Dauphin, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Dauphin is a borough in Dauphin County
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. The population was 791 at the 2010 census. Dauphin's ZIP code
is 17018. It is part of the Harrisburg
–Carlisle
Metropolitan Statistical Area
.
's edge is alluvial flood plain, but Dauphin sits at the head of a narrow valley between two mountains, at the mouth of Stony Creek
. The valley between the two mountains is called Stony Valley, which contains the villages of Singersville
and Ellendale Forge
. This section along the Susquehanna River is a gateway from the southeastern plains into the Appalachians and the north-central part of the state. Dauphin is surrounded by Middle Paxton Township
, which itself comprises mountains and valleys south of the confluence
of the Susquehanna and Juniata
rivers to the west. From south to north, the mountains are named: Blue Mountain
, Second Mountain, Third or Stony Mountain, and Peters Mountain. The eastern end of these valleys are generally undeveloped state game lands
and protected watershed
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the borough has a total area of 0.45 square miles (1.2 km²), all of it land.
As of the census
of 2010, there were 791 people, 302 households, and 217 families residing in the borough. The population density
was 1,788.6 people per square mile (90.6/km2). There were 337 housing units at an average density of 762.0 per square mile (295.7/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.35% White, 0.76% African-American, 0.51% Asian, 0.38% from other races
, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.39% of the population. 10% claimed German ancestry, 8% Irish, 8% English, and 35% considered themselves "American."
As of 2009, there were 302 households (263 occupied, 39 vacant) out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were married couples
living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of 15 unmarried partner housholds, 3 households were listed as male householder with male partner, while there were no female householder/female partner listed. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the borough the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $44,219, and the median income for a family was $50,125. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $25,865 for females. The per capita income
for the borough was $19,227. About 5.1% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
(Middle Paxton Elementary, Central Dauphin Middle School, Central Dauphin High School) The nearest parochial elementary school is St. Margaret Mary School, 2826 Herr Street, Harrisburg. Covenant Christian Academy (Protestant, Evangelical), Bishop McDevitt High School
(Roman Catholic) and Harrisburg Academy
(private, non-sectarian) also serve the Dauphin Borough/Middle Paxton area.
Adults in Dauphin Borough have a variety of educational achievement. 46% of adults over 25 years of age have completed high school (including equivalency.) 7.6% hold Assiciate Degrees; 11%, Bachelor; 2.9%, Master; 0.4%, Professional; 0.4%, Doctorate.
soldier, Colonel Timothy Green. The locality became known as Green's Mill, after the grist mill Colonel Green built at the mouth of the creek. According to local history, the area was also known for its colonial-period fort, alternately called Fort Lyon or Fort McKee. Colonel Green continued to hold highly-valued real estate until his death in 1812. By 1814, his plantation property with its mills became part of his son Judge Innis Green's holdings. Judge Green continued to add to his real estate holdings throughout the early nineteenth century.
The surrounding township is called Middle Paxton, part of the former Paxton Township of Lancaster County
prior to the creation of Dauphin County in 1785. Middle Paxton Township was incorporated in 1787. The main feature of geography of this area are ancient hills or mountains and narrow valleys that generally run east to west with streams emptying into the Susquehanna River. The township remained rural until the twentieth century.
Judge Green laid out Dauphin as Port Lyon in recognition of the former Fort in 1826. Green named the Port Lyon streets after Pennsylvania rivers and creeks. Opportunities for economic expansion for the area appeared bright that year, as legislation was passed for creation of the Pennsylvania Canal
. This fostered expectations that Dauphin would become a port to the coalfield
s lying to the northeast. Green acted on behalf of the Dauphin & Susquehanna (D & S) Coal Company, which had purchased eighteen tracts of land on or near Little Mountain, totaling about 7000 acres (28.3 km²), from a group of businessmen. Charles Bird had earlier that year purchased four tracts of land in Middle Paxton Township from Judge Green. Bird's interest was purchased by a group of businessmen who then sold to the D & S Coal Company. Green received the last payment on the agreement price of US $10,000.00 in 1835.
Dauphin was incorporated into a borough by an act of Assembly
in 1845. According to the 1850 census, Dauphin had 650 inhabitants at that time. There were 124 families in 118 dwellings. The 1860 census for the borough illustrated the working-class nature of the people living there. The borough had 649 inhabitants in 129 households, nearly the same as recorded in 1850. Fifty-five of the men listed their occupation as "day laborer." The 1870 census showed a marked change in the occupation of Dauphin's residents. Jobs related to the canal had dropped dramatically, while those associated with the railroads had increased substantially. At this time there were 151 households living in 148 dwellings. The borough's population had increased to 742. By 1875, the borough contained four churches, three schools and one select school, and two lodges. The 1880 census showed 155 families living in 146 dwellings in Dauphin, but by now they occupied 154 dwellings.
