Kingston

Kingston, Pennsylvania
—  Borough  —
Kingston, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 41°15′59″N 75°53′22″W / 41.26639°N 75.88944°W / 41.26639; -75.88944
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Luzerne
Settled	1769
Incorporated	1858
Government
- Type	Borough Council
- Mayor	James "Jim" Haggerty
Area
- Total	2.2 sq mi (5.7 km2)
- Land	2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation	545 ft (166 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	13,855
- Density	6,461.6/sq mi (2,494.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code	18704
Area code(s)	570

Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Susquehanna River opposite Wilkes Barre. Kingston was incorporated as a borough in 1858. It is part of the greater metropolitan area of the city of Wilkes-Barre. In 1900: 3,846 people lived here; in 1910: 6,449; and in 1940: 20,679 people lived here. The population was 13,855 at the 2000 census.

History

Near Kingston stood Forty Fort, prominent in the Pennamite-Yankee War and in the Revolution. In the vicinity of this fort occurred, in 1778, the famous Battle of Wyoming, in which Tories and Indians battled Connecticut settlers.

Transportation

• The Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport is located in the adjacent boroughs of Forty Fort and Wyoming.
• Kingston is connected to downtown Wilkes-Barre by the Market Street bridge.
• The lengthy, U.S. Route 11, which stretches out to the southern United States, runs across Kingston on Wyoming Avenue, which is the longest non-highway road in all of northeastern Pennsylvania.
• The Luzerne County Transportation Service serves Kingston and the rest of Luzerne County.

Geography

Kingston is located at 41°15′59″N 75°53′22″W / 41.26639°N 75.88944°W / 41.26639; -75.88944 (41.266481, -75.889478)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²), of which, 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (2.71%) is water.

Government

Kingston operates under a home rule charter with seven part-time councilors, a part-time mayor, and an administrator, the chief appointed official.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 13,855 people, 6,065 households, and 3,372 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,461.6 people per square mile (2,499.7/km²). There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 3,057.1/sq mi (1,182.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 96.84% White, 0.77% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.80% of the population.

There were 6,065 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the borough the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 24.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $33,611, and the median income for a family was $45,578. Males had a median income of $34,069 versus $24,482 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $20,568. About 8.2% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives and residents

• Frank Zane, bodybuilder born in Kingston. Won the Mr. Olympia title three years in a row (1977-1979).
• Edie Adams, singer and light comedienne (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), began her career with and later married Ernie Kovacs. Did TV commercials in the 1960s for Muriel Cigars, with the somewhat racy line at the time "Why don't you pick me up and smoke me some time?".
• Kingston has produced one Major League Baseball player, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Steamer Flanagan. (b. April 20, 1881)
• Dan Harris, Hollywood Director (Imaginary Heroes) and Screenwriter (X2 [X-Men 2] and Superman Returns), was born and raised in Kingston. He attended high school at Wyoming Seminary, before going to Columbia University for college.
• Suzie Plakson . actress and musical theatre performer.
• Dave Popson, NBA player for the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
• Title Fight, pop punk band.

References

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Kingston, Pennsylvania is at coordinates 41°15′59″N 75°53′22″W / 41.266481°N 75.889478°W / 41.266481; -75.889478 (Kingston, Pennsylvania)Coordinates: 41°15′59″N 75°53′22″W / 41.266481°N 75.889478°W / 41.266481; -75.889478 (Kingston, Pennsylvania)

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