The population of New
Kensington is approximately 14,701.
The approximate number of families is 7,269.
The amount of land area in
New Kensington is 10.28 sq. kilometers.
The amount of surface water is 0.707 sq kilometers.
New Kensington is
positioned 40.56 degrees north of the equator
and 79.75 degrees west of the prime meridian.
New Kensington was founded in
1891. In 1890 the Burrell Improvement Company considered the
advantages of the level land south of its home in Lower Burrell,
and deemed it a prime location for a city and named the area
"Kensington" (later changed to "New
Kensington" for postal purposes, because Pennsylvania already
had another city with that name).
In an attempt to make New
Kensington comparable to Pittsburgh, the streets were named with
numbers. Avenues ran parallel to the river, while streets
were perpendicular. 4th and 5th were the main commercial
streets.
Once the land was surveyed, a
public sale was held on June 10th 1891. Thousands of people
flooded the area and investors began bringing industry with
them. The first large company was the Pittsburgh Reduction
Company (which later became ALCOA). They acquired a 3.5 acre
that allowed them to exploit their closeness to the riverfront.
Eventually companies such as
Adams Drilling, Goldsmith and Lowerburg, New Kensington Milling,
New Kensington Brewing, Logan Lumber, Keystone Dairy, and many
more were built late in the nineteenth and continuing into the
early twentieth century.
Early achievements included a
railroad station, the 9th Street bridge, a passenger boat that
navigated the Allegheny, a street car line that ran to Natrona,
the "Kensington Dispatch" newspaper, a fire department,
hotel, opera house, and YMCA.
By 1906, 25,000 people occupied
an area of seven miles. Schools and Churches flourished at
the turn of the century leading the way to the modern era we are
now a part of.
The City has grown and is proud
of its Fire Department, Police Force and Rescue Team. There
is also a Library, city newspaper "The Valley News
Dispatch", over 15 churches, 9 banks, 3 elementary schools, 1
middle school, 1
parochial school, one high school, a branch campus of Penn State,
and a post secondary school.
We invite you to be a part of
our fine city as we continue to evolve and advance in the future.
