Mount Joy, Pennsylvania

Mount Joy is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,410 at the 2010 census,[2] and an estimated 8,278 in 2019.[3]

Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
Mount Joy post office
Location in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Mount Joy
Location in Pennsylvania
Mount Joy
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 40°06′36″N 76°30′40″W
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyLancaster
Government
 • MayorTimothy D. Bradley Jr. (R)
Area
 • Total2.43 sq mi (6.28 km2)
 • Land2.41 sq mi (6.24 km2)
 • Water0.02 sq mi (0.04 km2)
Elevation
371 ft (113 m)
Population
 • Total7,410
 • Estimate 
(2019)[3]
8,278
 • Density3,433.43/sq mi (1,325.65/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
17552
Area code(s)717 and 223
Websitewww.mountjoyborough.com

Name and origin

The name is often shortened to "Mt Joy", as in Mencken (1963).[4] However, citizens of the town often point out that this abbreviation is not proper because the town is not named for a mountain but is named after the "Good Ship" Mountjoy which famously broke a Catholic siege during the Siege of Derry.[5] Due to the early settlement of the Protestant Scots-Irish in this region of Pennsylvania, many of the municipalities in the area were given names common to the North of Ireland, such as Derry Township, Londonderry Township, South Londonderry Township, Mount Joy Township, East Donegal Township, West Donegal Township, and Rapho Township.

Mount Joy is often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, along with Intercourse, Blue Ball, Lititz, Bareville, Bird-in-Hand and Paradise.[6][7][8][9][4]

Wells Fargo Bank on Main Street

General information
  • ZIP code: 17552
  • Area code: 717
  • Local phone codes: 492, 653, 928

Geography

Mount Joy is located in northwestern Lancaster County at 40°6′36″N 76°30′40″W (40.109895, -76.510977).[10] Pennsylvania Route 230 passes through the center of town as Main Street, leading southeast 12 miles (19 km) to Lancaster, the county seat, and northwest 6 miles (10 km) to Elizabethtown. Harrisburg, the state capital, is 25 miles (40 km) to the northwest via PA-230. PA-772 crosses PA-230 west of the borough center and leads northeast 7 miles (11 km) to Manheim and southwest 5 miles (8 km) to Marietta on the Susquehanna River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.3 km2), of which 0.02 square miles (0.04 km2), or 0.64%, are water.[1] Little Chiques Creek, a south-flowing tributary of Chiques Creek and part of the Susquehanna River watershed, crosses the eastern side of the borough.

In the 1970s, Mount Joy was chosen as the site of one of ten Decision Information Distribution System radio stations, designed to alert the public of an enemy attack. The system was never implemented and the station was not built.

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18601,729—
18701,8969.7%
18802,0588.5%
18901,848−10.2%
19002,0189.2%
19102,1667.3%
19202,1921.2%
19302,71623.9%
19402,8555.1%
19503,0065.3%
19603,2929.5%
19705,04153.1%
19805,68012.7%
19906,39812.6%
20006,7655.7%
20107,4109.5%
2019 (est.)8,278[3]11.7%
Sources:[11][12][13][14]

The 2010 United States Census reports the following demographics for Mount Joy Borough:[15]

  • Total population: 7,410
  • Male: 3,624
  • Female: 3,786
  • Hispanic or Latino: 549
  • White: 6,809
  • African American: 187
  • Asian: 58
  • American Indian and Alaska Native: 20
  • Identified by two or more: 170

Museums and historic sites

Notable people

Notes
  1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  2. "Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Mount Joy borough, Pennsylvania". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  3. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. Mencken (1963) p.653. Quote:
    In the years since then many of these names have been changed to more elegant ones,2 and others have vanished with the ghost towns they adorned, but not a few still hang on. Indeed, there are plenty of lovely specimens to match them in the East, in regions that were also frontier in their days, e.g., the famous cluster in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania: Bird in Hand, Bareville, Blue Ball, Mt. Joy, Intercourse and Paradise.
  5. "History of Mount Joy". Mount Joy Historical Society. Mount Joy Historical Society. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  6. Ward's quarterly (1965) p.109 quote:
    ...in such delightfully-named towns in Pennsylvania Dutchland as his native Mount Joy, and neighboring Lititz, Blue Ball, Bareville, Intercourse, Bird in Hand, and Paradise.
  7. Anderson (1979) p.214 quote:
    "...but anyone who names their towns Mount Joy, Intercourse, and Blue Ball can't be all bad. Obviously they have more on their minds than just religion."
  8. Museums Association (2006) p.61 quote:
    Which brings us to Intercourse. You can imagine my delight when I found out that the Amish call the town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania, their home. There seems to be a lot of explanations from locals trying to pass off the name as a bastardisation of 'Enter Course' and so on, but seeing as there are other local towns called Blue Ball, Bird In Hand, and Mount Joy, I suspect that the person responsible had a very juvenile sense of humour. The town sits in upstate Pennsylvania and is a tourist trap for anyone even remotely curious about the Amish way of life.
  9. Rand McNally and Company (1978) p.52
  10. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  11. "Census of Population and Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  12. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  13. "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  14. "Mount Joy (borough) QuickFacts". Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  15. 2010 United States Census Community Data Archived 2012-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Clarence Charles Newcomer at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References
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