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Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Nickname: The only TOWN in Pennsylvania
Map showing Bloomsburg in Columbia County
Map showing Columbia County in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°00′02″N 76°27′14″W / 40.00056, -76.45389
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Columbia County
Incorporated	1870 (as a town)
Government
- Mayor	Claude Renninger
Area
- Total	4.6 sq mi (11.9 km²)
- Land	4.4 sq mi (11.4 km²)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.5 km²)  4.98%
Population (2000)
- Total	12,375
- Density	2,818.1/sq mi (1,088.1/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Website: http://www.bloomsburgpa.org/

Bloomsburg is a town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Wilkes Barre along the Susquehanna River. In 1900, the population of Bloomsburg stood at 6,170; in 1910, 7,413; in 1940, 9,799, and in 1990, 12,439. The population was 12,375 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Columbia County^GR6.

The first signs of European settlement date to the year 1772, when James McClure established a log cabin in the area. Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was just a small village, known as the Bloom Township.

For more than a century, starting from its incorporation on March 4, 1870, Bloomsburg held the distinction of being the only incorporated town in Pennsylvania. While other municipalities are often commonly referred to as towns, they were all officially classified as either cities, boroughs, or townships. Bloomsburg still uses the slogan of "The only TOWN in Pennsylvania," and state government publications continue to recognize Bloomsburg as "the only incorporated town" in Pennsylvania. ^{[1] [2] [3]} However, in 1975, McCandless Township, in Allegheny County adopted a home rule charter under the name "Town of McCandless". ^{[4] [5]}

Bloomsburg is located at 41°0′2″N, 76°27′14″W (41.000614, -76.453950)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.6 square miles (12.0 km²), of which, 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (4.98%) is water.

• Mount Pleasant Township
• Scott Township
• Catawissa Township (separated by the North Branch of the Susquehanna River)
• Montour Township
• Hemlock Township

A marker behind the airport showing the height of the river during historic floods (the dirt mark is from the 2006 floods).

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 12,375 people, 4,080 households, and 1,791 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,818.1 people per square mile (1,088.4/km²). There were 4,399 housing units at an average density of 1,001.8/sq mi (386.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.42% White, 2.60% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.11% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.74% of the population.

There were 4,080 households out of which 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.2% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.1% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% 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 2.83.

In the town the population was spread out with 12.3% under the age of 18, 45.5% from 18 to 24, 18.6% from 25 to 44, 12.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 77.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,868, and the median income for a family was $39,806. Males had a median income of $29,940 versus $19,961 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,819. About 10.5% of families and 31.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 15.2% of those age 65 or over.

The town of Bloomsburg is administered by a town council of seven members, currently led by the Mayor Claude Renninger (whose term ends on December 31, 2007).

The current town council is:

Terry Lemon

William C. Brobst

Paul Kinney

Dan Knorr

Paul Houseknecht

Donald Pursel

Councilman Dan Knorr, a student at Bloomsburg University, was elected Mayor on November 6, 2007. His term is set to begin on January 2, 2008. He will have the distinction of being the youngest Mayor in Bloomsburg's history.

Bloomsburg is served by the Bloomsburg Area School District, which has about 1,800 students enrolled from the town itself, western, and south-eastern suburbs. Columbia Montour Vo-Tech in Bloomsburg has numerous secondary education trade programs.

The Central Columbia School District with approximately 2,100 students encompasses the eastern and northern Bloomsburg suburbs.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, one of the 14 institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, has about 7,600 undergraduate and 760 graduate students.

The one park in Bloomsburg is its 43 acre Town Park, established in 1927. The Norris E. Rock Memorial Swimming Pool and the Bloomsburg Skate Park immediately adjoins the park.

Notable businesses located in the Bloomsburg zipcode include Mariano Construction Inc, R.R. Donnelly & Sons, Kawneer Inc (division of Alcoa), del Monte Foods, Milco Industries, Bloomsburg Carpet, Windsor Foods, Rieter Automotive Systems, MoonLite Telescope Accessories and Anondizing, Dyco Inc, and Bloomsburg Mills.

