Sharon, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Sharon is a city in Mercer County
Mercer County, Pennsylvania
Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 116,638. Its county seat is Mercer; Sharon is its largest city....

, 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...

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

, 75 miles (120.7 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. It is part of the Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

Warren
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...

Boardman
Boardman, Ohio
Boardman is a census-designated place in Boardman Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, just south of Youngstown. Boardman is considered to be a moderately affluent community and is one of two major retail hubs in the greater Youngstown area...

, OH
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Area
The Youngstown Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area centered on the American city of Youngstown, Ohio. According to the US Census Bureau, the metropolitan area includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio and Mercer county in Pennsylvania...

.

History

Sharon was settled in 1795, incorporated as a borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 on October 6, 1841, and incorporated as a city on December 17, 1918. The city operated under the PA third-class city charter until 2008, at which point it adopted a home rule charter under which the elected position of mayor was replaced with a hired city manager and financial officer. On April 20, 1936, a large fire swept through Sharon's commercial district, causing damage estimated at $1 million (1936 dollars).

The founding families of Sharon first settled on a flat plain bordering the Shenango River
Shenango River
The Shenango River is a principal tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 100 mi long, in western Pennsylvania in the United States. It also briefly flows through small portions of northeastern Ohio...

 (this area is situated between two hills and is the current location of Sharon's downtown business district). According to local legend, the community received its name from a Bible-reading settler who likened the location to the Plain of Sharon in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Initially a center of coal mining, Sharon's economy transitioned to steelmaking and other heavy industry following the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

. Following the extensive national deindustrialization of the 1970s and 80's, the city's economy diversified and is now based primarily on light industry, education, health care, and social services.

Geography

Sharon is located at 41°13′48"N 80°29′56"W (41.230106, -80.498960) in southwest Mercer County, the city borders the city of Hermitage
Hermitage, Pennsylvania
Hermitage is a city in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,157 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 to the north and east, the city of Farrell
Farrell, Pennsylvania
Farrell is a city in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,050 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 to the south, and on the west the census-designated places of Masury
Masury, Ohio
Masury is a census-designated place in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,618 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

 and West Hill, Ohio
West Hill, Ohio
West Hill is a census-designated place in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,523 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

.

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 city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), all land. However, the Shenango River
Shenango River
The Shenango River is a principal tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 100 mi long, in western Pennsylvania in the United States. It also briefly flows through small portions of northeastern Ohio...

 runs through the city and provides drinking water to Sharon and several surrounding communities.

Demography

In 1900, the population was 8,916 persons; in 1910, 15,270 persons; in 1920, 21,747 persons; and 25,622 people lived in Sharon in 1940. Today, Sharon, along with Mercer County, is counted by the US Census Bureau as part of the Youngstown-Warren, OH Metropolitan Area.

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 16,328 people, 6,791 households, and 4,189 families residing in the city. 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 4,342.6 people per square mile (1,676.7/km²). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 1,964.9 per square mile (758.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.44% White, 10.85% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% 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 2.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.

From the Census Ancestry Question, Sharon has the following ethnic make-up: German 21%, Irish 14%, Italian 11%, Black or African American 11%, English 8%, Polish 5%, Slovak 5%, Welsh - 3%, Scots-Irish 2%, Hungarian 2%, Dutch 2%, French (except Basque) 2%, Croatian 1%, Scottish 1%, Russian 1%, Swedish 1%, Arab 1%, Slavic 1%, American Indian tribes, specified 1%. Sharon's Jewish community is served by the Reform Jewish
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...

 Temple Beth Israel
Temple Beth Israel (Sharon, Pennsylvania)
Temple Beth Israel is a Reform synagogue located at 840 Highland Road in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Originally called House of Israel Congregation, it was founded in 1888 as an Orthodox congregation by Jews from Eastern Europe....

.