In the early twentieth century, several "summer" houses were constructed on the edge of Third Mountain, south of Stony Creek. Middle-class residents of Harrisburg City
built these houses as second homes to supplement their primary townhouse
s. These houses are collectively called "Hillside" and have since become year-round homes.
The borough has always been associated with transportation, situated along the Susquehanna River. Original Native American
trails would have followed waterways such as the river and Stony Creek. Development of the canal system of transporting goods during the early nineteenth century gave way to the rise of the railroads, which lasted for much of the twentieth. U.S. Route 22
became a major highway through Pennsylvania during the mid-twentieth century, parts of which were actually constructed within the footprint of the former Pennsylvania Canal. Dauphin thus developed as an early transportation hub, but in more recent decades had been bypassed by more significant routes of transport, such as the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System
.
In the last forty or so years, Dauphin Borough has been a bedroom community of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital. Many of its civic centers had gone into steep decline, industry migrated elsewhere, taverns and hotels closed, as did schools and churches. The railroad, which declined during the late twentieth century, has been reduced to two tracks paralleling the river, with no stops or stations in Dauphin. One of the reasons for the decline was that as traffic on U.S. Rte. 22 increased, the borough became less desirable as a place in which to reside. By the 1980s, traffic on Rte. 22 was so heavy that the road essentially cut the Borough in half. Residents often had such a difficult time traveling across the borough that they waited until after morning and evening rush hours. On weekends when the Pennsylvania State University
in State College
, some ninety miles upstate, held football games, Rte. 22 through the borough was impassable.
In older times, Dauphin was the hub of a collection of small village centers in Middle Paxton Township of Dauphin County. Some of these settlements included: Singersville, nearby the borough; Ellendale Forge, two miles up Stony Creek Valley; Dauphin Furnace, at the mouth of Clark Creek
; Speeceville, at the foot of Peter's Mountain; and Heckton Mills, about a mile downriver from Dauphin. Much of the eastern part of the township, between Peters Mountain and Second Mountain, is forested and preserved as State Game Lands.
Most of these village centers have ceased to exist as the western part of Middle Paxton Township became suburbanized. The nearest organized towns to Dauphin are Duncannon
, a borough on the western shore of the river; Halifax
, a borough north of Peters Mountain; and Harrisburg, the state capital to the south.
In the late 1990s, following many years of planning and several postponements, Dauphin Borough was bypassed. A construction project that had caused much controversy resulted in relocating U.S. Rte. 22 closer to the river and out of, or over, Dauphin Borough. Approximately 28% of the borough's taxable real estate was destroyed in order to construct the bypass. The remaining town, free of the traffic problems, became once again desirable as a location for commuters to Harrisburg. Some of the last remaining open land in the borough was developed as residential space, and older structures in the borough were increasingly bought and renovated by commuters. Despite the losses in tax revenues owing to construction of the bypass, the local government continues to operate through cost-saving, cooperative efforts with Middle Paxton Township. Sewer system connections were extended to borough residents in Hillside and along River Road as part of a collection system and pump station upgrqade. In 2011, the Dauphin/Middle Paxton Fire Company relocated its apparatus from the borough to a new government building housing Middle Paxton Township offices and Public Safety. The local ambulance association became dormant, and Susquehanna Township E.M.S. began covering medical emergencies in both borough and township.
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Dauphin County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is one of the three counties comprising the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 census, the population was 268,100. The county includes the city of Harrisburg, which has served as the state capital...
, 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...
. The population was 791 at the 2010 census. Dauphin's ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 17018. It is part of the Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
–Carlisle
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Harrisburg metropolitan area
The Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area , as defined the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley, anchored by the cities of Harrisburg and Carlisle...
.
Geography
Dauphin is located at 40.366687°N 76.931168°W. The land at Susquehanna RiverSusquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
's edge is alluvial flood plain, but Dauphin sits at the head of a narrow valley between two mountains, at the mouth of Stony Creek
Stony Creek (Pennsylvania)
Stony Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River from its headwaters to the gate of Pennsylvania State Game Lands 211...
. The valley between the two mountains is called Stony Valley, which contains the villages of Singersville
Singersville, Pennsylvania
Singersville is an unincorporated community in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, the latitude is 40.377, and the longitude -76.912, its elevation is .- External links :*...
and Ellendale Forge
Ellendale Forge, Pennsylvania
Ellendale Forge is an unincorporated community in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, the latitude is 40.400, and the longitude -76.852, its elevation is .- External links :*...
