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49-741: Stowe Township is a township in Allegheny County , Pennsylvania , United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census . It is located in the Sto-Rox School District , which serves both Stowe Township and the neighboring borough of McKees Rocks . All locations in Stowe Township have McKees Rocks addresses. Stowe Township has partnered with the Allegheny Together organization to revitalize its main business district on Broadway Avenue. The area

98-582: A borough manager to enforce ordinances and carry out the day-to-day business of the town's administration and dictates of its council. The definition of boroughs is a town or district that is an administrative unit, in particular. Nineteen boroughs have also adopted home rule charters. Boroughs generally incorporate from areas of dense populations in a township. The areas generally had a train station and were centers of businesses and industrial activities. The first borough to be incorporated in Pennsylvania

147-500: A county . Some, like Bethlehem , cross county lines. It is not unusual for a borough to be adjacent to, and sometimes nearly surrounded by a township of the same name. In some instances, such as with the case of Thornbury Township in Chester County and Delaware County, two townships with the same name will border each other in adjoining counties. Below the county level of organized services, everyone in Pennsylvania lives under

196-509: A borough before becoming a city, and both began under the constitution as a township. Boroughs are not strictly classified by population and are administered through the borough legal code. Each borough elects a mayor and a council of three, five, seven, or nine members with broad powers, as determined by home rule measures. Some boroughs have even numbers of council members. The borough offices of tax assessor , tax collector and auditor are elected independently. The borough council can also hire

245-439: A certain ordinance can be classified as a second class A city — only Scranton has done so. First class, second class, and second class A cities have a strong mayor and home rule charters; their charters are in effect a bargain with the state as to which powers the city takes on itself. These sometimes include county functions. The mayor has broad power to appoint and remove certain commissioners and department heads. Most of

294-668: A county elected to allow the change to occur before February 22, 2022. Lancaster County approved such a change, becoming a class 2A county. Keeping in mind that the geography and geology of Pennsylvania present many landscapes that are dominated by hills, streams, deep valleys, and mountain ridges, the list of municipalities of Pennsylvania range from higher numbers of entities with small populations in sparsely populated large regions, to those large in population, with less relative territory having denser populations. Pennsylvania's municipal classes are: townships , boroughs and cities . Most such subdivisions are entirely contained within

343-565: A direct link with the eastern end of the McKees Rocks Bridge , which passes over the Marshall-Shadeland area first). As of the census of 2000, there were 6,706 people, 3,061 households, and 1,805 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,391.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,309.4/km). There were 3,556 housing units at an average density of 1,798.3 per square mile (694.3/km). The racial makeup of

392-464: A home rule charter, adopted by the municipality; or by an optional form of government, adopted by the municipality. The township is the basic population center or town element in Pennsylvania, ranging in size from small hamlets to important population centers. These are given Class I or Class II powers, attributes, and responsibilities, and comprise the majority of communities in Pennsylvania. They are often characterized by lower population densities over

441-417: A household in the township was $ 29,688, and the median income for a family was $ 36,688. Males had a median income of $ 31,151 versus $ 28,221 for females. The per capita income for the township was $ 17,783. About 9.0% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line , including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over. Township (Pennsylvania) A township , under

490-914: A mayor-council optional plan. There are 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, administered by the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949. School districts can comprise one municipality, like the School District of Philadelphia , or multiple municipalities. School districts have the sole responsibility to instruct the school-aged population of the Commonwealth. Some school districts cross one or more county lines creating challenges in equalizing property taxes because of widely varying property tax assessments. Like some other local governments, school districts are classified based on population and these classifications determine what regulations they follow. Municipal authorities are

539-489: A part of the local community. Although they are not recognized local governments, they often refer to specific areas of township or other municipality and are often more familiar to people than the incorporated municipality. That can cause confusion to people who live outside the area, who are unfamiliar with the local municipal structure. Counties in Pennsylvania serve the traditional roles for state including law enforcement, judicial administration, and election conduct. Some of

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588-546: A person, a family, or a group of people by Penn or his heirs. Townships can be of the first or second class, the difference being the powers and offices of the municipal government or its officials. All begin as second class townships, and when certain legal requirements are met, the township may become a first-class township by a referendum of the township's voters, provided it meets population threshold requirements. Many that qualify prefer to continue as second class townships (established by voter referendum). Representation in

