Chatham Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

Chatham Township, Pennsylvania
Township
Chatham Township municipal park
Map of Tioga County Highlighting Chatham Township
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Tioga County
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Tioga
Settled	1818
Incorporated	1828
Area
• Total	35.0 sq mi (90.7 km2)
Population  (2000)
• Total	587
• Density	16.8/sq mi (6.5/km2)
Time zone	Eastern Time Zone (North America)
• Summer (DST)	EDT

Chatham Township is a township in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 587 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.0 square miles (91 km²), of which, 35.0 square miles (91 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.14%) is water.

Adjacent townships and areas

(Clockwise)

• Deerfield Township
• Farmington Township; Middlebury Township
• Delmar Township; Shippen Township
• Clymer Township; Westfield Township

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 587 people, 232 households, and 176 families residing in the township. The population density was 16.8 people per square mile (6.5/km²). There were 399 housing units at an average density of 11.4/sq mi (4.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.30% White, 0.51% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.68% from other races, and 0.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.85% of the population.

There were 232 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% were married couples living together, 2.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 111.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $35,089, and the median income for a family was $38,523. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $16,705 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,623. About 9.9% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations

• Little Marsh – A village on Pennsylvania Route 249 in the central part of the township.
• Shortsville – A village on Pennsylvania Route 249 in the eastern part of the township.

Education

Map of Tioga County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Residents of Chatham Township may attend the local, public schools operated by Northern Tioga School District which provides full day kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2013, the District's enrollment declined to 2,085 students kindergarten through 12th grade. Each elementary school provides a taxpayer funded preschool classroom. In 2013, Northern Tioga School District ranked 389th out of 498 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils, by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Chatham Township residents may also apply to attend any of the Commonwealth's 14 public cyber charter schools (in 2013) at no additional cost to the parents. The resident’s public school district is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools. By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must provide transportation to any school that lies within 10 miles of its borders. Residents may also seek admission for their school aged child to any other public school district. When accepted for admission, the student's parents are responsible for paying an annual tuition fee set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for Northern Tioga School District were: Elementary School - $8,463.08, High School - $9,853.49.

BLaST Intermediate Unit #17 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Chatham Township. Early screening, special educations services, speech and hearing therapy and many other services like driver education are available. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements.

Community members have access to the Westfield Public Library which is located on Maple Street, in Westfield; the Elkland Area Community Library located on East Parkway Avenue, in Elkland and to the statewide PA Power Library [1] which is an online library funded with tax dollars from the state's education budget.

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is a state university located in Mansfield, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Residents may take courses at a discounted tuition rate for state residents.

Government

The Township is governed by three locally elected Township Supervisors. They meet at 7pm, the first Monday of each month in the Township building located at 1579 Blair Creek Road, Westfield.

County level

Three, elected at large, County Commissioners. In 2014, Roger C. Bunn, Mark L. Hamilton, and Erick J. Coolidge are the commissioners.

State level

• Matt Baker - State Representative, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 68
• Joe Scarnati - State Senator, Pennsylvania Senate, District 25

Federal level

• Glenn Thompson, Republican, Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district
• Pat Toomey, US Senator
• Bob Casey, Jr., US Senator