Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania

Bloomsburg is a town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Wilkes Barre along the Susquehanna River. In 1900, the population of Bloomsburg stood at 6,170; in 1910, 7,413; in 1940, 9,799, and in 1990, 12,439. The population was 14,855 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Columbia County and the only incorporated town in Pennsylvania.

Bloomsburg is one of two principal communities of the Bloomsburg–Berwick Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Columbia and Montour counties and had a combined population of 82,387 at the 2000 census.

History


Traditionally, Bloomsburg's founding in 1802 has been ascribed to settler Ludwig Eyer, son of Johann Martin Eyer. The first signs of European settlement date to the year 1772, when James McClure established a log cabin in the area. Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was just a small village, known as the Bloom Township.

For more than a century, starting from its incorporation on March 4, 1870, Bloomsburg held the distinction of being the only incorporated town in Pennsylvania. While other municipalities are often commonly referred to as towns, they were all officially classified as either cities, boroughs, or townships. Bloomsburg still uses the slogan of "The only incorporated TOWN in Pennsylvania," and state government publications continue to describe Bloomsburg as "the only incorporated town" in Pennsylvania. However, in 1975, McCandless Township, in Allegheny County adopted a home rule charter under the name "Town of McCandless".

The Bloomsburg Historic District and Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.6 sqmi, of which, 4.4 sqmi of it is land and 0.2 sqmi of it (4.98%) is water.

Neighboring Municipalities

 * Mount Pleasant Township
 * Scott Township
 * Catawissa Township (separated by the North Branch of the Susquehanna River)
 * Montour Township
 * Hemlock Township

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,375 people, 4,080 households, and 1,791 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,818.1 people per square mile (1,088.4/km²). There were 4,399 housing units at an average density of 1,001.8 per square mile (386.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.42% White, 2.60% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.11% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.74% of the population.

There were 4,080 households out of which 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.2% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.1% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the town the population was spread out with 12.3% under the age of 18, 45.5% from 18 to 24, 18.6% from 25 to 44, 12.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 77.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,868, and the median income for a family was $39,806. Males had a median income of $29,940 versus $19,961 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,819. About 10.5% of families and 31.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 15.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government
The town of Bloomsburg is administered by a Town Council of six members and the mayor. As an incorporated town, the mayor can vote along with council on every motion. This is different than most borough councils, where there are seven council members and the mayor can only vote to break ties. The current mayor, Dan Knorr, has the distinction of being the youngest Mayor in Bloomsburg's history.

Education
Bloomsburg is served by the Bloomsburg Area School District, which has about 1,800 students enrolled from the town itself, western, and south-eastern suburbs.

Columbia-Montour Area Vocational-Technical School in Bloomsburg has numerous secondary education trade programs.

The Central Columbia School District, which feeds Central Columbia High School, has approximately 2,100 students and encompasses the eastern and northern suburbs of Bloomsburg.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, one of the 14 institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, had a 2009 enrollment of 8,877 full-time undergraduate and 846 graduate students.

There are additionally several private religious and non-denominational schools in and of the immediate vicinity of Bloomsburg.

Recreation
The one park in Bloomsburg is the 43 acre Town Park, established in 1927. The Norris E. Rock Memorial Swimming Pool and the Bloomsburg Skate Park immediately adjoin the park. The town has also purchased the former Streater Farm at the confluence of Fishing Creek and the Susquehanna River, with plans to convert it into athletic fields.

Notable businesses
Notable businesses located in the Bloomsburg zip code include Mariano Construction Inc, R.R. Donnelly & Sons, Kawneer Inc (division of Alcoa), Del Monte Foods, Milco Industries, Bloomsburg Carpet, Windsor Foods, Rieter Automotive Systems (formerly Magee Carpet Company), MoonLite Telescope Accessories and Anodizing, Dyco, and Bloomsburg Mills.

On April 7, 2009, 120-year-old company Bloomsburg Mills, Inc. announced they would go out of business on May 31, closing both a local plant here and a dye plant in Monroe, North Carolina. The closure affects over 200 employees in both locations.

Culture
Bloomsburg is home to the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble was founded in 1978 to establish a resident professional ensemble for the production of quality entertainment and educational programs for the region, and to promote the arts.

The city also has a public library, Bloomsburg Public Library, founded in 1899 and funded jointly by the taxpayers of Bloomsburg, Scott Township and Hemlock Township.

Bloomsburg is also home to the Bloomsburg Fair (the largest fair in the state of Pennsylvania) which, since 1855, is a traditional farm fair.

The David Stroup Fountain, erected in 1892, is a fountain located at Bloomsburg's Market Square. David Stroup was a local candy shop owner who left money in his will to the town's water works. The current fountain is a restored version of the original, which was dismantled in 1966 due to its deterioration but was put back together in 1982 by 2 local residents. The original crane sculpture, which was at the top of the fountain, was lost in storage until 2005, when it was cleaned, repaired and replaced on the fountain.

Local media
Bloomsburg is home to one daily newspaper, the Press Enterprise. Bloomsburg has one online news site BloomUtoday.com covering Bloomsburg University News & Entertainment as well as local news. Several radio stations also serve the area, including WHLM (formerly WCNR-AM), WHLM-FM (formerly WKAB), and WFYY-FM (formerly WHLM-FM). The town is primarily served by Service Electric Cablevision cable TV and receives both the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market television stations and Philadelphia stations.

Air
Bloomsburg is home to the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport.

Road
The main highways in Bloomsburg are U.S. Route 11, Pennsylvania Route 42 (serves the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds) and Pennsylvania Route 487. Also, Interstate 80 has interchanges north of the town.

Utilities

 * Electricity - PPL Electric Utilities
 * Natural Gas - UGI Penn Natural Gas, Inc.
 * Cable Television - Service Electric Cable and CATV Service.
 * Water - United Water PA