Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,879 at the 2020 census. The township is drained by the Susquehanna River. Nescopeck Mountain forms its natural northern boundary, while Buck and Butler Mountains form its southern border. Most of the township is farmland. Its unincorporated communities include Black Ridge, Council Crest, Sybertsville, and Tomhicken. I-81 crosses the southeastern corner of Sugarloaf, where it interchanges with PA 93 in Black Ridge. Penn State Hazleton is located in the southeast corner of the municipality (near Black Ridge) Sugarloft Township is part of the Hazleton Area School District, which operates public schools, including the Valley Elementary-Middle School in sugarloaf township. It is located on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which runs through the township. The Pennsylvania TurnPike is one of the busiest highways in the United States, running from New Jersey to New York City. It also runs through Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, which run from New York to Maryland. It was the site of the first recorded European-American settlement in the area, in 1780. The first settlers arrived in the Conyngham Valley after a skirmish in which roughly ten Americans were killed by a group of Native Americans and perhaps a handful of loyalists. The area was named after Sugarloac Mountain (a cone-shaped mountain in the valley) in the 1780s.

History

Present-day Sugarloaf Township was initially part of Newport Township (one of the original townships of Connecticut in Northeastern Pennsylvania) The first colonists established settlements close to the Susquehanna River. The world first heard of the Conyngham Valley after the sugarloaf massacre of 1780 in which roughly ten Americans were killed by a group of Native Americans and perhaps a handful of loyalists. John Cawley built the first sawmill on Nescopeck Creek in 1810. The first gristmills were erected between 1815 and 1820 by Benjamin and George Koening. Stephen Yost built thefirst steam mill in 1865. It is believed that George Easterday was the first white settler in what is now SugarloAF Township. Additional colonists followed in Easterday's footsteps; they were mostly from Northampton County. In 1792, Nescopesk Township was formed from a section of Newport. Sugarloft Township was finally formed in 1809 from a portion of NescOPEck; it was named after Sugarloac Mountain (a cone-shaped mountain in the valley) Sugarloa originally included what isnow Black Creek, Hazle, and Butler Townships. It was named for Sugarlof Mountain (a cone- shaped mountain in. the valley), which is located at the foot of Black Creek and Hazle creeks. In 1809, the first steam mill was built in the area; it is believed to have been built in 1815.

Geography

Sugarloaf Township is in Luzerne County's Conyngham Valley. Nescopeck Mountain forms its natural northern boundary, while Buck and Butler Mountains form its southern border. The township is drained by the Susquehanna River. Its unincorporated communities include Black Ridge, Council Crest, Sybertsville, and Tomhicken. Penn State Hazleton is located in the southeastern corner of the township (near Black Ridge) Sugarloaf is part of the Hazleton Area School District, which operates public schools in the township and nearby West Hazleton and Black Creek townships. The U.S. Census Bureau says the township has a total area of 22.5 square miles (58.2 km²), of which 22.4 square miles is land and 0.07% is water. The municipality is in the northeastern part of Luzersne County. PA 93 serves the township, and interchanges with I-80 in the northern half of the municipality. I-81 crosses the southeast corner of SugarloAF, where itInterchanges with PA 93 in Black Ridge and I-79 in the southern half. The county seat is Hazleton, and the township encircles the borough of ConynGHam Borough, which is located to the south of the city of Wilkes-Barre. The town of West Hazle is in northwest Luzerna County, near the town of Black Creek, and is near the county seat of Hazleton.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,652 people, 1,222 households, and 944 families residing in the township. The population density was 166.6 people per square mile (64.4/km²) The racial makeup of the township was 98.03% White, 0.27% African American, 1.11% Native American, and 1.01% Asian. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population. The median income for a household in the Township was $53,611, and $62,256 for a family. The per capita income was $22,444. About 2.7% of families and 5.6% of people were below the poverty line, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 13.8% ofThose age 65 or over. The township is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which connects to New Jersey, New Jersey and New York via the Raritan River and the Susquehannock River. It is located near the junction of the New York and Long Island Rivers, and the Delaware River, which connect to New York City and New Jersey via the Delaware Valley. It was the site of the U.S. Civil War and the Battle of the Bulge, which took place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The town's name is derived from the word "bullet" which means "to shoot" or "to kill".