| Forty Fort, Pennsylvania | |
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| — Borough — | |
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Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Luzerne |
| Settled | 1778 |
| Incorporated | 1887 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough Council |
| • Mayor | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.5 sq mi (3.9 km2) |
| • Land | 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 4,579 |
| • Density | 3,418.3/sq mi (1,319.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Zip code | 18704 |
| Area code(s) | 570 |
Forty Fort is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,579 at the 2000 census. It neighbors the boroughs of Kingston, Wyoming, and Swoyersville. The Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport and the Susquehanna River dike are both located in the borough.
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Forty Fort was named for a Revolutionary War era fort that the town's original settlers built; there were forty of these settlers from Connecticut, so the town was later named Forty Fort. Forty Fort was prominent in the Pennamite-Yankee War and in the American Revolution. In the vicinity of this fort occurred, in 1778, the Battle of Wyoming. [1] [2]
Forty Fort is home to perhaps the oldest building known in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Forty Fort Meetinghouse, located in the borough's cemetery. The meeting house was built in 1806-08. In late October, 2005, Forty Fort's Wyoming Seminary Lower School launched a successful attempt to save the building from damage and preserve it as a recollection of past historic memories of Forty Fort. Forty Fort also hosts the historical Nathan Denison house. Denison served as colonel of the militia for the area during the American Revolution.
Forty Fort has a strong council/weak mayor form of government. Boyd Hoats Jr. is the current Mayor. The current Mayor's father, Boyd Hoats, Sr. died in 2005 after a courageous battle with cancer. His son was appointed by the Borough Council to fill the remainder of his father's term and was he later elected on his own to his current term.
Forty Fort has a proud sporting history including the Forty Fort Flyers double overtime championship game against the West Pittston Rams in 1980.
Three schools are located in Forty Fort:
Forty Fort is located at .[3]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), of which, 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it (12.99%) is water.
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 4,579 people, 1,989 households, and 1,261 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,418.3 people per square mile (1,319.4/km²). There were 2,098 housing units at an average density of 1,566.2 per square mile (604.5/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.47% White, 0.50% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.52% of the population.
There were 1,989 households out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% 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 2.94.
In the borough the population was spread out with 20.5% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $40,306, and the median income for a family was $50,667. Males had a median income of $36,696 versus $29,199 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $20,558. About 5.4% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.