Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia on the Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College, opened in 1869. The population was 5,089 at the 2010 census.
History
Tour of Collegeville, PA -
The village was originally known as Perkiomen Bridge and later as Freeland. In 1869 the German Reformed Church founded Ursinus College just outside Freeland, and the village changed its name to Collegeville. The Perkiomen Bridge and Perkiomen Bridge Hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography
Collegeville is located at 40°11′8″N 75°27′30″W (40.185554, -75.458273).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1Â km2), of which, 1.6 square miles (4.1Â km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26Â km2) of it (3.70%) is water.
Economy
Collegeville and the surrounding area are rapidly growing. The borough of Collegeville is home to Ursinus College, as well as many local businesses. Outside the borough, Pfizer's pharmaceutical division and Dow Chemical share a global research and development campus. There is also a GlaxoSmithKline research and development facility. The Providence Town Center, an open-air shopping and restaurant mall, is located outside Collegeville.
Collegeville is the home of the Church House (headquarters) of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, the population of the borough was 89.4% White, 4.0% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.8% Asian, and 1.9% were two or more races. 2.4% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,032 people, 1,408 households, and 1,010 families residing in the borough. The racial makeup of the borough was 61.83% White, 31.19% African American, 0.10% Native American, 2.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 3.93% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.13% of the population.
There were 1,408 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 12.9% under the age of 18, 17.6% from 18 to 24, 42.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 240.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 275.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $77,499, and the median income for a family was $90,733. Males had a median income of $40,185 versus $39,236 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $23,080. About 1.0% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.
Politics and government
Collegeville has a city manager form of government with a mayor and a seven-member borough council. The current mayor is Aidsand Wright-Riggins.
The borough is part of the Sixth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Ryan Costello), the 150th State House District (represented by Rep. Michael Corr) and the 44th State Senate District (represented by Sen. John Rafferty, Jr.).
Education
Collegeville is part of the Perkiomen Valley School District. There is also one private parochial school, Holy Cross Regional Catholic School, which serves Grades K-8. The Borough is also home to Ursinus College.
Transportation
SEPTA operates bus #93 along Collegeville's Main Street and Ridge Pike, running southeast to Norristown and northwest to Pottstown. The southern segment of highway PA 29 also serves Collegeville, running north to Allentown and south to Malvern.
Attractions
Collegeville offers multiple attractions, including skydiving, numerous shops and restaurants, horse-back riding and its well-known car show.
Notable people
- Horace Ashenfelter, winner of the steeplechase at the 1952 Summer Olympics at Helsinki and Sullivan Award winner as outstanding amateur athlete for the year 1952.
- Michael R. Matz, an American Olympics equestrian rider and Thoroughbred horse trainer who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby.
- CM Punk, mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler, lived in Collegeville between December 2003 and August 2005
- Joe DeRosa, stand-up comedian, author, actor and television writer
- Elin Hilderbrand, romance novelist.
- The Bloodhound Gang, rock band best known for their 2000 single, "The Bad Touch"
- Tim Cooney (baseball), pitcher in the Cleveland Indians organization.
- Mark The Bagger, actor and member of the Wack Pack on The Howard Stern Show.
- J.D. Salinger, American author, attended Ursinus College in 1938
- Jen Carfagno, Meteorologist and Broadcaster
References
External links
- Borough of Collegeville
- Schools in Collegeville
