Pillow, Pennsylvania

Pillow was founded in 1818 by John Snyder, a land developer from Mercer County, as "Snydertown" (Schneiderstettle). The borough was incorporated as "Uniontown" on April 20, 1864. When the town got its first post office in 1847, a post office under the name of "Uniontown" already existed. A postal official substituted the name "Pillow" after General Gideon Pillow, who was popular at the time for his victories in the Mexican–American War.[4] Over the next hundred years, the new name slowly took hold, and on November 2, 1965, the residents voted to change the official name of the town to "Pillow".

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pillow had numerous industries, including a cotton mill, a burial vault manufacturer, a brickworks, and a potato chip factory. Today, the only major industry is the Codi case factory.

Pillow is the northernmost town in Dauphin County, located at 40°38′26″N 76°48′12″W (40.640430, -76.803464).[5] It is bounded on the west, north, and east by Mahantango Creek, a west-flowing tributary of the Susquehanna River, and on the south by Mahantango Mountain.

Pennsylvania Route 225 passes through the center of the borough, leading northeast 23 miles (37 km) to Shamokin and south 7 miles (11 km) to Elizabethville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.49 square miles (1.28 km²), all land.[3]

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 304 people, 131 households, and 93 families residing in the borough. The population density was 634.6 people per square mile (244.5/km²). There were 139 housing units at an average density of 290.1 per square mile (111.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 99.67% White, and 0.33% from two or more races.

There were 131 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 2.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.75.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $39,464, and the median income for a family was $41,000. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $23,250 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $17,182. About 7.8% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under the age of eighteen and 20.4% of those sixty five or over.

Map of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Residents of Pillow may attend the local, public schools operated by Upper Dauphin School District which provides kindergarten through 12th grade. The District's enrollment declined to 1,237 students K-12 in 2013. Upper Dauphin School District ranked 322nd out of 500 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils in 2013. Pillow residents may also apply to attend Infinity Charter School located on 51 Banks St, Harrisburg and any of the Commonwealth's 13 public cyber charter schools at no additional cost to the parents. The Upper Dauphin School District is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools.[9][10] 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 Upper Dauphin School District were: Elementary School - $8,961.52, High School - $9,565.39.

Capital Area Intermediate Unit #15 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Pillow. Early screening, 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. CAIU15 also operates Capital Area Online Learning Association which is an online learning program operated in association with the local public schools.[11]

Pillow residents have access to Harrisburg Area Community College. People residing in Pillow fund HACC through an annual payment made by Upper Dauphin School District.[12] Twenty two local public school districts are required to contribute annually to HACC regardless of whether any residents are attending the college. Full-time students from these districts, who attend HACC, pay $1,674 for 12 credit hours.

• The Pillow Historical Society (2006). The History of Pillow, PA and the Surrounding Community.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pillow, Pennsylvania.

• Borough of Pillow official website