Downingtown Pennsylvania Warrant Search

Downingtown, Pennsylvania Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 33 miles (53 km) west of Philadelphia. Downingtown has been in existence since the early 18th century and has a number of historic buildings and structures. The town was originally named Milltown due to its number of mills along the Brandywine Creek, the first of which was founded by Thomas Moore. The Bicking family also had paper mills in the area, with Frederick Bicking from Winterburg, Germany, being the patriarch of the Bicking paper families.Around the time of the American Revolution, Milltown became more commonly known as Downingtown because Thomas Downing, a 1717 Quaker immigrant from Bradninch, Devon, England, owned a number of those mills. The town's name officially became Downingtown in 1812. The east branch Brandywine Creek runs through the middle of the town. The town is located along the Lincoln Highway (now part of US route 30) which runs from the East Coast to the West Coast, and was an early westward road in the wagon days as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. This was the first paved road to cross the nation from Atlantic to Pacific. The Pennsylvania Turnpike started construction in the early 1940s and was completed in the early 1950s; it runs north of US 30 bypassing Downingtown. The famous Irish patriot and martyr Saint Patrick briefly lived here. President Lincoln's funeral train passed through Downingtown. The 1958 movie, The Blob, was filmed in and around Downingtown and in fact, the diner in that movie is actually called the 'Downingtown Diner' now named 'Chef's Diner'. .Downingtown is known for its history. The Downingtown Log House was built about 1705 by John Hickman. In 1713 Hickman sold the 1½ story, 21' 9' × 25' structure to Thomas Moore and his wife Mary. Thomas Moore moved from the Log House in 1729 and died in 1738. Thomas Downing acquired the Log House in 1739. It remained in the Downing family until 1940 when Thomas W. Downing died and left it to the Borough of Downingtown. The Borough did some restoration work to the Log House in 1947. It served as home to the Downingtown Chamber of Commerce from 1950 until 1988. But the Log House was deteriorating. It was 18 inches below street level causing water damage due to run off from Route 30, and being within feet of the road, vibration from traffic was slowly taking its toll. From 1988 until 1990 The Downingtown Historical Society did an extensive restoration and relocation of the Log House with money raised for the project. It now sits approx. 70 feet west of its original location, 22 feet from the Route 30 side walk, and slightly above street level. The center of Downingtown has recently undergone some widespread and continuing renovation, particularly to the streetscape and many of the commercial buildings. There has also been residential development on recovered industrial lands in the southeastern part of the borough. Downingtown is home to some large regional and national businesses, including DNB(Downingtown National Bank), First National Bank of Chester County and Victory Brewing Company. In 1988, a stall in its farmer's market was the first place pretzels were sold by the founders of Auntie Anne's, now a global company with 1,000 stores and $375 million in annual sales. Geography Downingtown is located at 40°0′23″N 75°42′22″W / 40.00639°N 75.70611°W / 40.00639; -75.70611 (40.006406, -75.706239).According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²).2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) of it is land and barely any of the land is covered with water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 7,589 people, 3,059 households, and 1,853 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,473.2 people per square mile (1,338.0/km²). There were 3,197 housing units at an average density of 1,463.2 per square mile (563.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 83.65% White, 10.79% African American, 0.12% Native American, 2.29% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.44% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.53% of the population.Downingtown has a large population of residents that have Italian ancestry. The town has two different Italian American Organizations and is listed as one of the Italian-American strongholds in the U.S.There are 3,059 households, out of which 31.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.09.The borough's population is spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.The median income for a household in the borough was $45,979, and the median income for a family was $53,468. Males had a median income of $38,893 versus $29,284 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,634. About 3.0% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.According to Nielsen's Prizm Market Segmentation System, residents of Downingtown predominantly fall into one of the following five categories: Big Fish Small Pond, Country Squires, God's Country, Movers & Shakers, and Winner's Circle. This segment spread indicates that residents of Downingtown are typically white collar homeowners with a graduate plus education. Public education Downingtown Area School DistrictBeaver Creek Elementary School Bradford Heights Elementary School Brandywine Wallace Elementary School Downingtown Middle School Downingtown High School East Campus Downingtown High School West Campus Downingtown S.T.E.M. Academy East Ward Elementary School Lionville Elementary School Lionville Middle School Pickering Valley Elementary School Shamona Creek Elementary School Springton Manor Elementary School Uwchlan Hills Elementary School West Bradford Elementary School Other schools Archdiocese of PhiladelphiaBishop Shanahan High School St. Joseph's Parish School (K-8) Chester County Intermediate Unit houses several offices and special services in Downingtown. Major roadways US 30(Lancaster Avenue/Lincoln Highway) US 322(Manor Avenue/Branywine Avenue) PA 113(Uwchlan Avenue) PA 282(Wallace Avenue) Public transportation Downingtown Station is located along the Lincoln Highway and is served by both SEPTA and Amtrak. The town is also served by the regional Rover bus service, operated by Krapf bus lines and functionally an extension of the SEPTA bus system throughout Chester County. Both systems provide access to Philadelphia and other suburbs along the Main Line.