Sharon, Pennsylvania

Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about 15 mi northeast of Youngstown, about 65 mi southeast of Cleveland and about 60 mi northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 13,147 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hermitage micropolitan area.

History
The Sharon area was first settled in 1795. It was incorporated as a borough on October 6, 1841, and incorporated as a city on December 17, 1918. The city operated under the Pennsylvania third-class city code until 2008, at which point it adopted a home rule charter under which the elected position of mayor was replaced with a hired city manager and financial officer.

The founding families of Sharon first settled on a flat plain bordering the Shenango River, between two hills on the southwestern edge of what is today Sharon's downtown business district. According to local legend, the community received its name from a Bible-reading settler who likened the location to the Plain of Sharon in Israel.

Initially a center of coal mining, Sharon's economy transitioned to iron and steelmaking and other heavy industry after the arrival of the Erie Extension Canal in the 1840s. Following extensive national deindustrialization of the 1970s and 1980s, the city's economy diversified and is now based primarily on light industry, education, health care, and social services.

Prior to Prohibition in 1919, Sharon was home to a large commercial beer brewery, Union Brewing Co., which was forced to close its doors like many U.S. breweries of the era. During World War II the Westinghouse Electric Corporation at Sharon produced 10,000 torpedoes for the US Navy.

The Frank H. Buhl Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Sharon is the home of the original Quaker Steak & Lube, which opened in 1974, and formerly The Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

In 2004 local politicians proposed the creation of Shenango Valley City, consisting of Sharon as well as Hermitage, Sharpsville, Farrell, 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.

Geography
Sharon is located at 41.23°N, -80.49889°W in southwestern Mercer County. The city borders the city of Hermitage to the north and east, the city of Farrell to the south, and on the west the census-designated places of Masury and West Hill, Ohio.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 sqmi, all land. The Shenango River flows through the city and provides drinking water to Sharon and several surrounding communities.

Demography
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,328 people, 6,791 households, and 4,189 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,342.6 PD/sqmi. There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 1,964.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 86.44% White, 10.85% African American, 0.21% Asian, 0.18% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 2.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.

From the Census Ancestry Question, Sharon has the following ethnic make-up: German 21%, Irish 14%, Italian 11%, Black or African American 11%, English 8%, Polish 5%, Slovak 5%, Welsh 3%, Scots-Irish 2%, Hungarian 2%, Dutch 2%, French (except Basque) 2%, Croatian 1%, Scottish 1%, Russian 1%, Swedish 1%, Arab 1%, Slavic 1%, American Indian tribes, specified 1%. Sharon's Jewish community is served by the Reform Jewish Temple Beth Israel.

There were 6,791 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city, the population was distributed with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,945, and the median income for a family was $34,581. Males had a median income of $30,072 versus $20,988 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,913. About 14.0% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Science Building and Forker Laboratory, Penn State Shenango Campus.jpg on the Penn State Shenango Campus in Sharon]] Children in Sharon are served by the Sharon City School District. The district colors are black and orange, and the school mascot is the Tiger. The following schools currently serve Sharon:
 * Case Avenue Elementary School – grades K-6
 * C.M. Musser Elementary School – grades K-6
 * West Hill Elementary School – grades K-6
 * Sharon Middle School – grades 7-8
 * Sharon High School – grades 9-12

St. Joseph's School served as the parochial school for Sharon until 2011 when it closed as part of a merger between Notre Dame School and Kennedy Catholic High School to form the Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools. Parochial school students in Sharon now attend St. John Paul II Elementary School, Kennedy Catholic Middle School and Kennedy Catholic High School in nearby Hermitage.

Sharon is home to the Shenango campus of Pennsylvania State University, which offers several two-year and four-year degrees. It also hosts Laurel Technical Institute, a for-profit trade school, and the Sharon Regional Health System School of Nursing.

Tourism

 * Buhl Mansion
 * Shenango River Lake
 * WaterFire Sharon

Television
Because of Sharon's location on 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.

Radio
Sharon is served by AM radio stations such as WLOA (1470 AM) (Farrell, PA), WPIC (790 AM), WKBN (570 AM) (Youngstown, OH), and by 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) and WWIZ/"Z-104" (West Middlesex, PA).

Notable people

 * Mike Archie – former National Football League running back
 * Carmen Argenziano – actor Stargate SG-1
 * Teryl Austin – National Football League coach, Pittsburgh Steelers, Senior Defensive Assistant/Secondary coach
 * Jane J. Boyle – judge
 * Frank H. Buhl – steel businessman and philanthropist
 * Tony Butala – founder, lead vocalist, The Lettermen, president Vocal Group Hall of Fame
 * Mike Connell – former National Football League punter
 * John Daverio – professor of music
 * Jonathan Dresel – Drummer for Jimmy Kimmel Live and his older brother Bernie Dresel, Grammy Award-winning LA studio drummer known for the Simpsons, Family Guy and many others.
 * Nate Dunn – artist, Pennsylvania Impressionism School
 * John H. Garvey – President, Catholic University of America (2010–present)
 * Charlie Gibson – catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1905)
 * Bob Golub – stand-up comedian, actor, writer, filmmaker
 * Mick Goodrick – jazz guitarist
 * Erwin Hahn – physicist
 * Randy Holloway – former National Football League defensive end
 * Marc Howard – former Philadelphia news anchor
 * Marlin Jackson – National Football League cornerback
 * Benjamin Jarrett – Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives
 * Jane Katz – (born 1943), Olympic swimmer
 * John Kiriakou – former CIA officer convicted of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act; notable in waterboarding debate
 * Ty Longley – guitarist, Great White
 * John D. MacDonald – best-selling crime novelist
 * Jack Marin – former National Basketball Association player
 * Paul McKee – professor and author of children's reading primers
 * Hugh McKinnis – former Canadian Football League and National Football League running back
 * Bill Murray – nationally syndicated cartoonist and children book illustrator
 * Grover Norquist - founder and president, Americans for Tax Reform
 * Lester Rawlins – actor
 * Mike Sebastian – former halfback in the National Football League and second American Football League
 * Frank Secich – author, rock musician and member of the group Blue Ash
 * Hershel Shanks – founder, Biblical Archaeology Society, editor, Biblical Archaeology Review
 * Willie Somerset – ABA All-Star professional basketball player
 * Lorenzo Styles – former linebacker for Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams; head coach for the Marion Blue Racers
 * James Henry Taylor – professor of mathematics
 * Leo Yankevich – poet, translator, editor of The New Formalist