Upper Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

In 1729 Paxtang Township of Lancaster County was established. The spelling "Paxtang" is from the original Indian name Peshtank, which meant "standing water".[4] The word "Paxton" is used today instead of Paxtang.

Paxton Township was divided several times. Hanover Township was separated off Paxton Township in 1736. In 1767 the remainder of the township was split into Upper Paxton Township and Lower Paxton Township.[5]

On March 4, 1785, Dauphin County was formed from Lancaster County. The word "Dauphin" refers to the Dauphin of France, heir apparent to the French throne, whose country the area government wanted to honor for its assistance in the Revolutionary War. According to the Middle Paxton Township website, two years later, in August 1787, the legislature split off Middle Paxton Township.[6] The Lower Paxton Township website gives the date of formation of Middle Paxton Township as 1878.[5]

More scenery of Upper Paxton Township

According to the United States Census Bureau, Upper Paxton Township has a total area of 31.2 square miles (80.9 km²), of which 25.9 square miles (67.1 km²) is land and 5.3 square miles (13.8 km²), or 17.1%, is water.[3]

As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,458 households, and 1,096 families residing in the township. The population density was 151.3 people per square mile (58.4/km²). There were 1,528 housing units at an average density of 58.8/sq mi (22.7/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.91% White, 0.41% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.

There were 1,458 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the township the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $39,864, and the median income for a family was $48,981. Males had a median income of $33,731 versus $26,509 for females. The per capita income for the township was $17,945. About 7.1% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Map of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Residents of Upper Paxton Township and Millersburg may attend the local, public schools operated by Millersburg Area School District which provides half day kindergarten through 12th grade. The District's enrollment declined to 855 students K-12 in 2013, placing it among the smallest school districts in the Commonwealth.[9] Millersburg Area School District ranked 353rd out of 500 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils in 2013. Upper Paxton Township 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 Millersburg Area School District is required to pay the public charter school and the cyber charter school tuition for Upper Paxton Township residents who attend these Pennsylvania public schools.[10][11] By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must also 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 annually, by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for Millersburg Area School District were: Elementary School - $10,234.48, High School - $11,647.38.

School aged residents may also attend the Capital Area School for the Arts which is an arts magnet school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Capital Area Intermediate Unit #15 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Upper Paxton Township. 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.[12]

Upper Paxton Township residents also have access to Harrisburg Area Community College. People residing in Upper Paxton Township fund HACC in part through an annual payment to the college made by Millersburg Area School District, using local tax dollars.[13] 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 in 2013.

Upper Paxton Township is governed by three locally elected supervisors who serve four-year terms. In 2013, Ronald Hepner, (Chairman), John Orr, (Vice-Chairman) and Joseph Snyder were the township's supervisors.[14]

State level

• Susan C. Helm - State Representative, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 104
• John DiSanto - State Senator, Pennsylvania Senate, District 15

Federal level

• Scott Perry, Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district
• Pat Toomey US Senator
• Robert Casey, Jr., US Senator (senior)

• Upper Paxton Township official website