McCandless Township
| McCandless, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania |
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| Home Rule Municipality | |
Typical suburban street
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 Location in Allegheny County and state of Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates: 40°34′35″N 80°01′45″W / 40.57651°N 80.029292°WCoordinates: 40°34′35″N 80°01′45″W / 40.57651°N 80.029292°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Allegheny |
| Settled | 1796 |
| Incorporated | 1851 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Council |
| • Town Manager | Tobias M. Cordek |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16.60 sq mi (43.00 km2) |
| • Land | 16.50 sq mi (42.73 km2) |
| • Water | 0.10 sq mi (0.27 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,024 ft (312 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 28,457 |
| • Estimate (2016) | 28,755 |
| • Density | 1,742.83/sq mi (672.92/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 15237, 15090, 15101 |
| Area code(s) | 412, 724 |
| FIPS code | 42-003-45900 |
| Website | McCandless official website |
McCandless is a Home Rule Municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 28,457 at the 2010 census. It obtained a home rule charter on January 1, 1975, and changed its name from "McCandless Township" to "Town of McCandless". Though McCandless no longer operates under the First Class Township Code, it is classified as a first-class township for certain purposes.
The inclusion of the word "Town" in its name sometimes causes confusion, since with one exception, a "town" is not a municipal unit in Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg, in Columbia County, was incorporated as a town in 1870, and is legally recognized as "the only incorporated town" in Pennsylvania.
McCandless is part of the North Allegheny School District and participates in the multi-municipality Northland Public Library.
It has been ranked highly among Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live."
Native American artifacts, primarily Iroquois Nation, have been found in areas of the township. Early written history includes a visit by George Washington in 1753.
The first European settler in McCandless Township was James Duff, who had purchased 400 acres (1.6 km2) in 1796. Farming increased in the area, and in 1849, meetings were held, presided over by Daniel Vogel, for the purpose of forming a local government. The township was founded in 1851 and called "Taylor Township". The area was incorporated in 1857 as a second class township and renamed "McCandless Township" in honor of District Judge Wilson McCandless. The published population was 1,482 persons.
During the 1800s McCandless Township was primarily a farming community. During the War of 1812, an important supply route for the transportation of war materials from Pittsburgh to Commodore Perry's forces on Lake Erie passed through the area.
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