There were 6,791 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% 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, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was distributed with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,945, and the median income for a family was $34,581. Males had a median income of $30,072 versus $20,988 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 city was $15,913. About 14.0% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Sharon City School District
Sharon City School District
The Sharon City School District is a public school system serving approximately 2,400 students living in the city of Sharon, Pennsylvania on the western edge of the state. The district currently comprises four school buildings:...

 comprises three K-6 elementary schools (Case Avenue, C.M. Musser, and West Hill) and the 7-12 Sharon Middle/High School. The city is also home to St. Joseph's Parish School, a K-8 school affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, and Shenango Valley Faith Academy, a nondenominational Christian school with heavy emphasis on individualized education.

Post secondary education and training opportunities can be pursued at Sharon's Penn State Shenango
Penn State Shenango
Penn State Shenango is a Commonwealth Campus of the Pennsylvania State University, located on a campus in downtown Sharon, Pennsylvania. Penn State Shenango has the distinction of being the only urban campus in the Penn State system, although some parts of Penn State Altoona that are located in...

 campus (the only urban campus in the Penn State system), Laurel Technical Institute, the Schools of Nursing and Radiography at Sharon Regional Health System, and a branch campus of Meadville
Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State and is within 40 miles of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first permanent settlement in northwest Pennsylvania...

-based Precision Manufacturing Institute.

Notable people

  • Mike Archie
    Mike Archie
    Michael Lamont Archie is a former professional American football player who played running back in the NFL and XFL.-Professional football:...

     - former National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     running back
    Running back
    A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

  • Carmen Argenziano
    Carmen Argenziano
    Carmen Antimo Argenziano is an American actor who has appeared in over 50 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes....

     - actor Stargate SG-1
    Stargate SG-1
    Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...

  • Teryl Austin
    Teryl Austin
    Teryl Austin is an American football coach and former player. Austin served a single season as the Florida Gators defensive coordinator. He is currently the defensive backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens.-Career:...

     - National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     coach, Arizona Cardinals
    Arizona Cardinals
    The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

  • Jane J. Boyle
    Jane J. Boyle
    Jane Jackson Boyle is a district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She joined the court in 2004 after being nominated by President George W...

     - judge
  • Tony Butala
    Tony Butala
    Tony Butala is an American singer. He has been the lead singer for the vocal group The Lettermen since 1958, and is the only original member left.-Early Life:...

     - vocalist, The Lettermen
    The Lettermen
    The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...

  • John Daverio
    John Daverio
    John Joseph Daverio was a musician, scholar, teacher and author, best known for his writings on the music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms....

     - professor of music
  • Nate Dunn
    Nate Dunn
    Nathan "Nate" Dunn was an American painter born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Polish-Russian immigrant parents. Dunn was known for his artistic works throughout the northeastern United States.-Career:...

     - artist, Pennsylvania Impressionism School
  • Bob Golub
    Bob Golub
    Bob Golub is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker of Polish descent, whose work is largely inspired from his true-life childhood experiences of growing up in a dysfunctional home located in the steel-mill town of Farrell, Pennsylvania.-Career:Bob Golub began his career as a...

     - stand-up comedian, actor, writer, filmmaker
  • Mick Goodrick
    Mick Goodrick
    Mick Goodrick is an American post bop jazz guitarist and educator most noteworthy for his work with vibraphonist Gary Burton's band from 1973 to 1976, where for part of that time he was playing alongside guitarist Pat Metheny...

     - jazz guitarist
  • Erwin Hahn
    Erwin Hahn
    Erwin L. Hahn is a U.S. physicist, best known for his work on nuclear magnetic resonance . In 1950 he discovered the spin echo....

     - physicist
  • Randy Holloway
    Randy Holloway
    Randy Holloway is a former National Football League defensive end who played from 1978 to 1984 for the Minnesota Vikings and the St. Louis Cardinals. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and was the Vikings first round draft pick in the 1978 NFL Draft....

     - former National Football League defensive end
    Defensive end
    Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

  • Marc Howard - former Philadelphia news anchor
  • Marlin Jackson
    Marlin Jackson
    -Indianapolis Colts:Jackson was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 29th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft. As an NFL rookie he had 52 tackles and one interception. Marlin played mostly in passing situations with one start in 15 games. In his second season, he had 82 tackles and 1...

     - National Football League cornerback
    Cornerback
    A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

  • Benjamin Jarrett
    Benjamin Jarrett
    Benjamin Jarrett was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Benjamin Jarrett was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He worked as a telegraph operator and later as foreman in a steel mill. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1907 and commenced practice in...

     - Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

     member of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • John Kiriakou
    John Kiriakou
    John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, commentator, and author notable as the first official within the U.S. government to openly admit to the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique....

     - former CIA agent; key figure in waterboarding
    Waterboarding
    Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...

     debate.
  • Ty Longley
    Ty Longley
    Ty Longley was an American guitarist and vocalist. He was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Brookfield High School in Brookfield, Ohio....

     - guitarist, Great White
    Great White
    Great White is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1978. The band gained popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band released several albums in the late 1980s and gained airplay on MTV with music videos for songs like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"...

  • John D. MacDonald
    John D. MacDonald
    John Dann MacDonald was an American crime and suspense novelist and short story writer.MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida...

     - author, The Executioners
    The Executioners
    The Executioners is a classic thriller novel written by John D. MacDonald, published in 1957. It was filmed twice under the title Cape Fear, once in 1962 and again in 1991....

  • Jack Marin
    Jack Marin
    John Warren "Jack" Marin is a retired American professional basketball player. A 201 cm guard/forward from Duke University, Marin was named to the 1967 NBA All-Rookie Team and spent 11 seasons in the NBA , playing for the Baltimore Bullets, Houston Rockets, Buffalo Braves and Chicago Bulls...

     - former National Basketball Association
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

     player
  • Lester Rawlins
    Lester Rawlins
    Lester Rawlins was an American stage, screen, and television actor.Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Rawlins appeared in off-Broadway productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Winterset, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, and Nightride, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for...

     - actor
  • Hershel Shanks
    Hershel Shanks
    Hershel Shanks is the founder of the Biblical Archaeology Society and the editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review and has written and edited numerous works on Biblical archaeology including the Dead Sea Scrolls....

     - founder, Biblical Archaeology Society
    Biblical Archaeology Society
    The Biblical Archaeology Society is a non-denominational organization that supports and promotes biblical archaeology. It publishes Biblical Archaeology Review. Its past publications included Bible Review and Archaeology Odyssey . The Biblical Archaeology Society also publishes books about...

    , editor, Biblical Archaeology Review
    Biblical Archaeology Review
    Biblical Archaeology Review is a publication that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible and the Near and Middle East . Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest discoveries and...

  • James Henry Taylor
    James Henry Taylor
    James Henry Taylor was a professor of mathematics at George Washington University from 1929–1958, and professor emeritus from 1959 until his death.- Early life :...

     - professor of mathematics
  • Leo Yankevich
    Leo Yankevich
    Leo Yankevich is an American poet and the editor of The New Formalist.Born into a Roman Catholic family of Irish-Polish descent, he grew up and attended high school in Farrell, Pennsylvania, a small steel town in western Pennsylvania. He then studied History and Polish Studies at Alliance...

     - poet, translator, editor of The New Formalist

*Matthew Alan Kelley - Political Activist, Motivator of Politics, DNC Activist, Sharon Wrestler Nice, Sweet, Caring, HotÆ

Broadcast media

Television

Because of Sharon's location on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, it is served by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate WFMJ, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate WKBN-TV
WKBN-TV
WKBN-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Youngstown, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from a transmitter at WKBN's studios on Sunset Boulevard in Boardman Township. Owned by New Vision Television, WKBN is sister to and shares studios with low-power...

, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 affiliate WYFX-LP
WYFX-LP
WYFX-LD is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Mahoning Valley of Northeastern Ohio, licensed to Youngstown. It broadcasts a low-powered digital signal UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Sunset Boulevard in Boardman Township. Owned by New Vision Television, the station is sister to CBS...

, and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 affiliate WYTV
WYTV
WYTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Mahoning Valley of Northeastern Ohio and Northwestern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Youngstown. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Shady Run Road in Boardman Township...

, all broadcast from nearby Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

.

Radio

Sharon is served by radio stations such as WPIC (790 AM), WKBN (570 AM), The River (96.7 FM), and Youngstown stations such as Froggy 95 (95.1 FM), Mix 98.9, and Y103 (102.9 FM).

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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