Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania

Nesquehoning is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 3,336 at the 2020 census.

Nesquehoning was established as a result of the anthracite coal mining industry. It was incorporated as a borough in 1963 (effective in 1964), having previously been a part of Mauch Chunk Township west of the Lehigh River. The borough's name is of Native American origin, commonly believed to signify "narrow valley;" however native language scholars translate the name as "at the black lick" or "at the dirty lick," referring to mineral licks frequented by deer or other animals.

History

 * The former Nesquehoning High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
 * The Grotto, Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine at the Shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux in New Columbus, Nesquehoning, PA is listed as a Traditional Cultural Property at the US National Register of Historic Places

Geography
Nesquehoning is located at 40.86806°N, -75.82417°W (40.868178, -75.824176). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 21.6 sqmi, of which, 21.2 sqmi is land and 0.4 sqmi (1.90%) is water. Nesquehoning is 3 mi west of Jim Thorpe and 4 mi northeast of Lansford. Nesquehoning's elevation is 830 ft above sea level. It has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) and its monthly average temperatures range from 26.5 °F in January to 71.1 °F in July. The hardiness zone is 6a.

Neighborhoods
Nesquehoning can be roughly divided into four neighborhoods:

Nesquehoning Village - This neighborhood is located in the southeastern section of the Borough with the Nesquehoning Creek serving as its northern border. More than half of the borough's residents live in this neighborhood.

New Columbus - This neighborhood includes the area north of the Nesquehoning Creek, opposite Nesquehoning Village. The second largest neighborhood in terms of the number of people next to the Nesquehoning neighborhood, development of the New Columbus neighborhood was a result of relocating the Little Italy section of Nesquehoning.

Old Hauto - This neighborhood is in the southwestern section of the borough, at the base of Nesquehoning Mountain to the south. It is bordered by the Nesquehoning Creek and the former Nesquehoning Valley Railroad (now owned by the County of Carbon) on the north. There are two hamlets or housing clusters in this neighborhood. One is the historical Old Hauto Village area, which is located in the west along PA State Route 54. The other housing cluster is a subdivision development located in the easterly part of the neighborhood between PA Route 54 and Park Avenue. It was developed beginning in the late 1960s and is known locally as Hauto Valley Estates.

Lake Hauto - This neighborhood is a lakeside resort type community situated on the northern side of Lake Hauto. Lake Hauto is a private community. Although often thought of as being in Nesquehoning, the majority of the Lake Hauto community is actually located in neighboring Rush Township, Schuylkill County.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 3,349 people, 1,440 households, and 864 families residing in the borough. The population density was 155.04 PD/sqmi. There were 1,701 housing units at an average density of 78.75 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the borough was 96.7% White, 1.2% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.95% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.

There were 1,440 households, of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the borough the population was spread over all age groups, with 18.8% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $35,902, and the median income for a family was $41,855. Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $19,291 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,820. About 2.0% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 23.4% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 3,336 people, 1,626 housing units, and 1,215 families. The racial makeup was 91.0% White (3,038 people), 2.3% African American (79), 0.1% Native American (6), 0.3% Asian (13), 2.3% some other race (79), and 3.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.8% (162).

The ancestry was 38.0% German, 20.8% Irish, 17.4% Italian, 5.2% English, 5.0% Dutch, 4.2% Polish, 4.1% Slovak, 2.6% Ukrainian, 2.2% Hungarian, and 1.5% Russian.

The median age was 38.0 years old. 20.0% of the population were older than 65, with 12.9% between the ages of 65 to 74, 5.7% between the ages of 75 to 84 years old, and 1.4% were 85 or older. 19.4% of under 18 years old, with 2.3% under 5, 12.6% between 5 and 14, and 4.5% between 15 and 17.

The median household income was $45,450, with families having $68,000, married couples having $72,287, and non-families having $25,089. 14.5% of the population were in poverty, with 20.6% of people under 18, 10.8% between 18 and 64, and 19.3% of people over 65 were in poverty.

Lake Hauto was built for a power plant. The dam was built to cool off the generators but by the 1970s the power plant was not efficient, so  as a result the plant closed down in mid 1977.Today Lake Hauto is a private lake community.

Economy
Nesquehoning is the former home of KME Corp, which was the largest employer in the borough for many decades until operations ceased in early 2022. The company, a division of REV Group, manufactures custom-built fire fighting vehicles for a variety of markets worldwide, and other specialty heavy-duty vehicles, including aircraft refuelers. At its peak, the company employed approximately 1,000 people in Nesquehoning, providing many jobs for the area. REV Group announced in late 2021 that they will be closing the factory in town, leaving approximately 400 out of work.

ConEdison Development has built one of the state's largest solar energy plants in Nesquehoning. Green Energy Capital Partners, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, developed the initial phase of the project before turning it over to ConEdison. The 10 megawatt photovoltaic solar energy plant was completed in 2012 and covers approximately 90 acres near the Green Acres Industrial Park. The power plant consists of approximately 40,000 solar panels, and produces enough energy to power about 1,500 homes. The solar energy plant was doubled in size several years later, with the second phase commencing operation in January 2020.

Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad bought the part of the KME campus on the north side of Pennsylvania Route 54 in 2022 and is in the process of building a passenger rail station that is expected to open in the spring of 2024 as well as shop facilities for locomotives and rail cars.

Education
The residents of Nesquehoning are served by the Panther Valley School District. Some of the residents of Nesquehoning may also be served by a private school, Marian Catholic High School, which accommodates students in grades 9-12 and is located near Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. Preceding schools of Marian is Our Lady of the Angels which houses grades K-8.

Transportation
As of 2020, there were 29.15 mi of public roads in Nesquehoning, of which 14.50 mi were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 14.65 mi were maintained by the borough.

U.S. Route 209 is the most prominent highway serving Nesquehoning. It follows Market Street and Catawissa Street along a southwest-northeast alignment through the southern and eastern parts of the borough. Pennsylvania Route 54 begins at US 209 and follows Stock Street southwestward. Pennsylvania Route 93 also begins at US 209, following Hunter Street northwestward.

Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad is building a passenger rail station that is expected to open by June 22, 2024 to host an Iron Horse Ramble.

Notable people

 * Gene Snitsky, former professional wrestler

Climate
Humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfa" (Hot Summer Continental Climate).