Beaver_County,_Pennsylvania

Beaver County, Pennsylvania

Beaver County, Pennsylvania

County in Pennsylvania, United States


Beaver County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,215.[3] Its county seat is Beaver, and its largest city is Aliquippa.[4]

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Beaver County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Beaver County was created on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny and Washington counties.[5] It took its name from the Beaver River.[6]

Original township in 1800

The original townships at the date of the erection of Beaver County (1800) were North Beaver, east and west of the Big Beaver Creek; South Beaver, west of the Big Beaver; and Sewickley, east of the Big Beaver—all north of the Ohio River; and Hanover, First Moon, and Second Moon, south of the Ohio.[7]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 444 square miles (1,150 km2), of which 435 square miles (1,130 km2) is land and 9.3 square miles (24 km2) (2.1%) is water.[8] It has a humid continental climate (Dfa/Dfb) and average monthly temperatures in the Beaver/Rochester vicinity range from 29.4 °F in January to 73.2 °F in July.[9]

Bodies of water

  • The Ohio River flows north through Beaver County from a point near Ambridge, then turns west near Beaver and on to the Ohio and West Virginia borders. It divides the southern third of the county from the northern two-thirds.
  • The Beaver River flows south from Lawrence County entering Beaver County near Koppel and continuing south to its confluence with the Ohio near Beaver.

Adjacent counties

Protected areas

Demographics

More information Census, Pop. ...

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 inhabitants per square mile (161/km2). There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 units per square mile (69/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 92.55% White, 5.96% Black or African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.0% were of German, 17.4% Italian, 9.9% Irish, 6.5% English, 6.4% Polish and 5.8% American ancestry.

There were 72,576 households, out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.50% were married couples living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. Of all households 26.90% were made up of individuals, and 13.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 22.60% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 18.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.20 males.

2020 census

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Government and politics

2020 Presidential Election by Township and City
Biden:      50–60%      60–70%
Trump:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
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Voter registration

In November 2008, there were 118,269 registered voters in Beaver County.[14]

By April 2016, there were 109,091 registered voters, a decrease of 7.7% since 2008.

The county is divided into 129 precincts.[15]

  • Democratic: 58,828 (53.93%)
  • Republican: 38,015 (34.85%)
  • Other parties/non-partisan: 12,248 (11.23%)

As of January 8, 2024, there were 111,767 registered voters in Beaver county. Republicans hold a plurality of voters by a margin of just 190 voters (less than 1% of the total registered), after overtaking Dems at the end of December 2023. There were 48,229 registered Republicans, 48,039 registered Democrats, 10,390 registered non-affiliated voters and 5,109 voters registered to other parties.[16]

More information Voter registration and party enrollment, Party ...

Chart of Voter Registration

  Republican (43.15%)
  Democratic (42.98%)
  Independent (9.30%)
  Third Party (4.57%)

Political history

Beaver County used to be a Democratic stronghold, and still has a slight Democratic edge in registration. In 2015, however, the GOP took majority status in the Commissioners' Office for the first time since 1955. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry won Beaver County over Republican George Bush 51% to 48%. In 2008, Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama 50% to 47%, becoming the first Republican to win there since 1972 and only the third since 1928. Mitt Romney and Donald Trump (twice) carried the county in the next three elections. In 2010, Republican Governor Tom Corbett and Republican Senator Pat Toomey both carried Beaver in their successful statewide bids, and Toomey won the county again in 2016. However, Democrats have still seen recent success in Beaver County in non-presidential races, with Democrats often being competitive in the county in Senate and gubernatorial elections. Beaver County voted for Bob Casey Jr. in his reelection bid in 2012 50% to 47%, and again voted to re-elect Casey in 2018, as well as Democrat Tom Wolf.

In the most recent election cycle (2022), Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro defeated Republican Doug Mastriano in Beaver County. However, Shapiro was the only Democrat in this cycle to carry Beaver County.

County commissioners

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County officials

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State representatives

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State senators

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United States House of Representatives

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United States Senate

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Recreation

Beaver County offers many shops and places to eat. It is home to the Beaver Valley Mall in Center Township, which has shops and restaurants.

