Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Northampton County | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40°45′N 75°19′W / 40.75°N 75.31°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
Founded | March 11, 1752 |
Named for | Northamptonshire |
Seat | Easton |
Largest city | [[Bethlehem[a], Pennsylvania|Bethlehem[a]]] |
Area | |
• Total | 377 sq mi (980 km2) |
• Land | 370 sq mi (1,000 km2) |
• Water | 7.7 sq mi (20 km2) 2.0% |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 312,951 |
• Density | 830/sq mi (320/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Congressional district | 7th |
Website | www |
Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951.[1] Its county seat is Easton.[2] The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was Northamptonshire, England. The county seat of Easton was named for the country house Easton Neston in that shire.
Northampton County and Lehigh County to its west combine to form the eastern Pennsylvania region known as the Lehigh Valley, and both counties are included in the Philadelphia media market, the nation's fourth largest media market. Lehigh County, with a population of 374,557 of the 2020 U.S. census, is the more highly populated of the two counties.
Northampton County is industrially oriented, producing cement and other industrial products. It was a center for global cement production with the world's then-largest cement producer Atlas Portland Cement Company operating in the county for nearly a century from 1895 until 1982.[3] Bethlehem Steel, one of the world's largest manufacturers of steel throughout the 20th century, was located in the county prior to its dissolution in 2003.
The Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Northampton County. The county borders Carbon County and the Poconos to the north, Lehigh County to the west, Bucks County, and the Delaware Valley to the south, and the Delaware River, which divides Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to the east.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 377 square miles (980 km2), of which 370 square miles (960 km2) is land and 7.7 square miles (20 km2) (2.0%) is water.[4] The climate is humid continental (mostly Dfa with a little Dfb in higher northern areas) and the hardiness zones are 6b and 6a. Average monthly temperatures in downtown Bethlehem average from 29.1 °F in January to 74.1 °F in July, while in Wind Gap they average from 27.0 °F in January to 71.7 °F in July.[5]
Adjacent counties
- Monroe County (north)
- Warren County, New Jersey (east)
- Bucks County (south)
- Lehigh County (west)
- Carbon County (northwest)
National protected areas
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1790 | 24,220 | — | |
1800 | 30,062 | 24.1% | |
1810 | 38,145 | 26.9% | |
1820 | 31,765 | −16.7% | |
1830 | 39,482 | 24.3% | |
1840 | 40,996 | 3.8% | |
1850 | 40,235 | −1.9% | |
1860 | 47,904 | 19.1% | |
1870 | 61,432 | 28.2% | |
1880 | 70,312 | 14.5% | |
1890 | 84,220 | 19.8% | |
1900 | 99,687 | 18.4% | |
1910 | 127,667 | 28.1% | |
1920 | 153,506 | 20.2% | |
1930 | 169,304 | 10.3% | |
1940 | 168,959 | −0.2% | |
1950 | 185,243 | 9.6% | |
1960 | 201,412 | 8.7% | |
1970 | 214,368 | 6.4% | |
1980 | 225,418 | 5.2% | |
1990 | 247,105 | 9.6% | |
2000 | 267,066 | 8.1% | |
2010 | 297,735 | 11.5% | |
2020 | 312,951 | 5.1% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8] 1990-2000[9] 2010-2019[1] |
As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 312,951, reflecting growth of 5.1% over 2010.[1]As of the 2010 census, the county was 81.0% White Non-Hispanic, 5.0% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 2.2% were two or more races, and 3.8% were some other race. 10.5% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.
2020 Census
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White (NH) | 228,373 | 73% |
Black or African American (NH) | 17,429 | 5.6% |
Native American (NH) | 251 | 0.08% |
Asian (NH) | 9,892 | 3.2% |
Pacific Islander (NH) | 75 | 0.02% |
Other/Mixed (NH) | 12,334 | 4% |
Hispanic or Latino | 44,597 | 14.25% |
Government
Northampton is one of the seven counties in Pennsylvania which has adopted a home rule charter. Voters elect an Executive, a nine-person Council, a Controller, and a District Attorney. The Executive, Controller and District Attorney are elected at large by all voters in the County. Five members of the council are also elected at large. The other four members of the council are elected from single-member districts. This weighted structure of government favors the majority of voters, but it does allow for representation of minority groups, if they live within a compact voting district. The Row Officers are nominated by the county executive and approved by county council.
