Haverford Township

Haverford Township (named after the town of Haverfordwest in Wales, UK) is a home rule township in Delaware County, near Philadelphia, in southeastern Pennsylvania, United States. It maintains its legal name as the Township of Haverford, presumably for historic reasons. Despite being under a home rule charter since 1977, it continues to operate under a Board of Commissioners divided into wards, as do "First Class" townships that are still under the Pennsylvania Township Code.

Haverford Township contains portions of the communities of Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, Drexel Hill, and Wynnewood. The unincorporated "town" of Havertown lies wholly within Haverford Township. The initial 2010 US Census population was 48,491.

History

Haverford Township was founded by Welsh Quakers in 1681 from land purchased by William Penn. The first three families arrived in Haverford Township in 1682. Nitre Hall Powder Mills was in operation before 1810 and provided gunpowder for the War of 1812. Swell Bubble Gum, the township's last major industry, was closed in 2004. The township is currently in the final stages of its preliminary construction of the Haverford State Hospital land.

Haverford Township also holds the distinction of having hosted 2 different men's major golf championship's at 2 different golf clubs, Merion Golf Club hosted the 1934, 1950, 1971 and 1981 US Open and Llanerch Country Club hosted the 1958 PGA Championship. Merion Golf Club will host the 2013 US Open.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 48,498 people, 18,061 households, and 13,021 families residing in the township. The population density was 4,844.6 people per square mile (1,870.6/km²). There were 18,378 housing units at an average density of 1,835.8 per square mile (708.9/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 93.99% White, 2.12% African American, 0.10% Native American, 2.76% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.89% of the population.

There were 18,061 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.17.

The age distribution was 24.9% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.

According to a 2010 estimate, the median income for a household in the township was $87,283, and the median income for a family was $103,138. Males had a median income of $52,471 versus $38,852 for females. The per capita income for the township was $29,749. About 2.0% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public school students living in Haverford Township attend schools in the School District of Haverford Township. Haverford High School is in the township.

Haverford College is partially located within Haverford Township and partially within Lower Merion Township.

Courtesy of Wikipedia