Charleston Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 52.9 square miles (137 km²), of which, 52.6 square miles (136 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of it (0.64%) is water.

Charleston Township is bordered by Middlebury Township to the north, Richmond and Covington Townships to the east, Bloss Township to the southeast, Duncan Township to the south and Wellsboro and Delmar Township to the west.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 3,233 people, 1,203 households, and 880 families residing in the township. The population density was 61.5 people per square mile (23.7/km²). There were 1,350 housing units at an average density of 25.7/sq mi (9.9/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.93% White, 0.19% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.09% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 1,203 households, out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.1% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the township the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $37,176, and the median income for a family was $43,548. Males had a median income of $31,224 versus $21,096 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,621. About 8.5% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

• Benedicts Corners – A village near the eastern township line, southeast of Hills Creek State Park.
• Charleston – A village in the central part of the township, a few miles northeast of Wellsboro.
• Hills Creek State Park – A state park in the northeast corner of the township that contains Hills Creek Lake.
• Pitts – A village on U.S. Route 6 just east of Wellsboro.
• Round Top – A village in the southwest part of the township.
• Whitneyville – A village just off of U.S. Route 6 and Pennsylvania Route 660 in the eastern part of the township.
• Willard – A village in the southwest corner of the township, a couple miles south of Round Top.

Map of Tioga County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Residents of Charleston Township may attend the local, public schools operated by Wellsboro Area School District which provides full day kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2013, the District's enrollment declined to 1,526 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2013, Wellsboro Area School District ranked 311th out of 498 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils, by the Pittsburgh Business Times.[6]

Charleston Township residents may also apply to attend any of the Commonwealth's 14 public cyber charter schools (in 2013) at no additional cost to the parents. The resident's public school district is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools.[7][8] By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must provide transportation to any school that lies within 10 miles of its borders. Residents may also seek admission for their school aged child to any other public school district. When accepted for admission, the student's parents are responsible for paying an annual tuition fee set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for Wellsboro Area School District were: Elementary School - $8,343.38, High School - $9,951.51.[9]

BLaST Intermediate Unit #17 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Charleston Township. Early screening for disabilities, special educations services, speech and hearing therapy and many other services like driver education are available. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements.

Community members have access to the Green Free Library in Wellsboro; the Westfield Public Library which is located on Maple Street, in Westfield; the Elkland Area Community Library located on East Parkway Avenue, in Elkland and to the statewide PA Power Library which is an online library funded with tax dollars from the state's education budget.

Charleston Township is governed by three (3) locally elected Township Supervisors.

County level

Three, elected at large, Tioga County Commissioners.

State level

• Matt Baker - State Representative, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 68
• Joe Scarnati - State Senator, Pennsylvania Senate, District 25

Federal level

• Glenn Thompson, Republican, Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district
• Pat Toomey, US Senator
• Bob Casey, Jr., US Senator