Plymouth Meeting

Plymouth Meeting is a census-designated place (CDP) that straddles Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The settlement was founded in 1686. Plymouth Meeting is home to the Colonial School District, the Plymouth Meeting Mall and several large office parks and shopping centers. The confluence of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-276), the Mid-County Expressway/"Blue Route" (I/476) and the Northeast Extension of thesylvania Turnpikes (I:476) at the Mid/Northeast Interchange is a major driver for business and retail development. The population of Plymouth Meeting was 6,177 in the 2010 census. The area was originally settled by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, who built the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse in 1708. It is located 47 miles (76 km) southeast of Allentown and 18.7 miles (30.1 km) northwest of Philadelphia. In 1832 there were but ten houses here. The post office was established here before 1827. Few slaves were held in Plymouth Township, and only one remained by 1830. The Maulsby and Corson families were early abolitionists, sheltering runaway slaves beginning in the 1810s and turning their properties into stations on the Underground Railroad. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increased the penalties for giving assistance to an escaped slave to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. It allowed slavecatchers to pursue a fugitive across state lines into every state and territory.

History

Plymouth Meeting is the primary city name, but also Plymouth Mtng are acceptable city names or spellings, Plymouth Valley on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Plymouth Meeting House is the name of a village situated at the intersection of the Plymouth and Perkiomen turnpikes, on the township line. The Maulsby and Corson families were early abolitionists, sheltering runaway slaves beginning in the 1810s and turning their properties into stations on the Underground Railroad. Local resident George Corson was involved in hiding Jane Johnson, whose 1855 escape exposed a loophole in the federal law. When the doors to local churches and schools were closed to Abolitionist speakers, Corson built Abolition Hall (1856) on his farm at Germantown and Butler Pikes. The hall could accommodate up to 200 people, and hosted speakers such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Stephen Foster and William Lloyd Garrison. One of his most famous paintings,Breaking Home Ties, (shown below) as well as several others, can be seen in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In the early 19th century the Friendship Company for the Protection against Horse Stealing was organized there. In 1806, an officer in the Revolution, operated the inn kept by Frederick Dull and in 1825 it was kept by Jacob Hart Hart. It was a training place for the 36th Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia and the Second Battalion of the Second Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia. It is now home to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Plymouth Meeting Mall, high-rise and garden apartment complexes, industries and office buildings.

Geography

Plymouth Meeting has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a population of 2,788. The area is immediately adjacent to the Schuylkill River, but all river frontage is occupied by industry. Interstate 476 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike pass through the township. It is easily accessible to Interstate 76 and the "Main Line" points across the river. Currently a bike trail is under development for river access. The CDP is located in Plymouth Township, with a smaller portion lying within Whitemarsh Township.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, 5,593 people, 2,215 households, and 1,557 families resided in the CDP. The population density was 1,478.8 people per square mile (571.3/km²) As of the 2010 census, the population was 82.2% Non-Hispanic White. 2.1% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.00. The median income for a household was $57,601, and the median family income was $71,585. About 3.0% of families were below the poverty line, including 4.2 of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For each 100 females age 18 or over, there are 89.5 males. The CDP is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which connects to New Jersey and New Jersey via the N.J. Bay Bridge and the Hudson River. It is located near the junction of the New York City and Long Island Rail Road lines. The New York State Thruway connects the city to New York and New York via the East River and the Long Island Expressway. It also connects to the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Diego Bay Area via the West River and San Diego River. The city is on the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of "rural" or "urban".

Attractions

Plymouth Meeting is home to the Plymouth Meeting Mall, which has AMC Theatres adjacent to it. The largest Whole Foods Market in the Philadelphia area opened on January 12, 2010. Boscov's, Burlington, Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels, and Edge Fitness serve as the anchor stores to the mall. The historic Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse, built in 1708, is located within the town. It is the oldest continually used meetinghouse in the United States. It was built by a group of men in the 17th century, and is still in use to this day. The meetinghouse is located on the site of the former Plymouth Meeting School, which was built in the 18th century. The town is also home to a number of other historic buildings, including a 17th-century church and an 18th- and 19th- century church. The Plymouth Meeting Museum is located in the center of the town, and dates back to the early 1800s. It has a collection of rare and valuable items, including an early version of the Gutenberg Bible, which dates to the 16th century and was used as a guide for the first time in the 19th Century. It also has a large collection of historic photographs, including some of the first photographs taken in Plymouth Meeting in the 1800s and early 1900s. The museum is on the grounds of the historic Plymouth Meeting House, which is still used today as a tourist attraction.

Institutions

Plymouth Meeting lies in both Plymouth and Whitemarsh townships. La Salle University maintains a satellite campus in Plymouth Meeting. Villanova University maintains its baseball facilities on the grounds of the Greater Plymouth Township Community Center at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. Plymouth Meeting is the home of Odyssey Fastpitch Softball, a competitive girls travel/tournament softball organization. East Plymouth Valley Park is also located there. The entire area is generally referred to as "Plysmouth Whitem Marsh", as is the high school and most of the town's public schools. The post office is actually located just outside Plymouth Township within WhitemMarsh Township. The town has an extensive park system, including the Greater. Plymouth Community Center and 11 parks comprising approximately 149 acres. The township has a walking trail, sand volleyball courts, indoor basketball and a swimming pool. It also has a bocce league, as well as a concert series in the summer. It is home to a number of sports teams, including lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and softball. It has a high school, a junior high, a middle school, and an elementary school. The city has a post office, which is located in the town of Plymouth Meeting, but is actually in the neighboring town of Whitemarsh. There are no high schools or colleges in the city of Plymouth, but the town does have a few colleges and a few high schools in the nearby towns of Plymouth and Plymouth Township.

Education

The Colonial School District maintains its headquarters just south of Plymouth Meeting in Whitemarsh Township. Colonial is regarded as one of the top school districts in the state with consistently high standardized testing results. The two townships share a high school with the borough of Conshohocken.Holy Rosary Regional Catholic School is the area Catholic school. It was formed in 2012 by the merger of Epiphany of Our Lord School in Plymouth Meeting, Our Lady of Victory in East Norriton, and St. Titus in Norristown. The district also has a middle school, high school and elementary school. The high school is located in the town of NorristOWN. The middle school is in the city of East Stroudsburg. The elementary school and high school are in East St. Patrick's Township. The school district has a junior high, middle school and an elementary school in the township. The senior high school has a football field and a track and field field. It is also home to a baseball and softball team. It has a field hockey team and a field lacrosse team. There is a baseball field for the football team. The football team has a baseball team for the girls and a softball squad for the boys. The soccer team has two teams for the women and one for the cheerleading squad. There are two soccer teams for both sexes. The girls have a soccer team and the boys have a field soccer team. They have a baseball program for the men and a football program.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania = 31.1. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 2. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Plymouth Meeting = 4.1 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 7,452 individuals with a median age of 43.8 age the population dropped by -2.48% in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,906.86 residents per square mile of area (736.24/km²). There are average 2.46 people per household in the 2,183 households with an average household income of $69,710 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.90% of the available work force and has dropped -4.83% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.44%. The number of physicians in Plymouth Meeting per 100,000 population = 500.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Plymouth Meeting = 46.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 19 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 104. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 203. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 22 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 46, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania which are owned by the occupant = 75.54%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 44 years with median home cost = $257,900 and home appreciation of -2.87%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $16.80 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,787 per student. There are 13.4 students for each teacher in the school, 657 students for each Librarian and 328 students for each Counselor. 5.11% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 24.97% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 17.04% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).