Near Koppel there is Buttermilk Falls, a naturally occurring waterfall.[27] In Brighton Township there is Brady's Run Park.[28] Racoon Creek State Park is one of Pennsylvania's largest and most visited state parks.[citation needed] The park encompasses 7,572 acres (3,064 ha) and features the 101 acres (41 ha) Raccoon Lake. Additionally, there are many riverfront parks throughout the county. The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) passes through the county's northern end. The NCT has an 11-mile point-to-point off-road section near Darlington to the Ohio state line and a 2.5 mile off-road section near New Galilee and Enon Valley, Pennsylvania.[29]

Transportation

Major roads and highways

Public transit

Beaver County Transit Authority

Airports

Education

Colleges and universities

Community, junior, and technical colleges

Map of Beaver County, Pennsylvania public school districts. Note that two districts on this map, Monaca School District and Center Area School District, merged in 2009 to form the Central Valley School District.

Public school districts

High schools

Charter schools

As reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education – EdNA, as of April 2010.

Private schools

As reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education – EdNA, as of April 2010.

  • Agapeland Children Garden – Beaver
  • Beaver County Christian School -Upper – Beaver Falls
  • Beaver Co Christian -West Park Elementary – Beaver Falls
  • Bethel Christian School – Aliquippa
  • Deliverance Temple Ministries ROOTS Inc Christian Academy – Aliquippa
  • Hope Christian Academy – Aliquippa
  • North Hills Christian School – Baden
  • Our Lady of Fatima School – Aliquippa
  • Pleasant Hill Wesleyan Academy – Hookstown
  • Quigley Catholic High School – Baden
  • St John the Baptist School – Monaca
  • St Monica Catholic Academy – Beaver Falls
  • Sts Peter & Paul School – Beaver
  • Sylvania Hills Christian – Rochester

Former school districts

In 2009, Center Area School District and Monaca School District merged to form Central Valley School District.

Communities

Map of Beaver County, Pennsylvania with municipal labels showing cities and boroughs (red), townships (white), and census-designated places (blue)

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following cities, boroughs and townships are in Beaver County:

Cities

Boroughs

Townships

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Former community

  • Borough Township, established in 1804 from the small southeast corner of South Beaver Township. In 1970, it was renamed Vanport Township.[31]

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Beaver County.[32]

county seat

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Notable people

See also


References

  1. "PHMC Historical Markers Search". Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on March 21, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 4 vols. (Philadelphia: John Bioren, 1810), vol. 3, pages 421–422, Chapter MMCXIX, Section 1, "An Act to erect certain parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington and Lycoming counties, into separate counties," March 12, 1800, creation of Beaver County, digital images, Google Books (https://books.google.com : July 22, 2018).
  4. Hoover, Gladys L. (September 18, 1974). "County Got its Name From Stream". Beaver County Times. pp. C11. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  5. Joseph Henderson Bausman, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania: And Its Centennial Celebration, 2 volumes (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1904), vol. 2, pp. 863–864; digital images, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed November 2, 2018).
  6. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  7. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  8. Running for Office Archived November 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Dos.state.pa.us. Retrieved on July 23, 2013.
  9. "2016 General Primary Results". Beaver County, Pennsylvania. May 10, 2016. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  10. "Board of Commissioners". www.beavercountypa.gov. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  11. "Board of Commissioners - Daniel C. Camp III". www.beavercountypa.gov. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  12. "Board of Commissioners - Tony Amadio". www.beavercountypa.gov. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  13. "Board of Commissioners - Jack Manning". www.beavercountypa.gov. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  14. "Welcome to the Office of the Clerk of Courts". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  15. "Welcome to the Office of the Controller". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  16. "Welcome to the Prothonotary's Office". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  17. "Welcome to the Recorder of Deeds". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  18. "Welcome to the Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  19. "Welcome to the Treasurer's Office". www.beavercountypa.gov/departments. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  20. "North Country National Scenic Trail map". North Country Trail Association. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  21. "Baden Academy Charter School". badenacademy.org. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  22. "History of Beaver County | Beaver County Government". Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  23. Kelly, Joey. "Page Turners: Profiles of Beaver Valley authors". The Times. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  24. Simonich, Milan. "The good life of a bad guy". Post Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2022.

40.69°N 80.35°W / 40.69; -80.35


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