Port Royal, Pennsylvania

Port Royal, Pennsylvania
Borough
Houses on Main Street
Location of Port Royal in Juniata County, Pennsylvania.
Port Royal, Pennsylvania Location of Port Royal in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°32′0″N 77°23′15″W / 40.53333°N 77.38750°W / 40.53333; -77.38750Coordinates: 40°32′0″N 77°23′15″W / 40.53333°N 77.38750°W / 40.53333; -77.38750
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Juniata
Settled	1812
Incorporated	1843
Area[1]
• Total	0.60 sq mi (1.56 km2)
• Land	0.60 sq mi (1.56 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	472 ft (144 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	925
• Estimate (2016)[2]	924
• Density	1,534.88/sq mi (592.63/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code	17082
Area code(s)	717 Exchange: 527
FIPS code	42-62304

Port Royal is a borough in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 925 at the 2010 census.

History

Port Royal used to be named Perrysville, after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. At the time, the Port Royal post office was located in Saint Tammany town, just across the Tuscarora Creek. However, the Pennsylvania Railroad brought increased traffic through the area and prompted a move of the Port Royal post office into Perrysville in 1847. In 1874, the borough took on the name itself and Saint Tammany became known as Old Port.

Port Royal (and Perrysville before it) once was a stop on the old main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Port Royal was, in fact, one of the first towns to be linked to the Pennsylvania Railroad system, as it lay along the Lewistown-to-Harrisburg stretch of the railroad—the first leg constructed after the new railroad was chartered. The old Pennsylvania Railroad station no longer exists. Port Royal was also the northern terminus of the Tuscarora Valley Railroad, a narrow-gauge railroad serving southern Juniata and northern Franklin counties. The railroad was decommissioned in the 1930s.

From the PRR station during the Gettysburg Campaign of the Civil War, Union scout Stephen W. Pomeroy telegraphed the vital news to Governor Andrew Curtin that Robert E. Lee was concentrating the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg. This was how state officials came to know of this vital intelligence, which Pomeroy had carried for nearly sixty miles from near Lee's headquarters in Chambersburg. He had sewn the message into his belt strap of his pants.

Geography

Port Royal is located at 40°32′0″N 77°23′15″W / 40.53333°N 77.38750°W / 40.53333; -77.38750 (40.533257, -77.387619).^[3]

Port Royal is located 40 miles northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), of which, 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (4.35%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 977 people, 398 households, and 278 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,471.9 people per square mile (571.5/km²). There were 434 housing units at an average density of 653.9 per square mile (253.9/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.70% White, 1.33% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 1.54% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.89% of the population.

There were 398 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% 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 2.92.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $34,514, and the median income for a family was $39,479. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $22,841 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,212. About 8.2% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Juniata County Fair

The first fair was held in Port Royal in 1852 and there has been an annual fair in the town thereafter. In 1887 the original fairgrounds south of town were found to lack adequate space and a larger tract of land was purchased north of the town, from Smith Kepner, in what is now known as the Juniata County Fair Grounds. Beginning as primarily a showcase for agrarian enterprise, the fair has slowly changed so that today it has much less of its agrarian roots. In 1953 weekly summer automobile racing began on a track that was originally built for horse racing and this activity has played a large part in focusing attention on the town during the summer months.

Notable people

• Fred Frankhouse, Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher

See also

• Port Royal Speedway

References

1. ↑ "2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved Jul 4, 2017. 
2. 1 2 "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017. 
3. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
4. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013. 
5. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
6. ↑ "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013. 

External links

• Port Royal 200th Anniversary website