Wampum, Pennsylvania

Wampum
Borough
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Lawrence
Coordinates	40°53′19″N 80°20′23″W
Area	1.0 sq mi (3 km2)
- land	0.9 sq mi (2 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2)
Population	678 (2000)
Density	736.1 / sq mi (284 / km2)
Established	1796
Mayor	Jeff Steffler
Timezone	EST (UTC-4)
- summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-5)
Area code	724
Location of Wampum in Lawrence County
Location of Wampum in Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States

Wampum is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Wampum is located at 40°53′19″N 80°20′23″W (40.888657, -80.339650).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), of which, 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (4.17%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 678 people, 290 households, and 182 families residing in the borough. The population density was 736.1 people per square mile (284.5/km²). There were 310 housing units at an average density of 336.6 per square mile (130.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.05% White, 1.77% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.44% Asian, and 0.59% from two or more races.

There were 290 households out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the borough the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 22.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $29,205, and the median income for a family was $36,094. Males had a median income of $31,023 versus $26,071 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $15,598. About 11.8% of families and 17.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Richard Anthony Allen (born March 8, 1942 in Wampum, Pennsylvania) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played first and third base and outfield in Major League Baseball and ranked among his sport's top offensive producers of the 1960s and early 1970s. Most notably playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox, he led the American League in home runs twice, and led both leagues in slugging average (the AL twice) and on base percentage. His .534 career slugging average was among the highest in an era marked by low averages. He won the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year and 1972 AL MVP. He also spoke his mind, combatted racism, and bucked organizational hierarchy. Sabermetrician Bill James rated Dick Allen as the second-most controversial player in baseball history, behind Rogers Hornsby. Along with Dick ( Richie) Allen his two brothers Hank and Ron also played major league baseball but did not garner as much success as Richie ..

His older brother Hank was a reserve outfielder for three AL teams, and his younger brother Ron was briefly a first baseman with the 1972 St. Louis Cardinals.. Also the home of semi-professional hockey player Matthew Puntureri and US National Development Program player Stephen Johns. [1]

Wampum is also noted for its legendary High School basketball program from the 1950s where all sorts of state and national records where established and their coach L.Butler Hennon made the cover of life magazine and his son Don Hennon went on to national prominence University of Pittsburgh Panthers basketball team where he was a two-time Consensus All-American. A 5 feet 8 inches tall Hennon was noted for his prolific scoring ability and is a member of the Helms Athletic Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame .In high school, Hennon led Wampum High to an undefeated 31-0 record and a state championship in 1955. During his high school days he set a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League four-year scoring record (1951–55) of 2,376 points that endured until 1993.

Hennon played in college at the University of Pittsburgh from 1956 to 1959 where he led the Panthers to the 1957 and 1958 NCAA Basketball Tournament. While there he became a First Team Consensus All-American selection in 1958( Elgin Baylor , Bob Boozer , Wilt Chamberlain , Oscar Robertson , Guy Rodgers and Don Hennon comprised the first team selections ) and a Second Team Consensus All-American in 1959, while being named to the United Press International and Helms Foundation first teams that season. Hennon's basketball career was highlighted by a 1957 contest where he scored a school record 45 points (scoring on 20 of 42 field goals and 4 of 5 free throws) leading Pitt to a 87-84 double-overtime victory over Duke University. He finished his career at Pitt, an era without the three point shot, as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,841 points, and currently remains fifth on the school's all-time scoring list.

Hennon was named to the East team, coached by Adolph Rupp, of the 1959 East-West All-Star Contest.

Hennon was picked 41st by the Cincinnati Royals in the sixth-round 1959 NBA Draft, but turned down professional basketball in order to study medicine. He earned his MD in 1963 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and went on to become a surgeon. Hennon spent time as a medical surgeon in the Army and later continued his medical career in the Pittsburgh area where he still resides. Hennon's number 10 jersey was retired by the University of Pittsburgh in 1968. He was named to the Helms Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970 and inducted into the Lawrence County Hall of Fame in 1984

In the media

A former mine shaft located near Wampum was a filming location for the 1985 horror movie Day of the Dead.

In the movie Platoon the narrator and main character mentions Wampum, Pennsylvania, as one of the small towns that U.S. soldiers in Vietnam typically hailed from.

See also Jordan Brown murder trial