637-405: A population between 80,000 and 249,999 a city must pass an ordinance to become a second class A city otherwise it is a third class city. There is one first class city, Philadelphia , which has more than 1 million residents. There is only one second class city, Pittsburgh which has between 250,000 and 1,000,000 residents. A city with between 80,000 and 250,000 inhabitants that has also adopted

686-688: A progression of municipal structures based on population growth, it is not uncommon to have a township and borough of the same or similar name, generally adjacent within the same county. The 'town-like' borough might be partially or wholly surrounded by the remaining township from which it had split off. The government of Cold Spring Township ceased to function in 1961, when there were no candidates for office. Pennsylvania townships typically vary in size from 6 to 40 square miles (16–104 km ). There are two classifications of townships, first class and second class. The commonwealth initially incorporates all townships as second class townships. To become

735-457: A second-class township is by a board of supervisors elected at-large for 6 year terms. Representation in a first-class township is by a board of commissioners that can consist of anywhere from five commissioners elected at large to boards with 7-15 elected by wards to four-year terms; though via home rule petitions, some townships have also maintained at-large representation, or mixed geographical wards and at-large election organization. By law there

784-714: A special kind of local unit: unlike cities, boroughs, and townships, which are general government entities, they are set up to perform special services. An authority is a body corporate and politic authorized to acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate projects, and to borrow money and issue bonds to finance them. Projects include public facilities such as buildings, including school buildings, transportation facilities, marketing and shopping facilities, highways, parkways, airports, parking places, waterworks, sewage treatment plants, playgrounds, hospitals, and industrial development projects. An authority can be organized by any county, city, town, borough, township, or school district of

833-1140: A tax collector and, in many townships, a panel of three auditors who annually audit all township accounts. The supervisors or commissioners of the township appoint a secretary and a treasurer, and may also appoint a township manager to coordinate township employees and operations. County governments may provide some or all municipal services to residents of townships, regardless of class and size, including trash collection or sewage processing. Some counties, though, leave individual municipalities to provide their own services; in some instances small groups of boroughs or townships may pool their resources to provide water, police, or other functions. The main areas of local services include police and fire protection, maintenance of local roads and streets, water supply, sewage collection and treatment, parking and traffic control, local planning and zoning, parks and recreation, garbage collection, health services, libraries, licensing of businesses and code enforcement. All municipalities in Pennsylvania, however, rely on county and state organized courts for probate, criminal, and civil court services. Under

882-508: A township of the first class and operate under the powers of the First Class Township Code, a township must have a population density of 300 inhabitants per square mile (120/km ) and voters therein must approve the change of classification in a referendum. The classes of townships differ primarily in the form of their administration. Townships of the second class are governed by a board of supervisors, elected at large by

931-620: A widespread region, within which small clusters of housing and mixed main road businesses occur. Larger, more densely populated municipal entities, usually ones with a well defined business district and recognizable as having the traditional attributes of a 'town' is the Pennsylvania borough . There is a single (for historic reasons) town in Pennsylvania, so the next step up is the city. Both counties and school districts generally span multiple communities, including groups of municipalities that sometimes cross county lines. Each other subdivision

980-603: Is always an odd number of township commissioners. A second-class township usually has three supervisors, elected at large for six-year terms. A referendum may allow a second-class township's board of supervisors to expand to five members. Some townships have home-rule charters, which allow for a mayor/council form of government. What outside Pennsylvania many would think are called "towns" are by law officially boroughs (often also spelled as boros) which are generally smaller than cities in terms of both geographic area and population. Most cities in Pennsylvania were once incorporated as

1029-487: Is an example of an unincorporated community that tends to be better known than Upper Merion , the municipality King of Prussia actually resides in. Villages in Pennsylvania are often small unincorporated communities within a township. Many villages are identified by familiar PennDOT signs along a state highway even though the community has not chosen to incorporate into a borough. Lahaska is an example of typical village in eastern Pennsylvania. These are areas recognized by

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1078-437: Is determined to have a population of 500,000 or more may elect to continue to be a county of the third class. (~): A county having a population between 35,000 and 44,999 may elect to be a county of the sixth class. (+): A county's population must be under the minimum for a class for two (2) censuses prior to a reduction in class. Changes in county classification are suspended until after the 2030 United States census , unless

