The area of present-day Beaver Falls was first mentioned in 1770 in the journals of David Zeisberger, a Moravian Churchmissionary who eventually settled in present-day Lawrence County. A Lenape chief named Pakanke took Zeisberger to the valley surrounding the Beaver River, where the Lenape owned a large tract of open land which Zeisberger was given access to.[4] In April 1770, Zeisberger and his followers set out in 16 canoes down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, reaching the mouth of the Beaver three days later. They made their way up to what was called the “Falls of the Beaver," where they encamped.[4] Early settlers included Dr. Samuel and Milo Adams around the upper falls, whilst David Hoopes and Isaac Wilson developed the middle falls. The town originally formed around the middle falls area was named Brighton after Brighton, England, which was the hometown of the area's surveyors.[4]
Despite early promise through the canal business on the falls, the town fell behind neighboring New Brighton after repeated poor economic periods. The earlier proprietors sold the land to the Harmony Society in 1859.[4] The Harmonists immediately brought in surveyors to re-plan Brighton, laying out a town twice the size of the original, paving several main streets with brick and officially changing the name of the community to Beaver Falls.[4] The rapid revitalization of the community allowed it to gain borough status on November 9, 1868. In the 1870s, Beaver Falls was home to a Chinatown and had up to 225 Chinese residents, brought in to work at Beaver Falls Cutlery Company moved in to the borough by the Harmonists.[5][6]
The population declined nearly 50% between 1940 and 2000, which is attributed mostly to its central location in the Rust Belt.[8][9][10]
Geography
Climate
Beaver Falls experiences a humid continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. The hottest month is July with a mean temperature of 72.1 °F (22.3 °C) and the coldest month is January with a mean temperature of 27.6 °F (−2.4 °C).
Climate data for Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (Beaver Falls 1NE) 1991–2020 normals (records 2011–present)
As of the 2000 census,[13] there were 9,920 people, 3,798 households, and 2,259 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,681.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,807.6/km2). There were 4,380 housing units at an average density of 2,067.1 per square mile (798.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 78.82% White, 17.53% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 2.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.
Government
Beaver Falls City Hall
Beaver Falls had been a third class city under the Pennsylvania local government structure until a home rule charter went into effect on January 3, 2022.[14] The city's charter maintains a commissioned mayor-council form of government; a mayor and four city council members constitute the commission and serve as the governing body of the city. Since the 2021 election cycle, the mayor has been Dr. Kenya Johns, and the council members Leonard Chiappetta, Peggy Evans, Vanessa Ford-Taylor, and John Kirkland.[14]
A city manager is employed to oversee day to day operations and oversight of the city’s main departments: Administration, Department of Finance & Taxation, Department of Public Works, Fire Department, Police Department, and Community Development. The current city manager is Charles Jones Jr.[14]
^Anon (1993). "Gone but not forgotten: the Beaver Falls Cutlery Company". Industrious Beaver Falls. Darlington, Pennsylvania: Beaver County Industrial Museum. This is based on Anon (1992). "The history and lore of Beaver Co.: the Chinese in Beaver Falls 1872". The Beaver Countian Vol III no.1. Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. pp. 1–3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Britten, Kenneth, Beaver Falls Gem of Beaver County, Arcadia Publishing, 2002, ISBN0-7385-2382-8.
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