settled in 1795, incorporated as a borough on October 6, 1841, and incorporated as a city on December 17, 1918. The city currently operates under the PA third-class city charter with a mayor-council form of government; however, it is transitioning to a home-rule charter which will take effect in 2010.

Contents

[edit] History

The founding families of Sharon first settled on the flat plain bordering the Shenango River (this area is situated between two hills and is the current location of Sharon's downtown and the North and South flats business districts). According to local legend, the community probably received its name from a Bible-reading settler who likened the location to the Plain of Sharon in Israel.

Due to its large coal deposits, Sharon was once an industrial center, with rolling mills, boiler and machine shops, furnaces, flour mills, ordnance works, and manufactories of explosives, nails, horse collars, spokes, chains, stoves, and lumber products. Today, there is still some steel and metalworking as well as other manufacturing, but the city has experienced levels of deindustrialization; despite the reclamation of several industrial sites and investments from manufacturing businesses, most of the city's job growth today is in the service sector.

[edit] Geography

Sharon is located at 41°13′48″N, 80°29′56″W (41.230106, -80.498960)[1] in southwest Mercer County, the city borders the city of Hermitage to the north and east, the city of Farrell to the south, and on the west the census-designated places of Masury and West Hill, Ohio.

It is a common misconception that the northern edge of Sharon borders the borough of Sharpsville; however, a thin strip of Hermitage prevents this.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.7 km²), all of it land. However, the Shenango River runs through the city and provides drinking water to Sharon and several surrounding communities.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 16,328 people, 6,792 households, and 4,190 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,342.6 people per square mile (1,676.7/km²). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 1,964.9/sq mi (758.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.44% White, 10.85% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 2.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.

From the Census Ancestry Question, Sharon has the following ethnic make-up: German 21%, Irish 14%, Italian 11%, Black or African American 11%, English 8%, Polish 5%, Slovak 5%, Welsh - 3%, Scotch-Irish 2%, Hungarian 2%, Dutch 2%, French (except Basque) 2%, Croatian 1%, Scottish 1%, Russian 1%, Swedish 1%, Arab 1%, Slavic 1%, American Indian tribes, specified 1%.

There were 6,791 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was distributed with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,945, and the median income for a family was $34,581. Males had a median income of $30,072 versus $20,988 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,913. About 14.0% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Census Figures

Postcard of Sharon
Postcard of Sharon

In 1900, the population was 8,916 persons; in 1910, 15,270 persons; in 1920, 21,747 persons; and 25,622 people lived in Sharon in 1940. The population was 16,328 at the 2000 census.Sharon, along with Mercer County, is counted by the US Census Bureau as part of the Youngstown-Warren, OH Metropolitan Area.

[edit] Education

The Sharon City School District comprises three K-6 elementary schools (Case Avenue, C.M. Musser, and West Hill) and the 7-12 Sharon Middle/High School. The city is also home to St. Joseph's Parish School, a K-8 school affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, and Shenango Valley Faith Academy, a nondenominational Christian school with heavy emphasis on individualized education.

Postsecondary education and training opportunities can be pursued at Sharon's Penn State Shenango campus (the only urban campus in the Penn State system), Laurel Technical Institute, and the Schools of Nursing and Radiography at Sharon Regional Health System. Additionally, a branch campus of Meadville-based Precision Manufacturing Institute is being constructed in the city and will begin offering classes in 2008.

[edit] Local Businesses

The following is a list of notable businesses that are currently based in Sharon:

[edit] Local Personalities

Notable native Sharonites include:

[edit] Broadcast Media

Because of Sharon's location on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, it is served by NBC affiliate WFMJ, CBS affiliate WKBN-TV, FOX affiliate WYFX-LP, and ABC affiliate WYTV, all broadcast from nearby Youngstown.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The 1988 movie Tiger Warsaw, starring Patrick Swayze, was filmed in Sharon. The film, directed by Pakistani filmmaker Amin Chaudhri (who started a studio in the Sharon area), made extensive usage of the town's post-industrial backdrop.

Although located in Pennsylvania, Sharon is the site of the Brookfield Elementary School, a public elementary school serving residents of the adjacent Brookfield (Ohio) Local School District. This anomaly occurred when the Ohio school district purchased the closed Sacred Heart School, located on Sharon's West Hill. Because the school site borders Ohio, there was consideration of actually changing the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line to move the school into Ohio (or vice-versa), but the legal difficulties of the Ohio district operating a school in Pennsylvania were resolved without re-drawing the state line.

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links

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Municipalities and communities of
Mercer County, Pennsylvania
County seat: Mercer
Cities

Farrell | Hermitage | Sharon
Boroughs
Townships
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