. This section along the Susquehanna River is a gateway from the southeastern plains into the Appalachians and the north-central part of the state. Dauphin is surrounded by Middle Paxton Township
Middle Paxton Township, Pennsylvania
Middle Paxton Township is a township in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,823 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, which itself comprises mountains and valleys south of the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Susquehanna and Juniata
Juniata River
The Juniata River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long, in central Pennsylvania in the United States. The river is considered scenic along much of its route, having a broad and shallow course passing through several mountain ridges and steeply-lined water gaps...
rivers to the west. From south to north, the mountains are named: Blue Mountain
Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)
Blue Mountain is a ridge that forms the eastern edge of the Appalachian mountain range in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It cuts across the eastern half of the state from New Jersey to Maryland, providing a distinct boundary between a number of Pennsylvania's geographical and cultural regions...
, Second Mountain, Third or Stony Mountain, and Peters Mountain. The eastern end of these valleys are generally undeveloped state game lands
Pennsylvania State Game Lands
The Pennsylvania State Game Lands are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hunting license monies.The Pennsylvania Game Commission runs a...
and protected watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
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 0.45 square miles (1.2 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
(Note: This section is being updated as 2010 Census data becomes available.)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 2010, there were 791 people, 302 households, and 217 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 1,788.6 people per square mile (90.6/km2). There were 337 housing units at an average density of 762.0 per square mile (295.7/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.35% White, 0.76% African-American, 0.51% Asian, 0.38% 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 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.39% of the population. 10% claimed German ancestry, 8% Irish, 8% English, and 35% considered themselves "American."
As of 2009, there were 302 households (263 occupied, 39 vacant) out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% 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, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of 15 unmarried partner housholds, 3 households were listed as male householder with male partner, while there were no female householder/female partner listed. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the borough the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $44,219, and the median income for a family was $50,125. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $25,865 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 $19,227. About 5.1% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Children in the borough attend public school the Central Dauphin School DistrictCentral Dauphin School District
The Central Dauphin School District is a large, suburban, public school district located in suburban Harrisburg, Pennsylvania serving students in central and eastern Dauphin County. It is the largest school district in the county, the largest in the greater Harrisburg metropolitan area and is the...
(Middle Paxton Elementary, Central Dauphin Middle School, Central Dauphin High School) The nearest parochial elementary school is St. Margaret Mary School, 2826 Herr Street, Harrisburg. Covenant Christian Academy (Protestant, Evangelical), Bishop McDevitt High School
Bishop McDevitt High School (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Bishop McDevitt High School is a private, coeducational Catholic high school of the Diocese of Harrisburg, located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. The school was founded in 1918 and renamed in 1957 to honor the memory of the Most Reverend Philip R. McDevitt, fourth bishop of Harrisburg...
(Roman Catholic) and Harrisburg Academy
Harrisburg Academy
Harrisburg Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania. The school has a diverse student body in nursery through 12th grade. The school was established in 1784 by John Harris, Jr., the founder of Harrisburg...
(private, non-sectarian) also serve the Dauphin Borough/Middle Paxton area.
Adults in Dauphin Borough have a variety of educational achievement. 46% of adults over 25 years of age have completed high school (including equivalency.) 7.6% hold Assiciate Degrees; 11%, Bachelor; 2.9%, Master; 0.4%, Professional; 0.4%, Doctorate.
History
Dauphin borough began as a settlement at the mouth of Stony Creek, the head of a valley between Second and Third Mountains. It was established by Samuel Sturgeon in 1765. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Sturgeon property was owned by Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
soldier, Colonel Timothy Green. The locality became known as Green's Mill, after the grist mill Colonel Green built at the mouth of the creek. According to local history, the area was also known for its colonial-period fort, alternately called Fort Lyon or Fort McKee. Colonel Green continued to hold highly-valued real estate until his death in 1812. By 1814, his plantation property with its mills became part of his son Judge Innis Green's holdings. Judge Green continued to add to his real estate holdings throughout the early nineteenth century.
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...
prior to the creation of Dauphin County in 1785. Middle Paxton Township was incorporated in 1787. The main feature of geography of this area are ancient hills or mountains and narrow valleys that generally run east to west with streams emptying into the Susquehanna River. The township remained rural until the twentieth century.
Judge Green laid out Dauphin as Port Lyon in recognition of the former Fort in 1826. Green named the Port Lyon streets after Pennsylvania rivers and creeks. Opportunities for economic expansion for the area appeared bright that year, as legislation was passed for creation of the Pennsylvania Canal
Pennsylvania Canal
Pennsylvania Canal refers generally to a complex system of canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and other infrastructure including, in some cases, railroads in Pennsylvania...
. This fostered expectations that Dauphin would become a port to the coalfield
Coalfield
A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological...
s lying to the northeast. Green acted on behalf of the Dauphin & Susquehanna (D & S) Coal Company, which had purchased eighteen tracts of land on or near Little Mountain, totaling about 7000 acres (28.3 km²), from a group of businessmen. Charles Bird had earlier that year purchased four tracts of land in Middle Paxton Township from Judge Green. Bird's interest was purchased by a group of businessmen who then sold to the D & S Coal Company. Green received the last payment on the agreement price of US $10,000.00 in 1835.