1127-514: Is served by Port Authority bus routes 21, 22, and 24. Stowe Township is located at 40°28′46″N 80°4′26″W  /  40.47944°N 80.07389°W  / 40.47944; -80.07389 (40.479668, -80.07389). According to the United States Census Bureau , the township has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km), of which 2.0 square miles (5.2 km) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km), or 15.38%,

1176-427: Is subordinate to county governmental functions, which include administration of courts, jails, code enforcement, and land registration. Each municipality falls under a certain type of municipal laws by the classification of municipality, and some types of municipalities are then eligible to be reclassified into another class according to their population and passage of a change referendum. These classes limit or expand

1225-615: Is the only officially designated and incorporated "town" in Pennsylvania. The mostly uninhabited, township-sized area of the East Fork Road District was classified as a sui generis district, unlike any other in the state, until its 2004 dissolution. Unincorporated communities in the state of Pennsylvania are well-defined communities that are part of one or more incorporated municipalities but are not independent municipalities in their own right. They have no elected form of government and have no authority granted to them by

1274-537: Is water. Stowe Township has two land borders, with Kennedy Township to the west and McKees Rocks to the south. Across the Ohio River, Stowe Township runs adjacent with (from northeast to southwest) Neville Island (with direct link via Fleming Park Bridge ), Avalon , Bellevue , and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Marshall-Shadeland and Brighton Heights (which is not directly adjacent to Stowe but has

1323-448: The United States Census Bureau for enumeration purposes. Many Census-designated places are also names of villages or post offices that tie a community together. The steep forested landscape and terrains of Pennsylvania generally forced settlements into relatively small areas that had appropriate conditions making it easy to build. Modern heavy machinery has broadened the scope of where housing settlements and business can be situated, but at

1372-448: The Commonwealth, acting singly or jointly with another municipality. An authority is established by ordinance by one or more municipalities. The governing bodies of the parent local unit or units appoint the members of the authority's board. If the body created by one unit, the board consists of five members. If the body created by two or more local units, there is at least one member from each unit but no fewer than five. The board carries on

1421-570: The Pennsylvania constitution, each governmental entity has the right to choose its own form of self-government, and a limited ability to delegate powers and oversight to such entities as authorities, commissions and school boards. Any township, regardless of its class, may adopt a home rule charter, at which point it is no longer governed by the Pennsylvania Township Codes. While a home rule charter can incorporate unusual features, standard municipal functions are generally part of

1470-480: The board of commissioners. The offices include sheriff , district attorney , prothonotary , clerk of courts , register of wills, clerk of the orphans' court, recorder of deeds , treasurer, controller, auditors, and jury commissioners. Seven counties currently have home rule charters: Allegheny , Delaware , Erie , Lackawanna , Lehigh , Luzerne , and Northampton . Philadelphia is a consolidated city-county with all of its county functions being administered by

1519-480: The city government. Those counties have the types of officials elected determined by the home rule charter, and they often differ from the officials elected in most counties. Counties are further classified by population. Each classification has its own code, set up by the General Assembly, to administer county functions. The classification of counties is as follows: (*): A county of the third class that

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1568-515: The city's functions are independent of the state's control because of their charters, which must pass legislative approval. Any municipality adopting conversion into a city government with a population below 250,000 people that has not adopted the second class ordinance is a third class city . Third class cities can be governed three ways: Sixteen third class cities have adopted home rule charters. Two cities ( DuBois and Altoona ) have an optional council-manager plan, and one city ( Hazleton ) has

1617-661: The commonwealth. As with other incorporated municipalities in Pennsylvania, townships exist within counties and are subordinate to or dependent upon the county level of government. Townships in Pennsylvania were created in the 17th century during the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania prior to the American Revolution . Much of the province was then occupied by Native Americans , but the colonial administration in Philadelphia brought new counties and new settlements regularly. The first communities defined by

1666-468: The cost of moving a lot of soils and rocks. Townships in Pennsylvania were the first form of land grants established by William Penn , and are generally large in area with a sparse population centered on one or a few clusters of homes and a handful of businesses. They have existed in one form or another since the Province of Pennsylvania was established. They were usually large tracts of land given to

