Upper Saucon Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. The township had a population of 16,973 as of the 2020 census.[2]
Upper Saucon Township is located 8.6 miles (13.8 km) southeast of Allentown, 52.5 miles (84.5 km) north of Philadelphia, and 89.5 miles (144.0 km) southwest of New York City.[3]
History
Present-day Upper Saucon Township originally was populated by the Unami division of the Lenape native people, also known as the Delaware people. The name Saucon comes from the native Unami language word Saukunk, meaning "mouth of the creek".[4]
In 1752, Northampton County, including present-day Upper Saucon Township, was carved out of Bucks County geographically. In 1812, Lehigh County was carved from Northampton County, and present-day Upper Saucon Township was included in Lehigh County.[5]
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 24.6 square miles (63.7 km2), of which 24.5 square miles (63.4 km2) are land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km2), or 0.59%, are water.[1] Its boundary with Salisbury Township is located on South Mountain.[6] Elevations range from 340 feet (100 m) in Spring Valley to 1,042 feet (318 m) at Bauer Rock atop South Mountain in Big Rock County Park. Upper Saucon is in the Delaware River watershed and is drained by Saucon Creek into the Lehigh River, except for a very small area in the extreme south just southwest of Locust Valley, which is drained by Unami Creek into Perkiomen Creek and the Schuylkill River.
Upper Saucon Township has a hot summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and is in hardiness zone 6b. The average monthly temperature in Center Valley ranges from 29.5 °F (−1.4 °C) in January to 74.3 °F (23.5 °C) in July.[7]
As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 11,939 people, 3,970 households, and 3,283 families residing in the township. The population density was 483.9 inhabitants per square mile (186.8/km2). There were 4,117 housing units at an average density of 166.9 units per square mile (64.4 units/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 97.11% White, 0.70% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population.
There were 3,970 households, out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.3% were non-families. 13.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the township, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $66,703, and the median income for a family was $73,381. Males had a median income of $50,041 versus $30,165 for females. The per capita income for the township was $27,606. About 0.9% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
Upper Saucon Township Community Park was dedicated on May 18, 1996, and was designed to meet the current and future recreational needs of the Township's residents. The park covers approximately 70 acres and is conveniently located in the central portion of the Township.[10]
As of 2022, there were 131.43 miles (211.52 km) of public roads in Upper Saucon Township, of which 50.61 miles (81.45 km) were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 80.82 miles (130.07 km) were maintained by the township.[14]
PA 145 and PA 378 come south from Center City Allentown and Bethlehem, respectively, to meet PA 309 in Lanark and Center Valley, respectively. Other major roads in the township include Beverly Hills Road, Blue Church Road, Blue Church Road South, Center Valley Parkway/Saucon Valley Road, Lanark Road, Limeport Pike, Locust Valley Road (turns into Allentown Road in Lower Milford Township before exiting Lehigh County), Main Street (in Center Valley), Oakhurst Drive/Vera Cruz Road, and Passer Road.
Public transportation
LANta Route 323 serves Upper Saucon to and from Allentown.[15]
