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'New Kensington' is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Pittsburgh, on the Allegheny river. In 1900, 4,665 people lived in New Kensington, Pennsylvania; in 1910, 7,707; in 1920, 11,987 in 1930 and 24,055 in 1940, 24,055. The population was 14,701 at the 2000 census.
New Kensington was founded in 1891. In 1890, the Burrell Improvement Company considered the advantages of the level land south of its home in Lower Burrell, and deemed it a prime location for a city and named the area "Kensington" (later changed to "New Kensington" for postal purposes, because Pennsylvania already had another city with that name).
In an attempt to make New Kensington comparable to Pittsburgh, the streets were named with numbers. Avenues ran parallel to the river, while streets were perpendicular. 4th and 5th were the main commercial streets.
Once the land was surveyed, a public sale was held on June 10, 1891. Thousands of people flooded the area and investors began bringing industry with them. The first large company was the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (which later became Alcoa). They acquired a 3.5 acre (14,000 m²) that allowed the company to exploit the closeness to the riverfront.
Eventually, such other companies as Adams Drilling, Goldsmith and Lowerburg, New Kensington Milling, New Kensington Brewing, Logan Lumber, Keystone Dairy and many more were built late in the Nineteenth Century and continuing into the early Twentieth Century.
Early achievements included a railroad station, the 9th Street bridge, a passenger boat that navigated the Allegheny River, a street car line that ran to Natrona Heights, the "Kensington Dispatch" newspaper, a fire department, hotel, opera house, and a local chapter of the YMCA.
By 1906, 25,000 people occupied an area of seven miles. Schools and churches flourished at the turn of the century leading the way to the modern era we are now a part of.
In 1941 New Kensington became the site of a modern workers' housing project designed by Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, which set new standards for federal housing design. Intended for Alcoa employees (it was called Aluminum City Terrace), it was subsequently used to rehouse displaced residents from other parts of the city.
Today, New Kensington has grown to include a Fire Department, Police Force and Rescue Team. There is also a library, city newspaper "The Valley News Dispatch", more than 15 churches, 3 banks, 4 elementary schools, 2 parochial schools, one high school, and a post secondary school. New Kensington also had at one time a branch campus of Penn State. Since 1966 the campus has been located in suburban Upper Burrell, but still retains the name Penn State New Kensington. Two radio stations, WGBN-AM and WZPT-FM, are both licensed to New Kensington, but serve Pittsburgh almost exclusively.
The current mayor of New Kensington is Frank E. Link, (D) elected in 2001.
New Kensington is featured in P.O.D.'s Youth of the Nation music video. You can clearly see the PA 56 Arnold directional sign as the car in the video travels eastbound over the New Ken Bridge. The Hulton Bridge in nearby Oakmont and the Fort Pitt Tunnels in Pittsburgh are also featured.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

External links

Geography

New Kensington is located at (40.568367, -79.758333).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.0 km² (4.2 mi²). 10.3 km² (4.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (6.37%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 14,701 people, 6,519 households, and 3,963 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,429.7/km² (3,703.9/mi²). There were 7,309 housing units at an average density of 710.8/km² (1,841.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.85% White, 9.84% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.
There were 6,519 households out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,505, and the median income for a family was $37,952. Males had a median income of $31,164 versus $11,683 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,152. About 8.5% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.1% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

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