Elected officials
The following currently serve as elected officials in Northampton County government offices:
County Executive
- Lamont McClure, Democrat
County Council
Democrats
- Ronald R. Heckman
- Lori Vargo Heffner
- Kevin Lott
- Kerry L. Myers
- Tara M. Zrinski
Republicans
- John Brown
- John Cusick
- Tom Giovanni
- John Goffredo
Clerk of Courts
- Leigh Ann Fisher, Democrat
County Controller
- Richard Szulborski, Democrat
District Attorney
- Terry Houck, Democrat
Prothonotary
- Holly Ruggiero, Democrat
Register of Wills
- Gina Gibbs, Democrat
Politics
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 83,854 | 48.92% | 85,087 | 49.64% | 2,458 | 1.43% |
2016 | 71,736 | 49.62% | 66,272 | 45.84% | 6,558 | 4.54% |
2012 | 61,446 | 46.89% | 67,606 | 51.59% | 1,992 | 1.52% |
2008 | 58,551 | 43.07% | 75,255 | 55.35% | 2,148 | 1.58% |
2004 | 62,102 | 48.96% | 63,446 | 50.02% | 1,301 | 1.03% |
2000 | 47,396 | 45.27% | 53,097 | 50.72% | 4,197 | 4.01% |
1996 | 35,726 | 39.26% | 43,959 | 48.31% | 11,317 | 12.44% |
1992 | 34,429 | 35.30% | 42,203 | 43.27% | 20,893 | 21.42% |
1988 | 42,748 | 51.52% | 39,264 | 47.32% | 966 | 1.16% |
1984 | 44,648 | 53.49% | 37,979 | 45.50% | 840 | 1.01% |
1980 | 35,787 | 47.07% | 31,920 | 41.98% | 8,330 | 10.96% |
1976 | 32,926 | 42.78% | 42,514 | 55.24% | 1,521 | 1.98% |
1972 | 41,822 | 56.30% | 32,335 | 43.53% | 124 | 0.17% |
1968 | 32,033 | 41.00% | 42,554 | 54.47% | 3,543 | 4.53% |
1964 | 21,048 | 26.15% | 58,818 | 73.08% | 619 | 0.77% |
1960 | 40,683 | 49.43% | 41,552 | 50.48% | 71 | 0.09% |
1956 | 43,375 | 55.83% | 33,749 | 43.44% | 573 | 0.74% |
1952 | 39,131 | 50.99% | 36,993 | 48.21% | 614 | 0.80% |
1948 | 27,030 | 43.95% | 33,209 | 53.99% | 1,265 | 2.06% |
1944 | 26,643 | 44.76% | 32,584 | 54.75% | 292 | 0.49% |
1940 | 25,385 | 43.06% | 33,304 | 56.49% | 269 | 0.46% |
1936 | 22,827 | 37.34% | 36,871 | 60.31% | 1,438 | 2.35% |
1932 | 20,779 | 45.04% | 24,009 | 52.04% | 1,345 | 2.92% |
1928 | 37,403 | 71.14% | 14,768 | 28.09% | 404 | 0.77% |
1924 | 20,459 | 58.42% | 11,459 | 32.72% | 3,104 | 8.86% |
1920 | 14,227 | 58.78% | 9,086 | 37.54% | 891 | 3.68% |
1916 | 9,610 | 44.37% | 11,000 | 50.78% | 1,050 | 4.85% |
1912 | 3,893 | 17.91% | 10,325 | 47.50% | 7,518 | 34.59% |
1908 | 10,857 | 46.91% | 11,365 | 49.10% | 923 | 3.99% |
1904 | 11,039 | 51.21% | 9,914 | 45.99% | 604 | 2.80% |
1900 | 9,849 | 45.14% | 11,412 | 52.31% | 556 | 2.55% |
1896 | 9,762 | 47.59% | 10,032 | 48.91% | 717 | 3.50% |
1892 | 6,892 | 39.21% | 10,320 | 58.71% | 367 | 2.09% |
1888 | 6,785 | 39.67% | 10,027 | 58.63% | 291 | 1.70% |
1884 | 6,327 | 39.44% | 9,491 | 59.16% | 224 | 1.40% |
1880 | 5,961 | 37.90% | 9,653 | 61.37% | 114 | 0.72% |
As of November 7, 2022 there were 225,050 registered voters in Northampton County
- Democratic: 99,453 (44.19%)
- Republican: 81,711 (36.31%)
- No affiliation: 32,461 (14.42%)
- Other parties: 11,425 (5.08%)
In recent decades, Northampton has been identified as one of Pennsylvania's "swing counties," with statewide winners carrying it in most cases; since 1952, it has gone to the statewide winner in the presidential election.[12] All five statewide winners carried it in November 2004 and all four statewide Democratic candidates carried it in November 2008, with District Attorney John Morganelli doing well there despite losing statewide to incumbent Attorney General Tom Corbett. The Democratic Party has been dominant most of the time in county-level politics in recent decades. In 2014, John Brown bucked that trend when he became the only Republican in the 21st Century to be elected Northampton County executive, a harbinger of Donald Trump winning the county and the state at the presidential level in 2016. Lamont McClure retook the county executive position for the Democrats in 2018; Joe Biden won Northampton County and Pennsylvania in 2020.
