Beaver, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Beaver is a borough
Borough (Pennsylvania)
In the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a borough is a self-governing municipal entity that is usually smaller than a city. There are 958 boroughs in Pennsylvania. All municipalities in Pennsylvania are classified as either cities, boroughs, or townships...

 in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Beaver County
Beaver County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile . There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 per square mile...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, at the confluence
Confluence (geography)
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...

 of the Beaver
Beaver River (Pennsylvania)
The Beaver River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Western Pennsylvania in the United States with a length of approximately 21 mi . It flows through a historically important coal-producing region north of Pittsburgh...

 and Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 Rivers. As of the 2000 census, the borough population was 4,775, having dropped from 5,641 in 1940.

Robert Linn
Robert Linn
Robert P. Linn was the second longest serving mayor in the United States. Linn, a Republican, served 58 years as the mayor of Beaver, Pennsylvania, a borough around northwest of Pittsburgh.-Biography:...

 was the mayor of Beaver for 58 years (1946–2004), making him the longest serving mayor in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The borough was the home of influential U. S. Senator "Boss" Quay
Matthew Quay
Matthew Stanley Quay was an immensely powerful Pennsylvania political boss; "kingmaker" . "Boss" Quay's political principles and actions stood in contrast to an unusually attractive personality...

.

History

The area around Beaver was originally home to the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...

 tribe. Later, the Mingo
Mingo
The Mingo are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans made up of peoples who migrated west to the Ohio Country in the mid-eighteenth century. Anglo-Americans called these migrants mingos, a corruption of mingwe, an Eastern Algonquian name for Iroquoian-language groups in general. Mingos have also...

, Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...

, and other displaced groups moved into the area. The area was part of the Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...

 that was in dispute during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

.

Beaver became the site of Fort McIntosh
Fort McIntosh (Pennsylvania)
Fort McIntosh was an early American log frontier fort situated near the confluence of the Ohio River and the Beaver River in what is now Beaver, Pennsylvania....

, a Revolutionary War
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 era Patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...

 frontier fort. After the war, the fort was the home of the First American Regiment, the oldest active unit in the US Army. The fort was abandoned in 1788 and razed a short time later. By then, the frontier had moved westward and there was no further need for a permanent garrison to protect the area.

The town was laid out in 1792. In 1800, it became the county seat of the newly formed Beaver County. The first county court was established in the town in 1804. The town's growth was steady until 1879 when the arrival of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio at nearby Haselton, Ohio in the west and Connellsville, ...

 caused a major growth spurt. In February 1884 a massive flood caused extensive damage. In 1974, an archeological excavation was conducted at the site of Fort McIntosh.

In late 2007, it was proposed that Beaver and Brighton Township
Brighton Township, Pennsylvania
Brighton Township is a township in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,024 at the 2000 census.-History:In late 2007, it was proposed that Beaver and Brighton Township combine. According to a report by the Governor's Center for Local Government Services, the two...

 combine. According to a report by the Governor's Center for Local Government Services, the two municipalities would possibly derive a significant financial benefit from uniting. Also being considered was the type of combination: either merger, in which one of the municipalities would be annexed by the other, or consolidation, in which the two would become a single new municipality under a new name. Any union would require voter approval.

Geography

Beaver is located at 40°41′38"N 80°18′29"W (40.693865, -80.307944).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the borough has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²), of which 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) (13.89%) is water.

Beaver Historic District

In 1996, almost the entire community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 as a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

. Centered on Beaver's commercial Third Street, the buildings in the district date primarily to the nineteenth century, although some twentieth-century structures are present. Some of the district's most prominent buildings are five churches, the county jail, and the county courthouse, although most of the district consists of residential neighborhoods. Included in the boundaries of the district is the Matthew S. Quay House
Matthew S. Quay House
The Matthew S. Quay House is a historic structure and was a home of Matthew Stanley Quay, a United States Senator from Pennsylvania, Medal of Honor winner, and Republican National Committee chairman who was campaign manager for Benjamin Harrison's successful presidential campaign.Located in Beaver,...

, the National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 home of Beaver native Senator Matthew Quay
Matthew Quay
Matthew Stanley Quay was an immensely powerful Pennsylvania political boss; "kingmaker" . "Boss" Quay's political principles and actions stood in contrast to an unusually attractive personality...

, and the site of Fort McIntosh
Fort McIntosh (Pennsylvania)
Fort McIntosh was an early American log frontier fort situated near the confluence of the Ohio River and the Beaver River in what is now Beaver, Pennsylvania....

, a fort constructed in the 1780s.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 4,775 people, 2,112 households, and 1,260 families residing in the borough. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 5,119.3 people per square mile (1,982.4/km²). There were 2,297 housing units at an average density of 2,462.6 per square mile (953.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 96.44% White, 2.64% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.27% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.

There were 2,112 households out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the borough the population was spread out with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $42,113, and the median income for a family was $57,208. Males had a median income of $43,198 versus $26,709 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the borough was $24,003. About 3.7% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.

Trivia

  • The movies Wonder Boys
    Wonder Boys (film)
    Wonder Boys is a dark comedy film based on the 1995 novel of the same title by Michael Chabon. Directed by Curtis Hanson, it stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university...

    and Gung Ho
    Gung Ho (film)
    Gung Ho is a 1986 Ron Howard comedy film, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Michael Keaton and Gedde Watanabe. The film's story portrayed the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation...

    had some scenes filmed here.

Notable natives and residents

  • John Allison
    John Allison (Representative)
    John Allison was an American politician, most notably serving in the U.S. House as a Representative of Pennsylvania during the 1850s....

    , (1812–1878), born in Beaver, lawyer and United States Congressman
  • Tom McCreery
    Tom McCreery
    Thomas Livingston "Tom" McCreery was an outfielder and pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Louisville Colonels , New York Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates , Brooklyn Superbas and Boston Beaneaters...

    , (1874–1941), major league baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     player
  • Amber Brkich Mariano
    Amber Mariano
    Amber Joy Mariano is an American television personality and winner of Survivor: All-Stars, after appearing as a contestant on one of its predecessors, Survivor: The Australian Outback...

    , (born August 11, 1978), winner of Survivor: All Stars
  • David J. Acer, Florida Dentist who was believed to have intentionally infected patients with the AIDS
    AIDS
    Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

     virus.
  • Matthew Quay
    Matthew Quay
    Matthew Stanley Quay was an immensely powerful Pennsylvania political boss; "kingmaker" . "Boss" Quay's political principles and actions stood in contrast to an unusually attractive personality...

    , powerful United States Senator
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

  • Andre Previn
    André Previn
    André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...

     and Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...

    , From 1976-1984, Previn was music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
    Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
    The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...

    .
  • John Skorupan
    John Skorupan
    John Paul Skorupan is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants. He played college football at Penn State University and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1973 NFL Draft...

    , NFL Linebacker Buffalo Bills, New York Giants.
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