Independence Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania

Independence Township
Township
Entrance to Independence Cemetery
Location of Independence Township in Washington County
Location of Washington County in Pennsylvania
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Washington County
Area
• Total	25.8 sq mi (67 km2)
Population (2000)
• Total	1,676
• Density	65/sq mi (25/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	724

Independence Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,676 at the 2000 census.

History

Independence Township was originally a part of Hopewell Township for the first almost seventy-five years from the formation of Hopewell in 1781. A petition was presented to the Court of Quarter Sessions in November 1854, requesting a division of the Hopewell Township. "The court appointed as viewers Lysander Patterson, John Cole, Esq., and William Gillespie. The matter was continued from term to term until February sessions of 1856, when the court ordered the division and the erection of a new township, to be called Independence, elections to be held at the house of William White. in the village of Independence."^[1]

The Isaac Manchester House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.^[2]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 25.8 square miles (67 km²), of which, 25.8 square miles (67 km²) of it is land and 0.04% is water. Independence is one of the townships lying on the western border of Washington County. Its northern boundary is the stream Cross Creek, which separates it from the townships of Cross Creek and Jefferson. On the east it is bounded by Hopewell Township; on the south by Donegal, from which it is separated by Buffalo Creek. Its western boundary is the State of West Virginia. The two creeks above mentioned (Cross and Buffalo), forming respectively the north and south boundaries of Independence, are the only streams of any size or importance belonging to the township.^[3]

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 1,676 people, 646 households, and 494 families residing in the township. The population density was 65.1 people per square mile (25.1/km²). There were 697 housing units at an average density of 27.1/sq mi (10.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.57% White, 0.30% African American, 0.30% Native American, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.18% of the population.

There were 646 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 107.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.0 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $34,539, and the median income for a family was $40,865. Males had a median income of $31,932 versus $23,207 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,355. About 7.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Independence Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

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Municipalities and communities of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States County seat: Washington Cities Monongahela Washington Boroughs Allenport Beallsville Bentleyville Burgettstown California Canonsburg Centerville Charleroi Claysville Coal Center Cokeburg Deemston Donora Dunlevy East Washington Elco Ellsworth Finleyville Green Hills Houston Long Branch Marianna McDonald‡ Midway New Eagle North Charleroi Roscoe Speers Stockdale Twilight West Brownsville West Middletown Townships Amwell Blaine Buffalo Canton Carroll Cecil Chartiers Cross Creek Donegal East Bethlehem East Finley Fallowfield Hanover Hopewell Independence Jefferson Morris Mount Pleasant North Bethlehem North Franklin North Strabane Nottingham Peters Robinson Smith Somerset South Franklin South Strabane Union West Bethlehem West Finley West Pike Run CDPs Aaronsburg Atlasburg Avella Baidland Bulger Cecil-Bishop Cross Creek Eighty Four Elrama Fredericktown Gastonville Hendersonville Hickory Joffre Langeloth Lawrence McGovern McMurray Meadowlands Millsboro Muse Paris Slovan Southview Taylorstown Thompsonville Van Voorhis West Alexander Westland Wickerham Manor-Fisher Wolfdale Wylandville Unincorporated communities Amity Blainsburg Condit Crossing Cool Valley Courtney Cracker Jack Fallowfield Florence Gambles Glyde Good Intent Hazel Kirk Laboratory Log Pile Manifold McAdams North Fredericktown Old Concord P and W Patch Prosperity Raccoon Richeyville Scenery Hill Studa Venetia Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Coordinates: 40°14′2″N 80°28′58″W / 40.23389°N 80.48278°W / 40.23389; -80.48278