Township (Pennsylvania)

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Township
Category Third-level administrative division
Location Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

A township in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a federated state of the United States of America, is one of four types of municipalities in the state, along with counties, cities, and boroughs.

History [edit]

Townships were established based on convenient geographical boundaries and vary in size from six to forty square miles (15–104 km²). There are two classifications of townships, first class and second class. To become a first class township, townships of the second class must have a population density of 300 inhabitants per square mile (120 /km2) and voters must approve the change of classification in a referendum. However, many townships have chosen to remain second class townships even though they meet the population density requirements to become first class townships.[1]

Any township, regardless of its class, may adopt a home rule charter, at which point it is no longer governed by the Pennsylvania Township Code and instead becomes a home rule municipality.[citation needed] Nevertheless, many former townships that adopted home rule charters retain "Township" in their official names, and the state still classifies them as townships for some official purposes.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Pennsylvania Local Government" (PDF). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved October 8, 2007.