Upper Milford Township, Pennsylvania Explained

Upper Milford Township
Seal Size:200px
Pushpin Map:Pennsylvania#USA
Pushpin Label:Upper Milford Twp
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Upper Milford Township in Pennsylvania##Location in the United States
Coordinates:40.5167°N -75.4831°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Established Title:Founded
Leader Title:Mayor
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:46.64
Area Total Sq Mi:18.01
Area Land Km2:46.50
Area Land Sq Mi:17.96
Area Water Km2:0.14
Area Water Sq Mi:0.05
Elevation Ft:876
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Total:7292
Pop Est As Of:2016
Pop Est Footnotes:[3]
Population Est:7614
Population Density Km2:163.73
Population Density Sq Mi:424.04
Population Metro:865,310 (US: 68th)
Utc Offset1:-5
Utc Offset1 Dst:-4
Postal Code Type:ZIP codes
Postal Code:18049, 18062, 18068, 18092
Blank Info:42-077-79160
Blank1 Name:Primary airport
Blank2 Name:Major hospital
Blank3 Name:School district
Blank2 Name Sec2:Wikimedia Commons

Upper Milford Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township's population was 7,292 at the 2010 census.[2] Upper Milford Township is a rural area southwest of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 46.6sqkm, of which 46.5sqkm are land and 0.13sqkm, or 0.27%, are water.[1] A large portion of the township is located on South Mountain and elevations in the township range from approximately 350to above sea level. Upper Milford is part of the Delaware River watershed and is drained by Little Lehigh Creek and Saucon Creek into Lehigh River and by Perkiomen Creek into the Schuylkill River.

The township's five prominent villages are Old Zionsville, Powder Valley, Shimerville, Vera Cruz, and Zionsville. Dillinger is a small village in eastern Upper Milford Township. Two smaller villages, Corning and Sigmund, are in the southwestern section of the township.

Upper Milford Township has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and is in hardiness zone 7a except for the highest areas which are 6b. https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ The average monthly temperature ranges from in January to in July.[4]

Adjacent municipalities

Demographics

As of the 2000 census,[5] there were 6,889 people, 2,514 households, and 2,021 families residing in the township. The population density was 384.7sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 2,576 housing units at an average density of 143.9/mi2. The racial makeup of the township was 98.30% White, 0.16% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 2,514 households, out of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.2% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.6% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the township, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $66,694, and the median income for a family was $72,159. Males had a median income of $47,532 versus $29,538 for females. The per capita income for the township was $30,454. About 0.5% of families and 1.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Education

Upper Milford Township is served by East Penn School District. Emmaus High School in Emmaus serves grades nine through 12. Eyer Middle School and Lower Macungie Middle School, both located in Macungie, serve grades six through eight.

Transportation

Roads and highways

As of 2022, there were of public roads in Upper Milford Township, of which were maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and were maintained by the township.[6]

Interstate 476 follows the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension along a northwest–southeast alignment through the township, but the nearest interchange is in South Whitehall Township. Pennsylvania Route 29 and Pennsylvania Route 100 meet in Shimerville and continue down Chestnut Street to Hereford just over the Berks County line. Chestnut Street, Kings Highway, Vera Cruz Road, and Powder Valley Road are all north-to-south routes. St. Peters Road/Shimerville Road/Main Road/Brunner Road crosses it SW-to-NE and Churchview Road proceeds east from Old Zionsville via Dillinger. Buckeye Road is an east-to-west road connecting Pennsylvania Route 29 (Chestnut Street) to Pennsylvania Route 100 in Macungie.

Public transportation

The township has not been served by LANta since bus service to and from Macungie was truncated to Emmaus except for the flex route 501, which requires a reservation and serves Allentown, Emmaus, Macungie, and Alburtis.

Train facilities

The township has tracks from the East Penn Railroad and Norfolk southern.[7]

Emergency services

Fire

The township two fire the western district fire company on Rt 100 and the citizens fire company on Main Rd west next to interstate 476. Both stations are run by volunteers. The stations both house tornado sirens, western district fire co has a STH-10, while the citizens fire co has a FS model 5.

Police

The township has a sheriff but the township is served by the PA state police[8]

Medical

The township doesn't have any Ambulance corps on its territory but is served by the surrounding towns and municipality's.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. August 14, 2017.
  2. Web site: Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Upper Milford township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. U.S. Census Bureau. data.census.gov. October 21, 2020.
  3. Web site: Population and Housing Unit Estimates. June 9, 2017.
  4. http://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/ Prism at Oregon State website
  5. Web site: U.S. Census website. United States Census Bureau. January 31, 2008.
  6. Web site: Upper Milford Township map. PennDOT. March 17, 2023.
  7. Web site: Lehigh County Maps . March 21, 2024 . Pennsylvania Department of Transportation . en-US.
  8. Web site: Upper Milford Township Volunteer Fire Departments . March 21, 2024 . en-US.