Voting machine problems
Municipal elections were held across Pennsylvania in November 2019, and results in Northampton County were plagued with problems caused by newly purchased machines, The ExpressVoteXL, sold by the manufacturer Election Systems & Software (ES&S) as a luxury one-stop voting system. According to The New York Times and other publications, it was a few minutes after the polls closed on Election Day when panic began to spread through the Northampton county election offices. Vote totals in one judge’s race showed one candidate, Abe Kassis, a Democrat, had just 164 votes out of 55,000 ballots across more than 100 precincts. Some machines reported zero votes for him.[13]
The voting system, used in numerous Pennsylvania jurisdictions, combines a touch screen with a paper ballot backup. County officials determined the results by counting the paper ballots, which showed Mr. Kassis had won by 1,054 votes. Unofficial results were announced at 6AM on November 6. The election results were certified following a canvass and audit. No challenges to the election results were filed.[14]
County executives
Name | Party | Term start | Term end |
---|---|---|---|
Glenn F. Reibman | Democratic | 1998 | 2006 |
John Stoffa | Democratic | 2006 | 2014 |
John Brown | Republican | 2014 | 2018 |
Lamont McClure | Democratic | 2018 | Incumbent |
County council members
- Lori Vargo Heffner, President, Democrat, at large
- John A. Brown, Republican, at large
- John P. Goffredo, Republican, at large
- Ronald R. Heckman, Democrat, at large
- Tara Zrinski, Democrat, at large
- Kevin Lott, Democrat, district 1
- Kerry Myers, Vice President, Democrat, district 2
- John Cusick, Republican, district 3
- Tom Giovanni, Republican, district 4
State representatives[15]
- Milou Mackenzie, Republican, 131st district
- Steve Samuelson, Democrat, 135th district
- Robert L. Freeman, Democrat, 136th district
- Joe Emrick, Republican, 137th district
- Ann Flood, Republican, 138th district
- Zach Mako, Republican, 183rd district
State senators[15]
- Nick Miller, Democrat, 14th district
- Lisa Boscola, Democrat, 18th district
United States House of Representatives
- Susan Wild, Democrat, 7th district
United States Senate
Education
Colleges and universities
- Lafayette College, Easton
- Lehigh University, Bethlehem
- Moravian University, Bethlehem
- Northampton County Area Community College, Bethlehem Township
- Respect Graduate School, Bethlehem
Public school districts
Bethlehem Area School District
Catasauqua Area School District
Northampton Area School District
Pen Argyl Area School District
- Wilson Area High School, Easton
Public charter schools
Private high schools
- Bethlehem Catholic High School, Bethlehem
- Moravian Academy, Bethlehem
- Notre Dame High School, Easton
Transportation
Air transportation
Air transport to and from Northampton County is available through Lehigh Valley International Airport (IATA: ABE, ICAO: KABE) in Hanover Township, which is locatedapproximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Bethlehem and 11 miles (18 km) west-southwest of Easton.
Bus transportation
Public bus service in Northampton County is available through the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, known as LANta. A shuttle bus service, The Bethlehem Loop, also operates in Bethlehem. NJ Transit provides service from Easton's Centre Square to the Phillipsburg area.
Major highways
Telecommunications
Northampton County was once served only by the 215 area code from 1947 (when the North American Numbering Plan of the Bell System went into effect) until 1994. With the county's growing population, however, Northampton County was afforded area code 610 in 1994. Today, Northampton County is covered by 610 except for the Portland exchange which uses 570. An overlay area code, 484, was added to the 610 service area in 1999.[16] A plan to introduce area code 835 as an additional overlay was rescinded in 2001.[17]
Recreation
There are two Pennsylvania state parks in Northampton County:
- Delaware Canal State Park follows the course of the old Delaware Canal along the Delaware River from Easton in Northampton County to Bristol in Bucks County.
- Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
Communities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and two towns. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Northampton County:
Cities
- Bethlehem (partly in Lehigh County)
- Easton (county seat)
Boroughs
Townships
Census-designated places
Census-designated places are unincorporated communities designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law.
Other unincorporated places
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Northampton County.[18]
† county seat
Rank | City/borough/township/etc. | Municipal type | Population (2010 Census) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Bethlehem (partially in Lehigh County) | City | 74,982 |
2 | † Easton | City | 26,800 |
3 | Bethlehem Township | Township | 23,730 |
4 | Palmer Township | Township | 20,691 |
5 | Forks Township | Township | 14,721 |
6 | Hanover Township | Township | 10,866 |
7 | Lower Saucon Township | Township | 10,772 |
8 | Lehigh Township | Township | 10,527 |
9 | Northampton | Borough | 9,926 |
10 | Moore Township | Township | 9,198 |
11 | Bushkill Township | Township | 8,178 |
12 | Wilson | Borough | 7,896 |
13 | Middletown | CDP | 7,441 |
14 | Upper Mount Bethel Township | Township | 6,706 |
15 | Upper Nazareth Township | Township | 6,231 |
16 | Plainfield Township | Township | 6,138 |
17 | Hellertown | Borough | 5,898 |
18 | Williams Township | Township | 5,884 |
19 | Nazareth | Borough | 5,746 |
20 | Lower Nazareth Township | Township | 5,674 |
21 | Bangor | Borough | 5,273 |
22 | Washington Township | Township | 5,122 |
23 | East Allen Township | Township | 4,930 |
24 | Allen Township | Township | 4,269 |
25 | Palmer Heights | CDP | 3,762 |
26 | Pen Argyl | Borough | 3,595 |
27 | Eastlawn Gardens | CDP | 3,307 |
28 | Lower Mount Bethel Township | Township | 3,101 |
29 | North Catasauqua | Borough | 2,849 |
30 | Wind Gap | Borough | 2,720 |
31 | Bath | Borough | 2,693 |
32 | Freemansburg | Borough | 2,636 |
33 | Old Orchard | CDP | 2,434 |
34 | Walnutport | Borough | 2,070 |
35 | Cherryville | CDP | 1,580 |
36 | Roseto | Borough | 1,567 |
37 | Belfast | CDP | 1,257 |
38 | West Easton | Borough | 1,257 |
39 | Tatamy | Borough | 1,203 |
40 | East Bangor | Borough | 1,172 |
41 | Raubsville | CDP | 1,088 |
42 | Stockertown | Borough | 927 |
43 | Martins Creek | CDP | 631 |
44 | Ackermanville | CDP | 610 |
45 | Portland | Borough | 519 |
46 | Glendon | Borough | 440 |
47 | Chapman | Borough | 199 |
Notable people
References
- ^ a b c "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ Duck, Michael (May 20, 2006). "Cement museum nurtures nostalgia in Pennsylvania". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University".
- ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 24, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Northampton County, Pennsylvania".
- ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018.
- ^ "The bellwethers: What do voters in eastern PA know that the rest don't?". PennLive.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ "A Pennsylvania County’s Election Day Nightmare Underscores Voting Machine Concerns," The New York Times, November 30, 2019.
- ^ "Pennsylvania says election went well but Republicans disagree; both following Northampton County problems," The Morning Call, November 6, 2019
- ^ a b Center, Legislativate Data Processing. "Find Your Legislator". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ "NANP-Overlay of 610 (Pennsylvania) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) with 484 NPA" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2010. (359 KB)
- ^ "PA 835 Implementation for 484/610 NPA Rescinded – 835 NPA Code Reclaimed" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2010. (20.8 KB)
- ^ CNMP, US Census Bureau. "This site has been redesigned and relocated. - U.S. Census Bureau". www.census.gov. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
Further reading
- Frances S. Fox, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
- William J. Heller, History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh. In Three Volumes. New York: American Historical Society, 1920. Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3
External links
- Official website
- Northampton County news at Lehigh Valley Live
- "Famous People from the Lehigh Valley," The Morning Call, August 18, 2006
40°45′N 75°19′W / 40.75°N 75.31°W
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