Armstrong County, Pennsylvania

History

The County was named after John Armstrong, who served as a brigadier general and major general in the Revolutionary War.

Armstrong County is home to the City of Parker, an incorporated third-class city, which was an oil boom town with a population rumored to be approximately 20,000 in 1873, but now is the "Smallest City in America" with a population of just under 800. Parker is located in the extreme northwest portion of the county.

Iron was made in the Brady's Bend area of the county twenty years before there was a foundry in Pittsburgh doing so. Ford City is home to the plate-glass industry, as John Ford created the company which later became Pittsburgh Plate Glass.

Kittanning once boasted more millionnaires than anywhere else in Pennsylvania during the 1880s.

Leechburg was the first place in the United States to use natural gas for metallurgical purposes, in 1869. Natural gas was found while drilling for oil, and eventually introduced into the boilers and furnaces of Siberian Iron Works here.

Freeport, Leechburg and Apollo were communities built along the Pennsylvania Canal, which passed through on the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas rivers, at the southern border of the county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 664 square miles (1,720 km²), of which 653 square miles (1,690 km²) is land and 11 square miles (28 km²) (1.6%) is water.

Streams

The Allegheny and Kiskiminetas rivers; Buffalo, Crooked, Cowanshannock, Redbank, and Mahoning creeks; and Carnahan Run, among others, have watersheds within the county. The Murphy, Nicholson, Ross, and Cogley islands are in the Allegheny in Armstrong County.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 72,392 people, 29,005 households, and 20,535 families residing in the county. The population density was 111 people per square mile (43/km²). There were 32,387 housing units at an average density of 50 per square mile (19/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.32% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.6% were of German, 10.8% Italian, 9.3% Irish, 8.7% American, 7.4% English and 5.7% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 29,005 households out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.20% were non-families. 25.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.90% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.

Armstrong County's live birth rate was 890 births in 1990. Armstrong County's live birth rate in 2000 was 740 births, while in 2011 it had declined further to 680 babies. Over the past 50 years (1960 to 2010), rural Pennsylvania saw a steady decline in both the number and proportion of residents under 18 years old. In 1960, 1.06 million rural residents, or 35 percent of the rural population, were children.

Armstrong County had a 448 babies born to teens (age15-19) in 2011. In 2015, the number of teen births in Armstrong County was 418.

According to research by The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which is a legislative Agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the poverty rate for Armstrong County was 13.8% in 2014. The statewide poverty rate was 13.6% in 2014. The 2012 childhood poverty rate by school district was: Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District - 37.2%, Apollo-Ridge School District - 46.6% living at 185% or below than the Federal Poverty Level, Armstrong School District - 48.9%, Freeport Area School District - 27.7%, and Leechburg Area School District - 39.6.

Government and politics

As of November 2008, there were 45,532 registered voters in Armstrong County.

County government

County Commissioners:

District Attorney:

Sheriff:

Controller:

Treasurer:

Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds:

Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts:

Jury Commissioners:

Judges:

State Senate

State House Of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

Colleges and universities

Public school districts

The 498 school districts of Pennsylvania, that have high schools, were ranked for student academic achievement as demonstrated by four years of writing, science math and reading PSSA results by the Pittsburgh Business Times in 2010.

Technology school

Private schools

As reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education - EdNA. April 2012.

Libraries

There are six public libraries in Armstrong County:

Communities

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 located in Armstrong County:

City

Census-designated places

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

Former community

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Armstrong County.

† county seat