Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Coordinates: 41°57′00″N 75°29′29″W / 41.95000°N 75.49139°W / 41.95000; -75.49139
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other Pennsylvania townships with similar names, see Harmony Township, Pennsylvania (disambiguation).
Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
570
FIPS code42-115-32720
Websitewww.susqco.com/subsites/gov/pages/info/municipaltownships/harmony.htm

Harmony Township is a township in

2020 census.[2]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 31.58 square miles (81.8 km2), of which 31.3 square miles (81 km2) is land and 0.28 square miles (0.73 km2) (0.89%) is water.

History

The area was first settled in 1789 when a road was built to connect Stockport on the Delaware River to the Susquehanna River at Cascade Creek.[3]

Harmony Township was formed in 1809 from parts of Willingborough (now Great Bend Twp) and New Milford Townships. The present-day Ararat, Oakland, Jackson, and Thompson Townships were later split from parts of Harmony Township.[4] The borough of Susquehanna Depot was created in 1853 from part of Harmony Township.[3]

Gustav, Charles, and Albert Stickley formed Stickley Brothers and Company in the unincorporated village of Brandt in 1883 after learning furniture-making from their uncle, Jacob Schlager, and his business partner, W. H. Brandt.[5] The 1880 US Census shows Barbara Stickley and her famous sons, Gustav and Charles Stickley living there as Chair Makers. Charles later owned the Stickley - Brandt Furniture Co, in Binghamton, NY. Brother Gustav started his own furniture factory in Eastwood, New York in the late 1890s. Brothers Leopold and John George started the L. & J.G. Stickley Furniture Co. in Fayetteville, NY in 1900. The L. & J.G. Stickley Furniture Company is currently located in Manlius, New York.

Joseph Smith and Mormonism

Harmony, Pennsylvania, is an important historical site in the

Latter Day Saints believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were visited by the angel of John the Baptist near Harmony in 1829, where he bestowed on Smith and Cowdery the Aaronic priesthood. Smith and Cowdery subsequently baptized one another in the Susquehanna River
.

Other significant events occurred there during the periodic residence of Smith from 1825 to 1830. Harmony was the home of Isaac Hale, father of Smith's wife,

James, and John bestowed upon Smith and Cowdery the Melchizedek priesthood. After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized by Smith in 1830, Smith and Emma returned to Harmony and lived there through that summer. Fifteen revelations now found in the Doctrine and Covenants
were received in Harmony.

The Harmony in Latter Day Saint history refers to a township rather than a village or borough. The township boundary was changed in 1853, placing the Latter Day Saint sites in present-day Oakland Township. The site of the Hale residence, Smith residence (which burned in 1919), and a public cemetery containing the graves of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale and of an infant son born to Joseph and Emma, lie about a mile and a half west of present-day Oakland, Pennsylvania, in Susquehanna County.[6]

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns about 288 acres at the location, and operates the Priesthood Restoration Site historic area. The historic site was developed in 2015 and includes a visitor center, the reconstructed Smith and Hale homes, and several monuments.[7] The exact location of the restoration is not known.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
2010528—
2020512−3.0%
2021 (est.)510[2]−0.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]

As of the

Latino
of any race were 1.7% of the population.

There were 214 households, out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the township, the population was spread out, with 17% under the age of 18, 65.4% from 18 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.6 years.

The median income for a household in the township was $46,944, and the median income for a family was $78,750. Males had a median income of $40,208 versus $19,063 for females. The

poverty line
, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Harmony Township

  • Bethel Hill – A hamlet south of the township on Route 171 next to Comfort Pond.
  • Brandt – A hamlet crossing Starrucca Creek.
  • Devils Punch Bowl – A lake surrounded by steep cliffs.
  • Jefferson Junction – A Location between Brandt and Lanesboro on Starrucca Creek.
  • King Hill – A Geological Feature near the center of the township.
  • Melrose – A Hamlet between Stevens Point and Starrucca.
  • Riverview – A Riverside Community west of the township.
  • Round Hill – A Geological Feature north of the township.
  • State Game Lands 70 – A public land organized by the PGC.[10]
  • Stevens Point – A hamlet between State Route 1011 and 1009.
  • Taylor Hill – A Geological Feature west of the township.
  • The Belize Fund Native American Cultural Center – A Cultural Center south of the township.

References

  1. ^ "2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Bureau, US Census. "City and Town Population Totals: 2020—2021". Census.gov. US Census Bureau. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Harmony Township". Susquehanna County Historical Society. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  4. ^ "Township Incorporations, 1790 to 1853". Susquehanna County Historical Society. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  5. ^ "Stickley Brothers Company". The Stickley Museum. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  6. ^ Porter, Larry C. "A Study of the Origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816-1831." Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1971. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 2, Harmony, Pennsylvania
  7. ^ "VIDEO: President Nelson Dedicates Priesthood Restoration Site". Mormon Newsroom. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. September 19, 2015. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  9. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  10. ^ https://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/StateGameLands/Pages/default.aspx
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