Moreland Township, Pennsylvania

Coordinates: 41°11′47″N 76°39′28″W / 41.19639°N 76.65778°W / 41.19639; -76.65778
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other Pennsylvania townships with similar names, see Moreland Township, Pennsylvania (disambiguation).
Moreland Township,
Pennsylvania
570
FIPS code42-081-50936
GNIS feature ID1216762[3]
The Lairdsville Covered Bridge over Little Muncy Creek in Moreland Township is one of three remaining in Lycoming County.

Moreland Township is a

Metropolitan Statistical Area
.

History

Moreland Township originally covered the entire southeast corner of Lycoming County but was divided into three townships in 1822. One part kept the name Moreland, while the other two parts were Penn and Franklin Township.[4]

The Lairdsville Covered Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The Houseknecht Farm was added in 2007.[5]

The name

There are several stories about how Moreland Township was named. One story states that an early pioneer to the

West Branch Susquehanna River Valley was climbing up and down the hills and upon reaching the top of a hill exclaimed, "more land!" Another story relates to the "sloppiness" of the earliest land surveys. An acre was not necessarily measured accurately. These particular acres were larger than they were supposed to be. The early settlers liked to say that they got "more land" to the acre here than they could have elsewhere. The most likely reason relates to an arcane definition of moreland, meaning "a hilly country".[6]

Early settlers

A veteran of the

second cousins to the man who served as their president.[6]

Geography

Moreland Township is in southeastern Lycoming County and is bordered by

Wolf Township to the northwest, Penn Township to the north, and Franklin Township to the east. Pennsylvania Route 442 crosses the southern part of the township, leading northwest 8 miles (13 km) to Muncy and southeast 10 miles (16 km) to Millville. Pennsylvania Route 118 crosses the northern part of the township, leading west 4 miles (6 km) to Hughesville and east-northeast 40 miles (64 km) to Dallas. Williamsport, the Lycoming county seat
, is 21 miles (34 km) west of the township.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Moreland Township has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.3 km2), of which 23.9 square miles (61.9 km2) are land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km2), or 0.55%, are water.[1] Little Muncy Creek is the main stream through the township, flowing west to join Muncy Creek and then the West Branch Susquehanna River near Muncy. A small part of the southern edge of the township flows via the West Branch of Chillisquaque Creek, another tributary of the West Branch of the Susquehanna. The northernmost part of the township drains westward via Sugar Run and Little Sugar Run to Muncy Creek near Hughesville.

Economy and environment

The Harman Lewis 1H well, a Marcellus Formation shale gas well in Moreland Township, has had a methane leak since 2011.[7][8] In January 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order to the well operator, Range Resources, to address the leakage problems "for once and for all".[9][10] Combustible gas has been found "in groundwater, in soil surveys in nearby farm fields and surfacing on Greg's Run and Sugar Run."[9]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
2010943—
20201,0218.3%
2021 (est.)1,017[2]−0.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

As of the

Native American
, and 0.19% from two or more races.

There were 367 households, of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.7% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.0% were non-families. 12.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the township the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males.

The

poverty line
, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

  1. ^ a b "2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved Aug 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Bureau, US Census. "City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021". Census.gov. US Census Bureau. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. Work Projects Administration (First ed.). The Commissioners of Lycoming County Pennsylvania. 1939. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2007-03-26.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  6. ^
    OCR
    typos).
  7. ^ Levy, Mark (January 14, 2020). "State orders gas well plugged in fight over methane leaks". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  8. ^ Snook, Morgan (January 15, 2020). "Hughesville landowners hosting leaking well say Range Resources didn't cause contamination". NorthcentralPA.com. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Cocklin, Jamison (January 15, 2020). "Pennsylvania Regulators, Range Resources Face Off Over Problem NatGas Well". www.naturalgasintel.com. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  10. ^ Associated Press (January 14, 2020). "Pennsylvania orders gas well plugged in fight over methane". WTAE. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  11. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  12. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
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