Leechburg, Pennsylvania

Leechburg, Pennsylvania
—  Borough  —
Leechburg, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°37′45″N 79°36′13″W
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Armstrong
Settled	1832
Incorporated	1850
Government
• Type	Council-Mayor
• Mayor	Bruno J. Kostiuk
Area
• Total	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
Population (2000)
• Total	2,386
• Density	5,320.9/sq mi (2,047.2/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code	15656
Area code(s)	724

Leechburg is a borough in southern Armstrong County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. Leechburg was founded by David Leech, for whom it was later named, and was incorporated as a borough in 1850.

Located along the Kiskiminetas River, Leechburg was known as a major port of the Pennsylvania Canal. Early in the 20th century, it had been the site of extensive steel sheet works, foundries, cement plants, and productive coal mines. Leechburg was the first place where natural gas was used for industrial purposes.

Local government

Leechburg is governed by a Mayor and Council. The current elected officials for the borough (and the year their current terms expire) are as follows:

Mayor Anthony C. Roppolo (2014)

Council President Anthony Defilippi (R)(2012)

Council Members: Robert T. Foster (D)(2012), Shawn Lerch (D)(2014), Keith Knepshield (R)(2014, Nancy Bono (D)(2014), G. Paul Simon (D)(2014), and Jim Spiering (D)(2012).

Leechburg is one of only three municipalities in Armstrong County to have full time, seven day a week police coverage. The police department consists of three full time and several part-time police officers. The Chief of Police is Michael Diebold.

Federal and state representatives

Leechburg is in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, represented in Congress by Rep. Tyler Foster (D).

At the state level, Leechburg is in the 38th Senatorial District, represented by State Senator Daniel Coutch (D), and in the 55th Legislative District, represented by Rep. Joe Petrarca (D).

Geography

Leechburg is located at 40°37′45″N 79°36′13″W (40.629304, -79.603727), and is 800 feet above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), of which, 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (8.16%) is water.

The town is bordered by the Kiskiminetas River to the south, on the border of Westmoreland County, and Gilpin Township to the north.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,386 people, 1,109 households, and 645 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,320.9 people per square mile (2,047.2/km²). There were 1,193 housing units at an average density of 2,660.5 per square mile (1,023.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.53% White, 1.26% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.67% of the population.

There were 1,109 households out of which 23.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.8% were non-families. 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.1% 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 2.85.

In the borough the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $27,434, and the median income for a family was $38,785. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $25,901 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,242. About 7.9% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

Panoramic View facing West showing approximately 160 degrees of downtown Leechburg from on top of the highrise located at 2nd and Main Street.

Panoramic View facing East showing approximately 180 degrees of downtown Leechburg from on top of the highrise located at 2nd and Main Street.

Historical population

Population:
1850: 359
1870: 368
1880: 1,123
1890: 1,921
1900: 2,459
1910: 3,624
1930: 4,489
1940: 4,275
1950: 4,042
1960: 3,545
1970: 2,999
1980: 2,682
1990: 2,504
2000: 2,386
2011: 2,400

History

Leechburg was founded in 1850 by David Leech. Prior to 1850, the settlement was known as White Plains. David Leech purchased the land from a local Native American known as White Maddock.

Education

The children of Leechburg are educated by the Leechburg Area School District. The school district consists of Leechburg, Gilpin Township and West Leechburg Borough.

External links

• http://www.leechburgmuseum.org - Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society
• http://www.15656.com - The Leechburg Business Connection
• http://www.15656.com/lip/ - The Leechburg Intersection Project (Pictures of intersections in Leechburg)
• http://www.leechburgwiki.com - The Leechburg Wiki