Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, 52 miles northwest of Williamsport. Early in the twentieth century, Wellsboro was the shipping point and trade center for a large area. It had fruit evaporators, flour and woolen mills, a milk-condensing plant, marble works, saw mills, foundry and machine shops, and manufactories of cut glass, chemicals, rugs, bolts, cigars, carriages, and furniture. In 1900, 2,945 people lived here; in 1910, 3,183 lived here. The population was 3,328 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Tioga County^GR6, and also home to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Demographics 4 External links

[edit] History

Wellsboro was incorporated in 1830 and was named in honor of Mary Wells, wife of one of the original settlers, Benjamin Wister Morris.

Wellsboro was the home of George W. Sears (1821 – 1890), a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the 1880s and an early environmentalist. His stories, appearing under the pen name, "Nessmuk" popularized self-guided canoe camping tours of the Adirondack lakes in open, lightweight solo canoes and what is today called ultralight camping.

Wellsboro was also the site of one of the first factories where light bulbs were mass-produced, using machines whose design remains essentially unchanged from the early 20th century when the Corning company established the plant in the town.

[edit] Geography

Wellsboro is located at 41°44′48″N, 77°18′7″W (41.746794, -77.301881)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 12.7 km² (4.9 mi²). 12.7 km² (4.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.61%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,328 people, 1,469 households, and 866 families residing in the borough. The population density was 262.8/km² (681.0/mi²). There were 1,602 housing units at an average density of 126.5/km² (327.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.14% White, 0.39% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.90% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population.

There were 1,469 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the borough the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 80.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $30,169, and the median income for a family was $39,898. Males had a median income of $37,083 versus $20,492 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,096. About 9.5% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.746794° -77.301881°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

1. Official website of the Borough of Wellsboro