Indiana, Pennsylvania Explained

Official Name:Indiana, Pennsylvania
Settlement Type:Borough
Pushpin Map:Pennsylvania#USA
Pushpin Label:Indiana
Pushpin Label Position:right
Coordinates:40.6167°N -88°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name1:Pennsylvania
Subdivision Name2:Indiana
Established Title:Settled
Established Date:1805
Established Title1:Incorporated
Established Date1:1816
Government Type:Council-Manager
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:William Simmons
Leader Title1:Manager
Leader Name1:Nicole Sipos
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:4.57
Area Total Sq Mi:1.76
Area Land Km2:4.56
Area Land Sq Mi:1.76
Area Water Km2:0.01
Area Water Sq Mi:0.01
Elevation Ft:1301
Population Total:14044
Population As Of:2020
Population Density Km2:3082.17
Population Density Sq Mi:7984.08
Postal Code Type:Zip code
Postal Code:15701
Timezone:Eastern (EST)
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank Info:42-36816

Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States.[2] The population was 14,044 at the 2020 census.[3] It is the principal city of the Indiana, Pennsylvania micropolitan area, about northeast of Pittsburgh.[4] It is a part of the greater Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area, as well as the Johnstown and Pittsburgh media markets.

The borough and the region as a whole promote itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Growers Association was founded there. There are still many Christmas tree farms in the area. The largest employer in the borough today is Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the second-largest of 14 PASSHE schools in the state.[5]

History

Indiana takes its name from Indiana County, which in turn gets its name from the "Indiana grant" of the First Treaty of Fort Stanwix.[6] Indiana was founded in 1805 to be the new county's seat from a grant of land by Founding Father George Clymer. By 1810, it had a population of 125.

On at least one occasion, an anti-slavery mob in Indiana rescued a fugitive slave from extradition back to slavery in the South.[7] The town was also where James Moorhead, a local abolitionist leader, published several anti-slavery newspapers.[8] The first of these was The Clarion of Freedom, founded in 1843. Moorhead eventually sold the Clarion and founded a new anti-slavery paper, the Indiana Independent, which he published until his death in 1857. The Independent was published by his son J. W. Moorhead after his death.

The Indiana Weekly Messenger was published in the town between 1874 and 1946.[9]

The Downtown Indiana Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. Also listed on the National Register are Breezedale, Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Indiana Passenger Station, Silas M. Clark House, Graff's Market, James Mitchell House, Old Indiana County Courthouse, Indiana Borough 1912 Municipal Building, Indiana Armory, Old Indiana County Jail and Sheriff's Office, and John Sutton Hall.

Geography

Indiana, Pennsylvania is located at 40.6211°N -79.155°W (40.6211, -79.1549).[10] The borough is an independent municipality surrounded by White Township. For some time in the 1990s there was discussion of merging the borough and township, but the matter was never acted upon.According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.8sqmi, all of it land.

Climate

Indiana has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Precipitation is highest in the summer months, falling as snow usually between November and April.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 13,975 people,[11] and 4,624 households residing in the borough. The population density in 2000 was 8,440.0 people per square mile (3,267.6/km2). There were 5,096 housing units at an average density of 2887.6sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the borough was 91.51% White, 5.19% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.89% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.

There were 4,804 households, out of which 14.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.5% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 65.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% 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 2.81.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 8.2% under the age of 18, 59.4% from 18 to 24, 13.7% from 25 to 44, 10.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $21,279, and the median income for a family was $47,768. Males had a median income of $32,333 versus $27,831 for females.[12] The per capita income for the borough was $12,317. About 11.2% of families and 44.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Three iron foundries operated in Indiana at different times between 1851 and 1948.[13]

McCreary Tire and Rubber opened a plant in Indiana in 1914.[14] McCreary was renamed to Specialty Tires of America in 1992, and has its main office in Indiana.[15] [16]

Education

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (or IUP) is a public university founded in 1875, originally founded as Indiana Normal School.[17]

For public K-12 education, the Indiana Area School District supports four neighborhood elementary schools (Eisenhower, Horace Mann, East Pike, and Ben Franklin), a junior high school (Indiana Area Junior High School), and a high school (Indiana Area Senior High School), which are accredited and recognized for quality. A Catholic-affiliated Pre-K through grade 6 program is offered at the St. Bernard School,[18] in addition to other various parochial schools for different denominations.

Early care and education programs for pre-k children are available. The non-profit IndiKids or (Indiana County Child Day Care Centers) offers NAEYC-accredited care for children of students and community members on the campus of IUP and throughout the community.

