View source for Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania

{{short description|Borough in Pennsylvania, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania
|other_name = 
|native_name = 
|nickname = 
|settlement_type = Borough
|motto = 
|image_skyline = Benjamin B. Leas House.jpg
|imagesize = 250px
|image_caption = [[Benjamin B. Leas House]]
|image_flag = 
|flag_size = 
|image_map = File:Huntingdon County Pennsylvania Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Shirleysburg Highlighted.svg
|map_caption = Location of Shirleysburg in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
|pushpin_map = Pennsylvania#USA
|pushpin_label = Shirleysburg
|pushpin_label_position = bottom<!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
|pushpin_map_caption = 
|pushpin_mapsize = 
<!-- Location ------------------>
|subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Pennsylvania]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Pennsylvania|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania|Huntingdon]]
|government_footnotes = 
|government_type = Borough Council
|leader_title = Mayor
|leader_name = 
|leader_title1 = 
|leader_name1 = 
|leader_title2 = 
|leader_name2 = 
|leader_title3 = 
|leader_name3 = 
|leader_title4 = 
|leader_name4 = 
|established_title = Settled
|established_date = 
|established_title1 = Incorporated
|established_date1 = 
|area_magnitude = 
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_42.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=July 28, 2020}}</ref>
|area_total_km2 = 0.41
|area_land_km2 = 0.41
|area_water_km2 = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi = 0.16
|area_land_sq_mi = 0.16
|area_water_sq_mi = 0.00
|area_water_percent = 
|population_as_of = [[2010 United States Census|2010]]
|population_footnotes = 
|population_note = 
|population_total = 150
|population_density_km2 = 335.98
|population_density_sq_mi = 868.75
|pop_est_as_of = 2019
|pop_est_footnotes = <ref name="USCensusEst2019CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse"/>
|population_est = 139
|timezone = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
|coordinates   = {{coord|40|17|51|N|77|52|31|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft = 584
|postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code = 17260
|area_code = [[Area code 814|814]]
|website = 
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
|blank_info = 42-70408
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS feature ID]]
|blank1_info = 1215280<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1215280}}</ref>
|footnotes = '''Local phone exchanges:''' 447, 448
}}
'''Shirleysburg''' is a [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|borough]] in [[Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania|Huntingdon County]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States. The population was 150 at the 2010 census.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web| url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4270408| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Shirleysburg borough, Pennsylvania| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| work=American Factfinder| accessdate=January 23, 2018| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213111351/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4270408| archive-date=February 13, 2020| url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
Shirleysburg was originally the site of, and takes its name from, [[Fort Shirley]], a [[French and Indian War]] fort. In 1754 ,the [[Oneida people|Oneida]] chief Monacatoocha ([[Scarouady]]) led about 200 pro-British Native Americans ([[Iroquois]], [[Lenape]], and [[Shawnee]]) from their village of [[Logstown]] on the western frontier, to take refuge at [[George Croghan]]'s trading post.<ref>Jonathan A. Burns, "Report from the Fort: A Brief Summary of the 2012 Penn State University Archaeology Field School at Fort Shirley (36HU94)," ''This Week In Pennsylvania Archaeology,'' Friday, July 6, 2012</ref> That same year, Croghan built a stockaded [[blockhouse]] known as Croghan's Fort. Following General [[Edward Braddock]]'s defeat in July 1755, Governor [[Robert Hunter Morris]] ordered it renamed Fort Shirley and had several other forts built in a defensive line, to protect settlers from Native American attacks.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/wildernesstrailo01hann|last=Hanna |first= Charles Augustus|title= The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path| volume=1|publisher= Putnam's Sons| date=1911}}</ref> The fort was abandoned in late 1756 because it was considered too difficult to defend.<ref name = "Waddell">[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_French_and_Indian_War_in_Pennsylvani.html?id=AMXHNwAACAAJ Waddel, Louis M. and Bomberger, Bruce D. 1996. ''The French and Indian War In Pennsylvania, 1753–1763.'' Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg PA, 1996.]{{ISBN|0-89271-057-8}}</ref>

On April 3, 1837, Shirleysburg was incorporated as a borough. In 1840 the population was 247.<ref>[https://digital.libraries.psu.edu/digital/collection/digitalbks4/id/1263/ J. W. Jordan, ''A History of the Juniata River Valley in Three Volumes,'' vol. III. National Historical Association, Harrisburg, PA, 1936]</ref>{{rp|310}} The narrow gauge [[East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company|East Broad Top Railroad]] (EBT) was constructed through Shirleysburg in 1873. It continued to serve the town for 83 years, until it ceased operations in 1956. Since 1960, EBT tourist trains have operated from [[Rockhill, Pennsylvania|Rockhill]] to Colgate Grove, just south of town, where a [[wye (rail)|wye]] was constructed to turn trains. The inactive tracks pass through the community on their way to [[Mount Union, Pennsylvania|Mount Union]].

The [[Benjamin B. Leas House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1984.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
[[File:Shirleysburg PA United Methodist.jpg|thumb|center|Shirleysburg United Methodist Church]]

==Geography==
Shirleysburg is located in southeastern Huntingdon County in the valley of [[Aughwick Creek]], between Blacklog Mountain to the east and [[Jacks Mountain]] to the west. [[U.S. Route 522]] passes through the borough, leading north {{convert|6|mi|0}} to Mount Union and south {{convert|4|mi|0}} to [[Orbisonia, Pennsylvania|Orbisonia]], next to Rockhill.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], Shirleysburg has a total area of {{convert|0.4|km2|1}}, all  land.<ref name="Census 2010"/> The western border of the borough follows Aughwick Creek, a northward-flowing tributary of the [[Juniata River]].

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=left
|1840= 247
|1850= 361
|1860= 354
|1870= 320
|1880= 367
|1890= 325
|1900= 230
|1910= 256
|1920= 200
|1930= 217
|1940= 242
|1950= 241
|1960= 170
|1970= 238
|1980= 147
|1990= 140
|2000= 140
|2010= 150
|estyear=2019
|estimate=139
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2019CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2019.html|date=May 24, 2020|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=May 27, 2020}}</ref>
|footnote=Sources:<ref name="USDecennialCensus">{{cite web|title=Census of Population and Housing|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=11 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref><ref name=CensusPopEst>{{cite web|title=Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012.html|work=Population Estimates|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=11 December 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611010502/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012.html|archivedate=11 June 2013}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 140 people, 61 households, and 38 families residing in the borough. The population density was {{convert|878.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 64 housing units at an average density of {{convert|401.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the borough was 97.86% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.43% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.71% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]]. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.71% of the population.

There were 61 households, out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.4% 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 2.82.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $26,250, and the median income for a family was $40,625. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $18,750 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the borough was $13,586. There were 5.7% of families and 13.6% of the population living below the [[poverty line]], including 19.4% of under eighteens and 22.2% of those over 64.
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==References==
<references />

{{Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places established in 1780]]
[[Category:Boroughs in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania]]