Albion, Pennsylvania

Albion, Pennsylvania
Borough
Store in Albion
Nickname(s): "The most northwestern borough in Pennsylvania"
Location in Erie County and the state of Pennsylvania.
Coordinates: 41°53′28″N 80°21′42″W / 41.89111°N 80.36167°W / 41.89111; -80.36167Coordinates: 41°53′28″N 80°21′42″W / 41.89111°N 80.36167°W / 41.89111; -80.36167
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Erie
Government
• Mayor	Jeanne Bright
Area
• Total	1.3 sq mi (3 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,516
• Density	1,200/sq mi (450/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-5)
Zip code	16401
Area code(s)	814

Albion is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,516 at the 2010 census. A neighboring, larger town which many Albionites may associate with is Edinboro, and the much larger but more distant city of Erie. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area. One of their main industries is the Albion State Correctional Institute (SCI Albion).^[1] The bordering borough of Cranesville, has a little over a third the population of Albion (638 at the 2010 census)^[2][3]

The town was ravaged by a F4 tornado that was part of the 1985 United States-Canadian tornado outbreak on May 31, 1985.^[4]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which 1.28 square miles (3.3 km²) is land and 0.95% (0.02 sq miles) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2010, there were 1,616 people, 701 households, and 425 families residing in the borough. By 2020 the population is predicted to be around 1,700 people. The population density was 1,510.7 people per square mile (585.3/km²). There were 695 housing units at an average density of 653.4 per square mile (253.2/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.38% White, 0.50% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 655 households, out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 28.6% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $33,007, and the median income for a family was $40,650. Males had a median income of $31,620 versus $21,157 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $15,361. About 10.6% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.

Albion Presbyterian Church from a pre 1923 postcard

Education

The Borough of Albion is part of the Northwestern School District. Albion has three schools in total. There is the Northwestern Elementary School, The Northwestern Middle School, and the Northwestern High School. The team mascot for all three schools is the Northwestern Wildcat, "Willie".

Sports

The Northwestern School District has teams for baseball, softball, volleyball, track and field, cross country, basketball, wrestling and football. The Northwestern Wildcats football teams play their home games at Rogers Field, which is located beside the high school. Youth sports in Albion include Northwestern Little League (baseball and softball) and Northwest Little Gridders Football.

Nicknames

Albion is "the most northwestern borough in Pennsylvania" and is home to "the most northwestern high school in Pennsylvania", which is fitting due to the fact that their high school is called Northwestern.

Albion contains Conneaut Creek and two of its tributaries. Therefore, anglers sometimes refer to Albion as "The countries best trout fishery", due to Conneaut Creek being called that.

Transportation

U.S. Route 6N and State Route 18 pass through Albion.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad passes through Albion on its way to the P & C Dock Company in Conneaut, Ohio.

Notable people

• David Lohr (born 1974), crime journalist for Discovery Communications, truTV and AOL.^[9]

• Matthew Gillette (born 1972), former Canadian Football League player and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania football coach. Gillette was a two-time All-State lineman for Northwestern High school. He then went on to play college football for four years at Eastern Michigan University. Later on, he became the lineman coach for EUP.

• Ken Raymond (born 1969), award-winning book editor, senior writer and columnist for The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City. Raymond was a Fulbright scholar to Iceland and an educator in Texas, Pennsylvania and the Dominican Republic.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albion, Pennsylvania.

Municipalities and communities of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States County seat: Erie Cities Corry Erie Boroughs Albion Cranesville Edinboro Elgin Girard Lake City McKean Mill Village North East Platea Union City Waterford Wattsburg Wesleyville Townships Amity Concord Conneaut Elk Creek Fairview Franklin Girard Greene Greenfield Harborcreek Lawrence Park LeBoeuf McKean Millcreek North East Springfield Summit Union Venango Washington Waterford Wayne CDPs Avonia Fairview Lawrence Park Northwest Harborcreek Penn State Erie (Behrend) Unincorporated community State Line Sterrettania