ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

'Abington Township' is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 56,103 at the 2000 census.
Abington Township is one of Montgomery County’s oldest communities dating back to before 1700 and being incorporated in 1704. It is home to some of the county’s oldest transportation routes, industries and churches. Many of these older business and transportation centers were the forerunners of modern Abington. Today, Abington Township is a highly desirable residential area that contains a major shopping center, several small businesses, and a few of Montgomery County's largest employers.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Communities

Schools

Services infrastructure

Notable people from Abington

External links

Notes and References

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 40.0 km² (15.5 mi²). 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 56,103 people, 21,690 households, and 15,139 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,402.0/km² (3,630.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 84.12% Whites, 10.82% Blacks, 0.09% Native American, 3.27% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.57% of the population.
There were 21,690 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 57.4% were married couples living together, and 30.2% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the township the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $59,921, and the median income for a family was $70,959. Males had a median income of $47,408 versus $36,572 for females. The per capita income for the township was $30,331. About 2.0% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Abington Township does not have a mayor. Rather it is governed by a Board of Commissioners, who are elected one from each of the township's fifteen wards. A President of the Board is elected from among these commissioners, and serves as the head of government for Abington Township. James Ring is the current Commission President.
Most of the township is in the Thirteenth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Allyson Schwartz) with a small part in the Eighth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Patrick Murphy).
In 2004, Pennsylvanian political scientists Dr. G. Terry Madonna and Dr. Michael Young identified Abington Township as an especially interesting political bellwether—a local area "looked to for early readings of how national elections will turn out."^[1]

Communities

Abington Township comprises sixteen "communities" as follow alphabetically:
Communities:

★ Abington

★ Ardsley

★ Crestmont

★ Elkins Park

★ Glenside

★ Hollywood

★ Huntingdon Valley

★ Meadowbrook

★ Noble

★ North Hills

★ Roslyn

★ Roy Chester

★ Rydal

★ Willow Grove
The communities are unofficial, unincorporated subdivisions of the township, corresponding roughly to voting districts and elementary school placement. Their primary importance aside from community identity is the postal system (e.g., to send a letter to someone living in the Glenside community, you would address the letter to Glenside, Pennsylvania rather than Abington Township, Pennsylvania). Additionally, some portions of some of these subdivisions, including Glenside and Elkins Park, are actually in neighbooring townships.

Schools

Abington is served by the Abington School District. The elementary schools in this township are:

★ Copper Beech Elementary

★ Highland Elementary

★ McKinley Elementary

★ Overlook Elementary

★ Roslyn Elementary

★ Rydal Elementary

★ Willow Hill Elementary
The middle school (grades 7-9) is Abington Junior High School and the senior high (grades 10-12) is Abington Senior High School.
There are also several private schools located inside the township, such as Meadowbrook and Abington Friends School. Penn State’s Abington campus is located in the township as well.
The school district received some notoriety in the 1960s when it became one of the key parties in the school prayer controversy, with ''Abington School District v. Schempp''. The Supreme Court case resulted in a declaration of the unconstitutionality of school-sanctioned Bible reading.

Services infrastructure

Abington Memorial Hospital is located in the community of Abington.^[2]
Alverthorpe Park is located in the community of Abington.

Abington Art Center is a contemporary art museum located in Abington.

Notable people from Abington

★ Dr. Amar Gopal Bose - MIT Professor and founder of the audio company Bose Corporation, attended Abington Senior High School.

★ Deborah Kaplan - screenwriter and film director

★ Bil Keane - cartoonist of The Family Circus resided in Roslyn with his family from 1948 - 1959.

★ Chad Kolarik - University of Michigan hockey player, drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes

★ Joey Lawrence - actor

★ Matthew Lawrence - actor (brother of Joey Lawrence)

★ Benjamin Lay - was a philanthropist and abolitionist

★ James Morrow - Science fiction author, was born in the area and alludes to the case in his novel ''Blameless in Abaddon'', whose title community of ''"Abaddon"'' is a parallel of Abington.

★ Mike Richter - Retired NHL Goaltender

★ Bob Saget - actor and comedian

★ Ellery Schempp - Physicist, famous for his involvement as a student in ''Abington v. Schempp''.

★ David Sirota - author

External links

★ Abington Township

★ Abington School District

★ Alverthorpe Park

Notes and References

1. Pennsylvania's Crystal Ball
2. Abington Memorial Hospital Home Page ; Abington Community Information (showing map with location of Abington Memorial Hospital)