New Castle, Pennsylvania | |
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City | |
Zambelli Plaza in Downtown recognizes the pyrotechnics industry in New Castle
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Nickname(s): Fireworks Capital of America | |
Location within the state of Pennsylvania and USA. | |
Coordinates: 40°59′50″N 80°20′40″W / 40.99722°N 80.34444°WCoordinates: 40°59′50″N 80°20′40″W / 40.99722°N 80.34444°W | |
Country | United States |
Commonwealth | Pennsylvania |
County | Lawrence |
Established | 1798 |
Incorporated | 1869 (city) |
Government | |
• Mayor | Anthony G. Mastrangelo (D) |
Area | |
• Total | 8.53 sq mi (22.10 km2) |
• Land | 8.31 sq mi (21.52 km2) |
• Water | 0.23 sq mi (0.59 km2) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 23,273 |
• Estimate (2016) | 22,142 |
• Density | 2,665.46/sq mi (1,029.09/km2) |
Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP Code |
6 total ZIP codes:
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FIPS code | 42-53368 |
Website | City Website |
Portrait of an American City: 200 Years of New Castle History, Lawrence County Historical Society (2:56) |
New Castle is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Pittsburgh and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border just 18 miles (29 km) east of Youngstown, Ohio. The population was 23,128 as of the 2010 census. It is the commercial center of a fertile agricultural region.
New Castle is the principal city of the New Castle, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 91,108 in 2010. New Castle also anchors the northwestern part of the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-WV-OH Combined Statistical Area.
In 1798, John Carlysle Stewart, a civil engineer, traveled to western Pennsylvania to resurvey the "donation lands," which had been reserved for veterans of the Revolutionary War. He discovered that the original survey had neglected to stake out approximately 50 acres (20 ha) at the confluence of the Shenango River and the Neshannock Creek, at that time a part of Allegheny County. Claiming the land for himself, he laid out what was to become the town of New Castle. Stewart laid out the town of New Castle in April 1798. It comprised approximately that same 50 acres (20 ha), in what was then part of Allegheny County.
In 1825, New Castle became a borough, having a population of about 300. The city later became a part of Mercer County. On April 5, 1849, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania signed an act creating Lawrence County named in honor of U.S. Navy Captain James Lawrence. New Castle became a city in 1869 and was headed by its first Mayor, Thomas B. Morgan. At that time, the population had increased to about 6,000.
In 1849, a group of Old Order Amish families from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, settled just north of New Castle in New Wilmington. Later migrations from Holmes County, Ohio would make this Amish community one of the largest in Pennsylvania. Approximately 2,000 Amish live and work presently in the townships north of New Castle.