1715-432: The electorate of the whole township for overlapping six-year terms. The number of supervisors can be increased to five by referendum. Townships of the first class, by contrast, have a board of commissioners. Between five and fifteen commissioners sit on this panel; they can be elected either at large or by wards within the township; and they serve for overlapping terms of four years in office. Other elected officials include

1764-444: The jurisdiction of at least two types of municipal governments. The first type of municipal government will provide police and fire protection, maintenance of local roads and streets, water supply, sewage collection and treatment, parking and traffic control , local planning and zoning , parks and recreation, garbage collection , health services, libraries, licensing of businesses, and code enforcement. The second type will administer

1813-557: The laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , is the lowest level of municipal incorporation of government. All of Pennsylvania's communities outside of incorporated cities , boroughs , and one town have been incorporated into individual townships that serve as the legal entities providing local self-government functions. In general, townships in Pennsylvania encompass larger land areas than other municipalities , and tend to be located in suburban , exurban , or rural parts of

1862-599: The legal boundaries of the City of Philadelphia . Northern Liberties , Southwark , and Spring Garden were among the ten largest municipalities by population in the United States. There are a total of 56 incorporated cities in Pennsylvania, the smallest being Parker , in Armstrong County , with a population of 840 (2010 census). Each is further classified according to population. (*): In addition to having

1911-450: The local governmental powers, and the forms of local office holders and town officials. The General Assembly sets the population threshold for classifying said certain types of municipalities. There are currently nine classifications for counties, four classes of cities, two classes of townships, five classes of school districts, and no classes for boroughs or the single Pennsylvania town. Finally, villages and census-designated places are

1960-442: The local schools, claim a separate portion of taxes and are called school districts . Organized along practical geographic lines, an occasional Area school district will cross county boundaries, though most are located within county regions providing community ties across multiple municipalities. The sense of belonging to a community in Pennsylvania is often tied to area High School sports teams. Due to historic legalisms, Bloomsburg

2009-504: The majority party, and the third must be of the minority party, which is determined by which candidates receive the most votes, as two candidates from each party are on the November ballot. One of the members serves as the chair. The board of commissioners typically serves as both the legislative and executive body. In addition to the elected commissioners, most counties elect other officials, commonly called "row officers", independent of

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2058-560: The mix regardless of how offices and powers are allocated within the jurisdiction. "Citizen's Guide to Pennsylvania Local Government, 2010" Local government in Pennsylvania#City Local municipalities can be governed by statutes , which are enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly , and are specific to the type and class of municipality; by a home rule municipality , under

2107-420: The other functions that Pennsylvania's counties may perform include public health , property assessment , and redevelopment . Some of the welfare functions often performed by counties include mental health , geriatric care, community colleges , and library support. Pennsylvania is divided into 67 counties. Most counties are governed by a board of commissioners, consisting of three members. Two must be of

2156-439: The provincial state government tended to be rural, geographically large, and sparsely populated townships. Townships or portions of them tended to become boroughs after population growth or an increase in population density and, eventually, might to reincorporate at the level of city. Initially, each municipal organization begins as a second-class township. When a sufficient population density, currently 300 people per square mile,

2205-404: The state or county, but have a historical authority all their own. Often they are little more than neighborhoods once serviced by a railway station , that once had a post office in the 19th century, or were clustered as supporting community housing for a local industry, which may no longer exist. Many unincorporated communities though, often overshadow the true municipal government. King of Prussia

2254-547: The township was 90.44% White , 8.04% African American , 0.21% Native American , 0.16% Asian , 0.22% from other races , and 0.92% from two or more races. 0.42% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,061 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who

2303-531: Was Germantown in 1690. That borough ceased to exist when all of Philadelphia's municipalities were consolidated in 1854 . The borough of Chester Heights has a unique distinction of incorporating into a borough out of Aston Township by a tax revolt. From the late 18th century until the Philadelphia Act of Consolidation in 1854, districts were politically independent municipalities made up of densely populated neighborhoods adjacent to but outside

2352-452: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.83. In the township the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males. The median income for

2401-514: Was attained, the township had the option of holding a referendum and, if it passed, became a first-class township. The municipality could proceed to the level of borough or city in a similar fashion. Historically, this progression has often included border adjustments or mergers with other boroughs or townships. Many communities remain townships in spite of growth that brings the characteristics of more-urbanized areas that might be associated with "towns." Because Pennsylvania's constitution provides for

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