Media

Indiana's local newspaper is the Indiana Gazette. Indiana is also home to several radio stations:

FM stations
Call letters Frequency Format Location Owner
88.5 Religious Johnstown Family Life Ministries, Inc.
89.7 Classical Johnstown WQED Multimedia
90.1 College Indiana Indiana University of Pennsylvania
92.5 Hot AC Indiana Renda Media
95.5 Country Johnstown Seven Mountains Media
96.5 Adult Contemporary Johnstown Seven Mountains Media
99.1 Classic Rock Ebensburg Seven Mountains Media
100.3 Classic Hits Indiana Renda Media
101.1 News/Talk Homer City Renda Media
103.7 Christian Contemporary Indiana Godstock Ministries, Inc.
105.1 Religious Indiana The Christian Witness, Inc.
106.3 Country Blairsville Renda Media
AM stations
Call letters Frequency Format Location Owner
1160 News/Talk Homer City Renda Media
1450 Classic Hits Indiana Renda Media

Notable people

Indiana was the birthplace and hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997),[19] who was born there and lived at 104 North 7th Street. Despite the fact that he left the area upon graduating from high school, the town always followed his career closely, with the local newspaper periodically publishing rumors in his later years that Stewart planned to return there to live. On May 20, 1983, Stewart was given a 75th birthday celebration by the town. Before Stewart's death, a museum to his memory was opened on the third floor of the local public library, and a bronze statue of Stewart was erected in his honor at the county courthouse during his 75th birthday. The town annually holds a Jimmy Stewart film festival as part of the town's It's a Wonderful Life holiday celebration.[20]

Environmentalist author Edward Abbey (1927–1989) was born at the Indiana hospital and raised in Indiana and near the Indiana County towns and villages of Saltsburg, Home, and Tanoma. His first novel, Jonathan Troy (1954), is set entirely in a thinly disguised Indiana, and his novel The Fool's Progress (1988), which he called his "fat masterpiece", is an autobiographical account of his growing up in this area and his imagined attempt to return home after a lifetime spent mostly in the desert Southwest. His nonfiction book Appalachian Wilderness (1970) lovingly describes Indiana and Home.[21] There is a Pennsylvania state historical marker for Abbey.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ArcGIS REST Services Directory. United States Census Bureau. October 12, 2022.
  2. Web site: Find a County . June 7, 2011 . National Association of Counties . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx . May 31, 2011 .
  3. Web site: City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021 . Census.gov . US Census Bureau . 7 July 2022.
  4. Web site: Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas . 2013-02-28 . 2017-01-04 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170121004708/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/bulletins/2013/b13-01.pdf . January 21, 2017 . . . mdy-all .
  5. Book: Swetnam, George. A Guideline to Historic Western Pennsylvania. 1991. University of Pittsburgh Press. 0822936305 .
  6. Web site: History of Indiana County, PA . 2022-05-02 . sites.rootsweb.com.
  7. Web site: Indiana County and the Underground Railroad . 2022-05-02 . Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
  8. Web site: Antislavery Newspapers . 2022-05-02 . Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
  9. Web site: About The Indiana weekly messenger. (Indiana, Pa.) 1874-1946. Library of Congress. January 19, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150119144314/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86053538/. January 19, 2015. live. mdy-all.
  10. Web site: US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990. United States Census Bureau. April 23, 2011. February 12, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20020527061848/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. May 27, 2002. dead. mdy-all.
  11. News: Wells. Randy. Census finds more losses than gain in Indiana County. Indiana Gazette.
  12. Web site: Source: 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-year estimates released December 2011. US Government. October 10, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130320014954/http://www.spcregion.org/pdf/Census%202010/Indiana%20County/INDI_IndianaBoro.pdf. March 20, 2013. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: 2020-12-15 . The Indiana Foundries . 2022-04-29 . HGSIC Historical Happenings . en.
  14. Web site: McCreary Tire and Rubber Company . 2022-04-29 . HGSIC Historical Happenings . en.
  15. News: Gannon . Joyce . August 1, 2002 . Obituary: Donald D. Mateer / Rescued tire company that was on the skids . post-gazette.com Local News . 2022-04-29.
  16. Web site: Company . 2022-04-29 . Specialty Tires of America.
  17. Web site: Brief History.
  18. Web site: St. Bernard Regional Catholic School. stbernardlc.org. 2016-10-14. 2018-01-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20150119082213/http://www.stbernardlc.org/Pages/default.aspx. January 19, 2015. live. mdy-all.
  19. Web site: Jimmy Stewart - Biography on Bio.. December 8, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091208185653/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/jimmy-stewart.html. December 8, 2009.
  20. Web site: Indiana County Holiday Season.
  21. Book: The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1999. Jackson. Kenneth T.. New York, NY. Abbey, Edward Paul.