Bloomsburg is home to the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble was founded in 1978 to establish a resident professional ensemble for the production of quality entertainment and educational programs for the region, and to promote the arts.

The city also has a public library, Bloomsburg Public Library, founded in 1899 and funded jointly by the taxpayers of Bloomsburg, Scott Township and Hemlock Township.

Bloomsburg is also home to the Bloomsburg Fair which, since 1855, is a tradional farm fair.

The David Stroup Fountain, erected in 1892, is a fountain located at Bloomsburg's Market Square. David Stroup was a local candyshop owner who left money in his will to the town's water works. The current fountain is a restored version of the original, which was dismantled in 1966 due to its detioration but was put back together in its entirety in 1982 by 2 residents, Bill Brobst and Jay Fritz.

Bloomsburg is home to one daily newspaper, the Press Enterprise. Several radio stations also serve the area, including WHLM-AM (formerly WCNR-AM) and WFYY-FM (formerly WHLM-FM). The town is primarily served by Service Electric Cablevision and receives both the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market television stations and Philadelphia stations.

Bloomsburg is home to the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport.

The main transportation system in Bloomsburg is U.S. Route 11. Also, Interstate 80 has some interchanges just north of the town.

ELECTRICITY - PPL Electric Utilities NATURAL GAS - UGI Penn Natural Gas, Inc. CABLE TELEVISION - Service Electric Cablevision WATER - United Water PA

1. ^ The Pennsylvania Manual 117
2. ^ Pennsylvania Local Government Fact Sheet, 2005
3. ^ "Local Government Entities in Pennsylvania" and "Municipal Statistics" in Legislator’s Municipal Deskbook for Pennsylvania
4. ^ Bloomsburg
5. ^ Pennsylvania code, Title 302, Chapter 23

• Official site
• Columbia-Montour Chamber of Commerce
• Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble

• Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania is at coordinates 41°00′02″N 76°27′14″W / 41.000614, -76.45395Coordinates: 41°00′02″N 76°27′14″W / 41.000614, -76.45395

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Columbia County, Pennsylvania
County seat: Bloomsburg
Towns	Bloomsburg
Boroughs	Ashland | Benton | Berwick | Briar Creek | Catawissa | Centralia | Millville | Orangeville | Stillwater
Townships	Beaver | Benton | Briar Creek | Catawissa | Cleveland | Conyngham | Fishing Creek | Franklin | Greenwood | Hemlock | Jackson | Locust | Madison | Main | Mifflin | Montour | Mount Pleasant | North Centre | Orange | Pine | Roaring Creek | Scott | South Centre | Sugarloaf
Communities and CDPs	Almedia | Aristes | Buckhorn | Espy | Eyers Grove | Fernville | Foundryville | Iola | Jamison City | Jerseytown | Jonestown | Lightstreet | Lime Ridge | Locustdale | Mainville | Mifflinville | Numidia | Rohrsburg | Rupert | Slabtown | Waller | Wilburton Number One | Wilburton Number Two

	v • d • e County Seats of Pennsylvania
Cities	Allentown | Butler | Easton | Erie | Franklin | Greensburg | Harrisburg | Lancaster | Lebanon | Lock Haven | Meadville | New Castle | Philadelphia | Pittsburgh | Pottsville | Reading | Scranton | Sunbury | Uniontown | Warren | Washington | Wilkes-Barre | Williamsport | York
Boroughs	Beaver | Bedford | Bellefonte | Bloomfield| Brookville | Carlisle | Chambersburg | Clarion | Clearfield | Coudersport | Danville | Doylestown | Ebensburg | Emporium | Gettysburg | Hollidaysburg | Honesdale | Huntingdon | Indiana | Jim Thorpe | Kittanning | Laporte | Lewisburg | Lewistown | McConnellsburg | Media | Mercer | Middleburg | Mifflintown | Milford | Montrose | Norristown | Ridgway | Smethport | Somerset | Stroudsburg | Tionesta | Towanda | Tunkhannock | Waynesburg | Wellsboro | West Chester
Town	Bloomsburg