The name Mahanoy[Notes 1] is believed to be a variation of the Delaware word Maghonioy, or "the salt deposits".[3][4][5]
History
Mahanoy City, originally a part of Mahanoy township, was settled in 1859 and incorporated as a borough by decree of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Schuylkill County on December 16, 1863.[citation needed] It was served by branches of the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia & Reading railways.[citation needed]
Mahanoy City lies in a valley in the Pennsylvania Coal Region and was a major center of anthracite production; the area was embroiled in the Molly Maguires incidents.[6][7][8] In 2010, the borough erected the Molly Maguire Historic Park, which features a Zenos Frudakis statue of a hooded miner on a gallows about to be hanged.[9]
The borough's principal industries remain the mining and shipping of coal, although the demand for it has steadily declined since its peak in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1930 the St. Nicholas Coal Breaker was built and went into operation in 1932. A controlled explosion destroyed the breaker in March 2018.[10][6]
Fire clay abounds locally. The manufacturing of shirts, bedding and foundry products is also fairly prominent.[citation needed]
In 1948, Mahanoy City became the first municipality in the country to have cable TV.[11]
Geography
Mahanoy City is located at 40°48′45″N76°8′25″W / 40.81250°N 76.14028°W / 40.81250; -76.14028 (40.812413, -76.140223),[12] with PA 54 as a main thoroughfare and through road, serving as a main street named Centre Street. To the west it connects to Shenandoah thence to the Susquehanna Valley and to the east reaches through several unincorporated villages then passes through Barnesville as Pine Creek Dr. and then serves Hometown as a main road, intersecting PA 309 (N-S) before passing into Tamaqua and Nesquehoning. The borough is situated in the valley of Mahanoy Creek, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Shenandoah and 11 miles (18 km) west-northwest of Tamaqua, both of which are reached via Route 54. Mahanoy City lies at an elevation of 1,240 feet (380 m) above sea level; Broad Mountain (1,795 feet (547 m)), a ridge extending through Schuylkill County, overlooks it on the southeast.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2), all land. It has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) and average temperatures range from 24.3 °F in January to 69.3 °F in July.[13] The hardiness zone is borderline between 5b and 6a, meaning that the approximate average annual absolute minimum temperature is -10°F.[14]
As of the census[17] of 2000, there were 4,647 people, 2,113 households, and 1,210 families residing in the borough. The population density was 9,060.8 inhabitants per square mile (3,498.4/km2). There were 2,595 housing units at an average density of 5,059.8 per square mile (1,953.6/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.79% White, 0.22% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.
There were 2,113 households, out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.2% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 39.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 24.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 26.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $24,347, and the median income for a family was $32,033. Males had a median income of $29,628 versus $20,288 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $14,369. About 12.6% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.3% of those under age 18 and 20.9% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Mahanoy Area School District serves the borough and includes an elementary, middle school, and high school complex for students.
^Known to be pronounced /ˈmɒhɒnɔɪ/ or /ˈmɒ(hɒ)nɔɪ/ in the 21st century; known to have been pronounced both that way and /ˈmɒkənɔɪ/ by Coal Region natives in the 19th and 20th centuries, although the latter pronunciation may now be waning and may now in some cases be a hypercorrection by people who take pride in knowing it as a shibboleth.
^Mahanoy Area Historical Society (2004). "Introduction". Mahanoy Area. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN9781439632123. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
^"Area History: A Centennial History - Mahanoy City". USGenWeb Archives. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2018. The original spelling of the word is "Maghonioy". The authority for this is the deed, executed August 22, 1749, by representatives of the Six Nations and the Delaware, Shamokin and Shawnee Indians of Pennsylvania, who transferred a tract of land to the Provincial proprietaries for 500 pounds "lawful money of Pennsylvania".
