Murrysville

Murrysville, known formally by its legal name in its Charter as The Municipality of Murrysville, is designated as a home rule status community in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 20,079 at the 2010 census. It became a home rule Municipality in August 1976, when its electorate voted for its Charter designating it a Municipality.[3]

The Municipality of Murrysville is located at 40°26′5″N 79°39′24″W  /  40.43472°N 79.65667°W  / 40.43472; -79.65667 (40.434828, -79.656724).[4] It is roughly 20 miles east of Pittsburgh on U.S. Route 22,[5] just east of the county line that separates Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Murrysville is a control city on the sign for eastbound US 22 at the eastern end of I-376 in Monroeville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Municipality had a total area of 36.9 square miles (96 km2), of which, 36.9 square miles (96 km2) of it is land and 0.03% is water.

Among the neighborhoods within Murrysville are Murrysville Heights, Heather Highlands, Franklin Estates, Settlers Ridge (The Ridge), Dunningtown, Newlonsburg, Ringertown, Sardis, and White Valley. Murrysville surrounds, but does not include, the Borough of Export, which is a separate municipal entity.

Murrysville has eight borders, including Upper Burrell Township to the north, Washington Township to the north and east, Salem Township to the south and southeast, Delmont to the southeast, Penn Township to the south, and the Allegheny County neighborhoods of Monroeville to the southwest and Plum to the west. The borough of Export is situated inside Murrysville in the south-southeast section.

The Municipality of Murrysville is governed by a mayor (currently Regis J. Synan)[6] who is elected every two years and has executive/administrative powers, and a seven-member council, whose members are elected every four years and have precise legislative powers.[7]

In the mid-1970s, the community rapidly transitioned through three forms of government (township, borough, and home rule) and four legal name changes (Franklin Township, Franklin Borough, Murrysville Borough, and Municipality of Murrysville). Since 1976, it has operated under its Home Rule Charter as the Municipality of Murrysville.

As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 18,872 people, 7,083 households, and 5,630 families located in the municipality. The population density was 511.0 people per square mile (197.3/km2). There were 7,396 housing units at an average density of 200.3 per square mile (77.3/km2). The racial makeup of the Municipality was 95.38% White, 0.61% African American, 0.05% Native American, 3.28% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.56% of the population.

There were 7,083 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.8% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the Municipality population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the Municipality was $64,071, and the median income for a family was $72,740. Males had a median income of $58,553 versus $32,567 for females. The per capita income for the Municipality was $32,017. About 2.2% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

The Municipality of Murrysville is within the Franklin Regional School District. The district operates five schools: three elementary (Sloan, Heritage, Newlonsburg), Franklin Regional Middle School, and Franklin Regional High School, with Dr. Gennaro Piraino as the district's superintendent.[11] The district's high school boasts a graduation rate of 99.3% compared to the national average for public high schools of 82% [12] and is ranked #213 in Newsweek's 2016 "America's Top High Schools".[13] Private schools include Mother of Sorrows Catholic School.

The Haymaker Gas Well in Murrysville was the nation's first commercial natural gas well. For some time, it remained the largest commercial gas well in the world.[15] Murrysville was described in the first half of the 20th century as being "the center of a district dotted with gas wells, the first of which was bored in 1878; wild speculation in leases precipitated the open conflict known as the 'Haymaker Riots,' named for the speculator killed in one of them."[16]

Since 1933, Murrysville has had a "tree sign" spelling out the word "Murrysville". The trees were landscaped to grow and form the letters by local Boy Scouts. The sign is situated on a large hill as one enters the Municipality from the Murrysville–Monroeville border, near U.S. Route 22. In 1947, the sign was featured in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" as the world's largest arboreal sign.[17] (It is no longer the world's largest, or even the largest in the country; "Luecke", near San Antonio, Texas, is much larger.) The "Y" in the Murrysville sign points to the Haymaker Gas Well.

In 1977, Murrysville was designated the "Gateway to Westmoreland County" by Mayor Walt Dollman in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, community leaders upgraded sign and landscaping elaborately at the main entrance at the Allegheny / Westmoreland border featuring this designation. As is shown at the introduction of this page, the Gateway designation is featured on the official Seal of the Municipality.