| Borough of Mount Carmel | |
| Settlement Type: | Borough |
| Pushpin Map: | Pennsylvania#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Mount Carmel |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Mount Carmel in Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates: | 40.7964°N -76.4122°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Pennsylvania |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Northumberland |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1770 |
| Established Title1: | Incorporated, Township |
| Established Date1: | November 14, 1854 |
| Established Title2: | Incorporated, Borough |
| Established Date2: | November 3, 1862 |
| Leader Party: | Democrat |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Phillip "Bing" Cimino |
| Leader Title1: | Chief of Police |
| Leader Name1: | Christopher J. Buhay |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 1.71 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.66 |
| Area Land Km2: | 1.71 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.66 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [2] |
| Elevation Ft: | 1100 |
| Elevation Point: | center of borough |
| Elevation Max Ft: | 1300 |
| Elevation Max Point: | southeastern boundary of borough |
| Elevation Min Ft: | 1035 |
| Elevation Min Point: | Shamokin Creek on western borough boundary |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 5725 |
| Population Density Km2: | 3341.16 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 8648.04 |
| Timezone1: | EST |
| Utc Offset1: | -5 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 17851 |
| Area Codes: | 570 and 272 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 42-51496 |
| Blank Name Sec2: | FIPS |
| Blank Info Sec2: | 51496 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Wikimedia Commons |
Mount Carmel is a borough in Northumberland County, located in the Coal Heritage Region of Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley, United States. The population was 5,725 at the 2020 census. It is located 88 miles (141 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 71 miles (114 km) northeast of Harrisburg, in the Coal Region. It is completely encircled by Mount Carmel Township.
Sawmill operator, Albert Bradford, gave Mount Carmel its name because of its elevation and beautiful setting in the mountains. He decided that it deserved a special name and named it after the holy mountain in Israel. Mount Carmel began as a logging town. Coal was only discovered in 1790 by Isaac Tomlinson. It took twenty-four years until the first shipment of anthracite was shipped from the borough. Mount Carmel Inn was opened in 1812 by Richard Yarnall and was strategically located on the Centre Turnpike (also known as the Reading-Sunbury Road or Old Reading Road) halfway between Pottsville and Danville. During the latter part of 1854, the Philadelphia and Sunbury Railroad was completed from Shamokin to Mt. Carmel, which led to the opening and development of a number of collieries in the region. During the same year, the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company commenced making extensive openings and improvements upon their valuable coal lands in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel, building coal breakers for two collieries – the Coal Ridge and Locust Mountain collieries.[3] The township was erected in 1854, formed from part of Coal Township; by 1862 the borough was incorporated within the township.
Mount Carmel was among the first towns in the country to have its streets lit by electricity. Thomas Edison placed one of his first generators plants here in 1883. The Edison Plant in Mount Carmel was the seventh such in the world.
In the past, there were extensive anthracite mining interests here and in the vicinity. In earlier years, the borough had manufactories of miners' caps, cement blocks, cigars, shirts, stockings, etc., and large silk and planing mills, foundry and machine shops, a knitting mill, lumber yards, a packing plant, and wagon works. Currently that area supports light manufacturing in paper and plastics.
Mount Carmel is located at (40.796447, −76.412231)[4] in the ridge-and-valley zone of the central Appalachian Mountains. It is drained by the Shamokin Creek and is part of the Lower Susquehanna watershed.[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.7 km2), all land.
Mount Carmel's terrain is mostly flat. The borough's land is mostly urban. Mount Carmel is served by Pennsylvania Route 61.[6]
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,390 people, 3,035 households, and 1,678 families residing in the borough. The population density was 9655.6sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 3,629 housing units at an average density of 5483.6sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the borough was 98.56% White, 0.06% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.89% of the population.
There were 3,035 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 41.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 24.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 19.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 25.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $22,168, and the median income for a family was $35,217. Males had a median income of $28,168 versus $20,595 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $14,858. About 14.2% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.
The Mount Carmel Area School District operates three schools:
The Lower Anthracite Transportation System offers a two-route transit system weekdays and Saturdays from Mount Carmel with buses meeting in Coal Township to Mount Carmel and surrounding communities. A third route, operated seasonally, operates to Knoebels Amusement Resort.