Boyertown, Pennsylvania

Boyertown (Pennsylvania Dutch: Boyerschteddel) is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,264 at the 2020 census. Boyertown is known for the many painted fiberglass bears that can be found throughout the town and borough.

History
A post office called Boyertown has been in operation since 1828. The community was named for its founders, brothers Henry and Daniel Boyer.

In 1908, Boyertown was the site of the Rhoads Opera House fire.

Geography
Boyertown is located along the southeastern border of Berks County. It is bordered on the north, west, and south by Colebrookdale Township, and to the southeast by Douglass Township in Montgomery County.

Boyertown is included in the Reading metropolitan statistical area, which is part the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Boyertown has a total area of 2.0 km2, all land. It has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and average monthly temperatures range from 30.0 °F in January to 74.7 °F in July. The hardiness zone is 6b.

Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 3,940 people, 1,805 households, and 1,025 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,941.7 PD/sqmi. There were 1,885 housing units at an average density of 2,364.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the borough was 98.83% White, 0.20% African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.

There were 1,805 households, out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder, and 43.2% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the borough, the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $39,232, and the median income for a family was $52,943. Males had a median income of $33,783 versus $26,507 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,194. About 3.6% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
As of 2020, there were 12.82 mi of public roads in Boyertown, of which 1.91 mi were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 10.91 mi were maintained by the borough.

Pennsylvania Route 73 (Philadelphia Avenue) is the main east–west road through the borough. It leads east-southeast to Schwenksville and eventually Northeast Philadelphia. To the northwest it leads to Blandon north of Reading. Pennsylvania Route 562 (Reading Avenue) leads west to Reading proper. Pennsylvania Route 100 bypasses the borough just outside its eastern border, leading north to Macungie near Allentown and south into Pottstown. A railroad line runs south from Boyertown to Pottstown. This line is used by the Colebrookdale Railroad tourist line and the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad freight line.

Public education
The borough is served by the Boyertown Area School District.This includes one senior high school, two middle schools, six elementary schools, and a cyber school program.

Media
The area is served by The Berks-Mont News, a weekly paper with a circulation of 5,500.

Landmarks

 * Cabot Corporation
 * Rhoads Opera House

Notable people

 * Steve Burns, former Blue's Clues host, actor, musician
 * James Develin, former professional football player, New England Patriots
 * Elaine Irwin Mellencamp, former Victoria's Secret model, ex-wife of rock musician John Mellencamp
 * John M. Schealer, children's science fiction author
 * Mark Soper, actor
 * Carl Spaatz, U.S. Army general during World War II

Sister cities
Boyertown has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:
 * 🇺🇦 - Bohodukhiv, Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Ukraine