Indiana, Pennsylvania

For many years the major industry in Indiana, Pennsylvania was Coal mining, but the mines closed early in the 20th century, and the area still has economic difficulties. Natural gas production and servieing though has been a boon to the area. Indiana is home to the biggest privately owned drilling company in the United States, S.W. Jack Drilling Company , NASDQ listed Superior Well Services, Inc. , home to The Reschini Group , along with a host of other production and service firms.

Its largest employer is Indiana University Of Pennsylvania , the largest of the fourteen state-run universities.

The borough currently promotes itself as the " Christmas Tree Capital of the World" due to the large number of Christmas tree farms in the surrounding area.

Indiana, Pennsylvania was the hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart , who was born there and lived at 104 North 7th Street. Despite leaving the area upon graduating high school, the town took an almost sycophantic approach to Stewart, with the local newspaper periodically publishing rumors in his later years that Stewart planned to return there to live. On May 20 , 1983 , Stewart was given a 75th birthday celebration by the town, after which he never made another public appearance in the area. Before Stewart's death, a museum to his memory was fabricated from part of the local public library, and a statue of Stewart was erected in his memory at the county courthouse during his 75th birthday. The town annually holds a Jimmy Stewart film festival as part of the town's "It's A Wonderful Life" holiday celebration.

Despite its size, the Indiana area is home to two NASDAQ and one NYSE listed companies. S&T Bancorp, Inc. , First Commonwealth Financial Corp. , both western and central PA banks), and Superior Well Services Inc. , a natural gas and oil service company.

Indiana is also the location of the main campus of the Indiana University Of Pennsylvania .

GEOGRAPHY

Indiana, Pennsylvania is located at 40°37'16" North, 79°9'18" West (40.621084, -79.154903). The borough is an independent municipality located within White Township . For some time in the 1990s there was discussion of merging the borough and township, but nothing seems to have come of it.

According to the United States Census Bureau , the borough has a total area of 4.6 Km&² (1.8 Mi&² ). 4.6 km&² (1.8 mi&²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of the Census of 2000, there were 14,895 people, 4,804 households, and 1,666 families residing in the borough. The Population Density was 3,267.6/km&² (8,440.0/mi&²). There were 5,096 housing units at an average density of 1,117.9/km&² (2,887.6/mi&²). The racial makeup of the borough was 91.51% White , 5.19% African American , 0.07% Native American , 1.89% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.44% from Other Races , and 0.89% from two or more races. 1.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,804 households out of which 14.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.5% were Married Couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 65.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the borough the population was spread out with 8.2% under the age of 18, 59.4% from 18 to 24, 13.7% from 25 to 44, 10.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $21,279, and the median income for a family was $47,192. Males had a median income of $26,506 versus $22,471 for females. The Per Capita Income for the borough was $12,317. 44.1% of the population and 11.2% of families were below the Poverty Line . 14.3% of those under the age of 18 and 11.5% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)

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Indiana, Pennsylvania