Downingtown PA 

Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 33 miles (53 km) west of Philadelphia. Downingtown has been in existence since the early 1700s and boasts a number of historic buildings and structures. The town was originally named Milltown due to its number of mills along the Brandywine Creek, the first of which was founded by Thomas Moore. The Bicking family also had paper mills in the area, with Frederick Bicking from Winterburg, Germany, being the patriarch of the Bicking paper families. Around the time of the American Revolution, Milltown became more commonly known as Downing's Town because Thomas Downing owned a number of those mills. The town's name officially became Downingtown in 1812. The east branch Brandywine Creek runs through the middle of the town. The town is located along what was originally the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which was an early westward road in the wagon days. The Turnpike later became the Lincoln Highway, which was the first paved road to cross the nation from sea to sea. The famous Irish patriot and martyr Theobald Wolfe Tone briefly lived here. President Lincoln's funeral train passed through Downingtown. The 1958 movie, The Blob, was filmed in and around Downingtownn.

Geography

Downingtown is located at 40°0′23″N, 75°42′22″W (40.006406, -75.706239).GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 5.7 km² (2.2 mi²). 5.7 km² (2.2 mi²) of it is land and barely any of the land is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 7,589 people, 3,059 households, and 1,853 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,338.0/km² (3,473.2/mi²). There were 3,197 housing units at an average density of 563.6/km² (1,463.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 83.65% White, 10.79% African American, 0.12% Native American, 2.29% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.44% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.53% of the population.

There are 3,059 households, out of which 31.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.09.

The borough's population is spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $45,979, and the median income for a family was $53,468. Males had a median income of $38,893 versus $29,284 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,634. About 3.0% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education

• Downingtown Area School District
  • Downingtown East High School
  • Downingtown West High School

Other schools

• 21st Century Cyber Charter School is a school which allows students that are mentally or physically unable to attend normal school to take classes over the internet. Its servers and staff are housed in the Chester County Intermediate Unit facility.
• Bishop Shanahan High School is one of the largest Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Construction on the school, which was originally located in nearby West Chester, began in 1996. The school was opened in 1998, and the first class graduated in 1999.

External links

• Borough of Downingtown's website