Hermitage, Pennsylvania

Hermitage is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,230 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Mercer County. It is located about 15 mi northeast of Youngstown and about 60 mi northwest of Pittsburgh. It is the principal city of the Hermitage micropolitan area, which includes all of Mercer County.

History
Hermitage was first settled in 1796 and incorporated in 1832 as Hickory Township from portions of the Shenango and Pymatuning townships. Following the incorporation of the cities of Sharon and Farrell and the boroughs of Sharpsville and Wheatland, the remainder of the Township was incorporated into a first class township.

The Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law was passed in 1972, allowing for municipalities to establish their own home rule charters. A home rule charter in Hickory Township was approved on May 21, 1974, by a vote of 1,375 to 546, and was to become effective on January 1, 1976. A resolution of April 9, 1975, stated the Board of Commissioners' intent to start an informal campaign to consider the possibility of a name change for the Township. After conducting a survey, the names "Hermitage", "Mount Hickory", and "Hickory Hills" were to be placed on a ballot. Hermitage was selected in the November 1975 election, effective from January 2, 1976.

On November 8, 1983, the voters approved by a margin of 1971 to 1846 to reclassify the Township of Hermitage to a city. Hermitage became a third class city on January 1, 1984.

On May 31, 1985, Hermitage was struck by an F5 tornado that killed 18 people and injured 310. It was the strongest tornado ever recorded in Pennsylvania. On May 31, 2015, the 30th anniversary of the F5, an EF0 tornado touched down in the southern part of town. It flipped two cars, damaged the canopy at a Sheetz gas station and downed a few trees and branches.

Municipal consolidation
In 2004 local politicians proposed the creation of Shenango Valley City, of Hermitage as well as Farrell, Sharpsville, Sharon, and Wheatland with the issue being put on the ballot in the form of a referendum. Then Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell voiced support for the measure and would be joined by Kathleen McGinty, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, and Dennis Yablonsky, Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development with the trio touring the region to urge for voters to pass the motion. The city would largely be an expansion of Hermitage, whose city government would be retained including the office of mayor and it's nine-member city council. The merger would have kept the various independent school districts intact. The effort would ultimately be defeated, and via the ordinance the issue of merger could not be brought up again until 2009.

The neighboring borough of Wheatland merged into Hermitage on January 1, 2024.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.6 sqmi, of which 29.5 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi  (0.37%) is water. Based on area, Hermitage is the third largest city in Pennsylvania.

The Shenango River Lake north of Hermitage is run by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 16,157 people, 6,809 households, and 4,616 families residing in the city. The population density was 548.3 PD/sqmi. There were 7,104 housing units at an average density of 241.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 94.97% White, 3.09% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.66% of the population.

There were 6,809 households, out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,454, and the median income for a family was $46,994. Males had a median income of $41,506 versus $25,217 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,227. About 6.3% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Hermitage is served by the public Hermitage School District, which includes Karen A. Ionta Elementary School, Artman Elementary School, Delahunty Middle School, and Hickory High School. The city is also served by the private Kennedy Catholic High School under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie.

Media
Hermitage is covered by the six-day daily newspaper The Herald'' of adjacent Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Because of Hermitage's location near the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, it is served by WKBN-TV (CBS), WFMJ-TV (NBC), WYTV (ABC), WYFX-LD (Fox) and WBCB (CW), all broadcast from nearby Youngstown, OH.

Hermitage is served by AM radio stations such as WLOA (1470 AM) (Farrell, PA), WPIC (790 AM) (Sharon, PA), WKBN (570 AM) (Youngstown, OH) and FM radio stations such as WYFM/"Y-103" (102.9 FM), WLLF/"The River" (96.7 FM) (Mercer, PA), WYLE/"Willie 95.1" (95.1 FM) (Grove City, PA), WMXY/"Mix 98.9" (98.9 FM) (Youngstown, OH).

Tourism

 * Avenue of Flags – includes a War on Terror Memorial
 * Buhl Farm Golf Course

Notable people

 * Sincere Carry, college basketball player for the Kent State Golden Flashes
 * Andre Coleman, former National Football League wide receiver and kick returner
 * Michael Gruitza, former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 7th district
 * Jon Kolb, former National Football League offensive tackle and center
 * Mark Longietti, former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 7th district
 * Rob Spon, professional basketball coach
 * Rod White, former gold-medal US Olympic Team archer

International relations
Hermitage is twinned with:
 * 🇸🇰 Žipov, Slovakia.