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Conestoga Township, Pennsylvania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Conestoga Township is a township in west central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 3,749.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 42.6 km² (16.4 mi²). 37.9 km² (14.6 mi²) of it is land and 4.7 km² (1.8 mi²) of it (11.02%) is water.
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 3,749 people, 1,374 households, and 1,067 families residing in the township. The population density was 99.0/km² (256.3/mi²). There were 1,409 housing units at an average density of 37.2/km² (96.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.32% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. 0.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,374 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the township the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $51,895, and the median income for a family was $57,768. Males had a median income of $37,284 versus $25,956 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,939. About 2.2% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.
Conestoga Township has some interesting history including among its colonial settlers many Palatinate Germans. Trinity Lutheran Church dates from this period. In 1749 a German immigrant from Heimbach in the Rheinland Palatinate arrived named Dewalt Schmidt (also spelled on some documents in Germany as Theobald Schmitt) who joined Trinity Lutheran Church in Conestoga Township and changed his name to Daywalt Smith. He built a forge in Conestoga Township called Martick Forge, usually spelled nowadays as Martic forge, where he worked as a blacksmith until he died in 1780. Daywalt Smith is buried in the churchyard of Trinity Lutheran Church in Conestoga Township.
