Shenandoah (Pennsylvania)
Schuylkill County
42-70056
Shenandoah is a city in the coal region of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. According to the census in 2000 5624 inhabitants live in the town.
History
Shenandoah was established in 1820-1835. Among the first settlers was the farmer Peter Kehley, the later the occurrence of anthracite coal in a nearby river also discovered. In the time of the American Civil War the city experienced a boom through the operation of several coal mines in which mainly anthracite coal was mined. The city was in 1870 as a hotbed of miners Molly Maguires secret society. After originally English, Welsh, Irish and German immigrants had settled the area, began after 1870, a strong influx of immigrants from eastern and southern European countries and the population grew to almost 30,000 residents in the year 1920. In 1902 Shendoah had more bars per 1000 population than any other city in the world; According to Ripley's Believe It or Not! Shenandoah was the most populous " Square Mile " in the United States. The collapse of the coal industry after the Second World War hit the community hard and miners migrated to elsewhere to find work.
Shenandoah is the only city in Pennsylvania, which is approached from three different railway lines.
Church History
By Eastern European immigrants were more Urpfarreien justified in the urban area:
- " St. George Lithuanian Catholic Church " was founded in 1872 and is the oldest Lithuanian Roman Catholic parish in the United States, the church was consecrated in 1891.
- Andrew Strupinskas (1828-1892) was the first Roman Catholic priest of the Polish emigrants in Pennsylvania. He founded in 1872 the " St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church " in Shenandoah, this is the oldest Polish parish in the eastern United States. A memorial stone was by the Rev. Monsignor J. A. Karalius founded in 1971.
- " St. Michael Greek Catholic Church " was founded in November 1886 as the oldest church in the Ruthenian Greek - Catholic Church in the United States.
Well-known residents of the city
- Jimmy Dorsey (1904-1957), jazz musician
- Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956), jazz musician
- Daryl Poniscan, writer
Demography
According to the census of 2000, there were 5,624 people in Shenandoah. Of these, 152 people were living in collective centers, the other residents living in 2,649 households and 1,380 families. The population density was 1,433 inhabitants per square kilometer. There 3,339 residential units were recorded. The racial the population was composed of 97.4 percent white, 0.3 percent African American, 0.3 percent Native American, 0.4 percent Asian, and 1.1 percent from other ethnic groups; 0.6 percent said the lineage of several ethnicities. 2.8 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 2,649 households out of which 20.0 per cent of children or young people who lived with them. 32.5 percent were married couples living together, 13.5 percent were single mothers and 47.9 percent were non-families. 42.9 percent of all households and 26.0 percent lived in people aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size 2.84 persons.
The population was spread out with 19.0 percent under the age of 18, 7.5 percent from 18 to 24, 23.3 percent 25-44 years, 21.8 percent from 45 to 64 years and 28.5 percent of 65 years or older. The average age (median) was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males to 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.
The median income for a household (median) was $ 18,714, and the median income for a family $ 26,910. Males have a median income of $ 24,289, women $ 19,783. The per capita income was $ 12,562. Under the poverty line lived 16.2 percent of families and 20.1 percent of the population, including 32.3 percent of the population under the age of 18 and 16.1 percent of residents aged 65 years or older.