Carbon County, Pennsylvania


Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth.
The county borders Lehigh and Northampton counties in the state's Lehigh Valley region to its south, Monroe County to its east, Luzerne County to its north, and Schuylkill County to its west. The county is approximately northwest of Allentown, the state's third-largest city, and west of New York City, the nation's largest city.
The county seat is Jim Thorpe, which was founded in 1818 as Mauch Chunk. The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Carbon County.
WWW carboncounty.com

History

Moravian settlement

In 1745, the first colonial settlement in Carbon County was established by a Moravian mission in Gnadenhutten, in present-day Lehighton. By 1752, increased hostility between colonialists and Indians put Gnadenhutten at risk for attack; in 1755, the community was attacked by Indians.
In the late 1780s, the county's settlement at Lehigh Gap failed, and colonizers did not return for a decade, in the late 1780s.

Coal

In 1791, a homesteader, Phillip Ginter, hunting on Sharp Mountain along Pisgah Mountain discovered a black tone coal outcropping, and conveyed a chunk of it to Weissport.

Industrialization

Lehigh Coal Mine Company operations had managed to open up the mouth area of the Nesquehoning Creek by 1800. This area became known as Lausanne, or Lausanne Landing, after the inn and tavern built there called Landing Tavern. An Indian trail crossed the stream near the confluence with Jean's Run and the camp grounds of their boat builders, climbing northwestwards along a traverse to the next water gap west, eroded into the southern flank of Broad Mountain in the Lehigh Valley. It connected across a barrier ridge whose waters originated in the saddle-pass where Hazleton was built. The trail became the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike in 1804. PA Route 93 follows this route with the exception of where modern road building capabilities allowed improved positioning. This road cut off a trip from Philadelphia to the Wyoming Valley and the northern sections of the Coal Region.

Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company

In 1827, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, based in present-day Jim Thorpe, launched the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, the nation's second operating railroad. The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, also located in Carbon County, was the first railway to operate steam locomotives as traction engines and prime movers in the United States. The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway connected mines west of Beaver Meadows and Weatherly to the Lehigh Canal opposite Lehighton.

County's founding

Carbon County was created on March 13, 1843, from parts of Northampton and Monroe counties and was named for the extensive deposits of anthracite coal in the region, where it was first discovered in 1791. Early attempts were made to exploit the deposits by Lehigh Coal Mine Company, whose expeditions broke trail and pioneered river bank sites using mule powered technology to log, saw, and build arks to carry bags of coal to Philadelphia with only scant success.

Molly Maguires

In the 19th century, Carbon County was the location of trials and executions of the Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society that terrorrized the region, attacking officials, police officers, and industrial equipment.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Blue Mountain forms the southern boundary of Carbon County. The northeast area of the county is located in the Pocono Mountains and the northwest area includes portions of Broad and Spring mountains.
The county is drained by the Lehigh River except for a small area in western Packer Township and the borough of Lansford that are drained by the Still Creek and Panther Creek, respectively, into the Little Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River, and the Audenried area in the northwest corner that drains into the Susquehanna River via the Catawissa Creek. The Lehigh River cuts a gorge between Jim Thorpe and White Haven, which hosts the Lehigh Gorge State Park.

Climate

Carbon County has a humid continental climate and is mostly in hardiness zone 6b except for the NE part of the county and higher NW areas where it is 6a. Average monthly temperatures at Jake Arner Memorial Airport range from 27.8 °F in January to 72.5 °F in July, while at the Pocono interchange of the Turnpike they range from 22.9 °F in January to 68.3 °F in July.

Adjacent counties

Transportation

Buses

Carbon Transit fixed-route bus service consists of Route 701 and Route 702, both connecting to the LANta Route 325 bus in Palmerton. Carbon Transit also operates CT Flex service in Jim Thorpe, Penn Forest Township, and Kidder Township. Also, Hazleton Public Transit bus route 30 serves northwestern Carbon County via Beaver Meadows and Junedale to Weatherly. Audenried is served by HPT route 20.
Fullington Trailways provides intercity service to Carbon County with stops in Lehighton and Jim Thorpe. Martz Trailways has a stop in Kidder Township near the Pocono interchange of Interstate 476 for service between Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, Quakertown, and Philadelphia. This is an Amtrak Thruway route, connecting to Amtrak trains at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Martz also operates casino bus routes to Atlantic City from the stop.

Airports

Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton provides general aviation. The nearest commercial passenger service is at Lehigh Valley International Airport or Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 64,749. The median age was 46.7 years. 19.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.5 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 90.4% White, 1.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.1% from some other race, and 4.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.6% of the population.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 56,95261,16857,43996.24%93.74%88.71%
Black or African American alone 3338881,0700.56%1.36%1.65%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 83100950.14%0.15%0.14%
Asian alone 1833043270.31%0.46%0.50%
Pacific Islander alone 1724140.02%0.03%0.02%
Other race alone 17362160.02%0.05%0.33%
Mixed race or Multiracial 3595841,9460.61%0.89%3.00%
Hispanic or Latino 8582,1453,6421.45%3.28%5.62%
Total58,80265,24964,749100.00%100.00%100.00%

41.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 58.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 26,850 households in the county, of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.2% were married-couple households, 19.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 34,152 housing units, of which 21.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.4% were owner-occupied and 24.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.8%.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 58,802 people, 23,701 households, and 16,424 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 30,492 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 97.82% White, 0.60% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 1.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29.4% were of German, 10.1% Irish, 9.2% Italian, 7.9% American, 6.6% Slovak, 6.0% Polish and 5.8% Ukrainian ancestry.
There were 23,701 households, out of which 28.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.80% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.50% 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 2.93.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.20% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 94.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.30 males.

Law and government

Voter registration

As of February 7, 2024, there were 43,217 registered voters in the county. There are 21,871 registered Republicans, 14,592 registered Democrats, 4,723 voters registered non-affiliated voters, and 2,031 voters registered to other parties.

County commissioners

  • Wayne Nothstein, Republican
  • Mike Sofranko, chairman
  • Rocky Ahner, Democratic

State Senate

State House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

United States Senate

Education

Community, junior and technical colleges

Public school districts

School districts include:

Career technical school

Carbon Career and Technical Institute, public school located in Jim Thorpe

Intermediate Unit

The public and private K-12 schools in Carbon County are served by Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21.

Recreation

Mauch Chunk Lake is a county-run park that offers swimming, camping, hiking and cross country skiing in the winter. There are three Pennsylvania state parks in Carbon County:

Municipalities

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, [List of towns and List of towns and boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs], [List of List of townships in Pennsylvania|townships in Pennsylvania|townships], and, in the case of Bloomsburg, a town. The following boroughs and townships are located in Carbon County:

Boroughs

Townships

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 communities

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Carbon County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1LehightonBorough5,500
2PalmertonBorough5,414
3† Jim ThorpeBorough4,781
4Indian Mountain Lake CDP4,372
5LansfordBorough3,941
6NesquehoningBorough3,349
7Summit HillBorough3,034
8WeatherlyBorough2,525
9Towamensing TrailsCDP2,292
10Weissport EastCDP1,624
11BowmanstownBorough937
12TresckowCDP880
13Beaver MeadowsBorough869
14ParryvilleBorough525
15Holiday PoconoCDP476
16WeissportBorough412
17East SideBorough317
18AlbrightsvilleCDP202