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
in 1845. According to the 1850 census, Dauphin had 650 inhabitants at that time. There were 124 families in 118 dwellings. The 1860 census for the borough illustrated the working-class nature of the people living there. The borough had 649 inhabitants in 129 households, nearly the same as recorded in 1850. Fifty-five of the men listed their occupation as "day laborer." The 1870 census showed a marked change in the occupation of Dauphin's residents. Jobs related to the canal had dropped dramatically, while those associated with the railroads had increased substantially. At this time there were 151 households living in 148 dwellings. The borough's population had increased to 742. By 1875, the borough contained four churches, three schools and one select school, and two lodges. The 1880 census showed 155 families living in 146 dwellings in Dauphin, but by now they occupied 154 dwellings.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
built these houses as second homes to supplement their primary townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
s. These houses are collectively called "Hillside" and have since become year-round homes.
The borough has always been associated with transportation, situated along the Susquehanna River. Original Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
trails would have followed waterways such as the river and Stony Creek. Development of the canal system of transporting goods during the early nineteenth century gave way to the rise of the railroads, which lasted for much of the twentieth. U.S. Route 22
U.S. Route 22
U.S. Route 22 is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 near the Newark Liberty International Airport.US 22 also carries the names of the William...
became a major highway through Pennsylvania during the mid-twentieth century, parts of which were actually constructed within the footprint of the former Pennsylvania Canal. Dauphin thus developed as an early transportation hub, but in more recent decades had been bypassed by more significant routes of transport, such as the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
.
In the last forty or so years, Dauphin Borough has been a bedroom community of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital. Many of its civic centers had gone into steep decline, industry migrated elsewhere, taverns and hotels closed, as did schools and churches. The railroad, which declined during the late twentieth century, has been reduced to two tracks paralleling the river, with no stops or stations in Dauphin. One of the reasons for the decline was that as traffic on U.S. Rte. 22 increased, the borough became less desirable as a place in which to reside. By the 1980s, traffic on Rte. 22 was so heavy that the road essentially cut the Borough in half. Residents often had such a difficult time traveling across the borough that they waited until after morning and evening rush hours. On weekends when the Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
in State College
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
, some ninety miles upstate, held football games, Rte. 22 through the borough was impassable.
In older times, Dauphin was the hub of a collection of small village centers in Middle Paxton Township of Dauphin County. Some of these settlements included: Singersville, nearby the borough; Ellendale Forge, two miles up Stony Creek Valley; Dauphin Furnace, at the mouth of Clark Creek
Clark Creek
Clark Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the United States.The creek is dammed to form DeHart Reservoir, part of the water supply system for the city of Harrisburg. Clark Creek joins the Susquehanna River upstream of the borough of...
; Speeceville, at the foot of Peter's Mountain; and Heckton Mills, about a mile downriver from Dauphin. Much of the eastern part of the township, between Peters Mountain and Second Mountain, is forested and preserved as State Game Lands.
Most of these village centers have ceased to exist as the western part of Middle Paxton Township became suburbanized. The nearest organized towns to Dauphin are Duncannon
Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Duncannon is a borough in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,508 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The center of population of Pennsylvania is located in Duncannon. It is named after the coastal town of...
, a borough on the western shore of the river; Halifax
Halifax, Pennsylvania
Halifax is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. Halifax was incorporated as a borough on May 29, 1785. The borough is situated at the confluence of Armstrong Creek and Susquehanna River. The population was 875 at the 2000 census...
, a borough north of Peters Mountain; and Harrisburg, the state capital to the south.
In the late 1990s, following many years of planning and several postponements, Dauphin Borough was bypassed. A construction project that had caused much controversy resulted in relocating U.S. Rte. 22 closer to the river and out of, or over, Dauphin Borough. Approximately 28% of the borough's taxable real estate was destroyed in order to construct the bypass. The remaining town, free of the traffic problems, became once again desirable as a location for commuters to Harrisburg. Some of the last remaining open land in the borough was developed as residential space, and older structures in the borough were increasingly bought and renovated by commuters. Despite the losses in tax revenues owing to construction of the bypass, the local government continues to operate through cost-saving, cooperative efforts with Middle Paxton Township. Sewer system connections were extended to borough residents in Hillside and along River Road as part of a collection system and pump station upgrqade. In 2011, the Dauphin/Middle Paxton Fire Company relocated its apparatus from the borough to a new government building housing Middle Paxton Township offices and Public Safety. The local ambulance association became dormant, and Susquehanna Township E.M.S. began covering medical emergencies in both borough and township.