Darby, Pennsylvania

Borough of Darby
Borough
Darby Friends Meeting House, built 1805
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Delaware
Elevation	79 ft (24.1 m)
Coordinates	39°55′06″N 75°15′30″W / 39.91833°N 75.25833°WCoordinates: 39°55′06″N 75°15′30″W / 39.91833°N 75.25833°W
Area	0.8 sq mi (2.1 km^2)
- land	0.8 sq mi (2 km^2)
- water	0.0 sq mi (0 km^2), 0%
Population	10,687 (2010)
Density	12,624.5/sq mi (4,874.3/km^2)
Mayor	Helen Thomas
Timezone	EST (UTC-5)
- summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	19023
Area code	610 and 484
Location of Darby in Delaware County
Location of Darby in Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Website: http://www.darbyborough.com

Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, along Darby Creek 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of downtown Philadelphia. Darby was settled about 1654^[1] and inhabited by Quakers early in the colonial era. Incorporated on March 3, 1852, it had 3,429 residents in 1900, 6,305 in 1910, 10,334 in 1940, and 10,687 at the 2010 census.

The name Darby is derived from the English city of Derby (pronounced "Darby"), the county town of Derbyshire (pronounced "Darbyshire"), the origin of many early settlers.^[2]

Comedian and actor W.C. Fields was born in 1880 at the Arlington Hotel, then located at 832 Main Street.

Darby is home to the fifth-oldest all-volunteer Fire Department and second-oldest free library in the United States, founded in 1743. One of its cemeteries is more than 300 years old.

Darby Borough is distinct from the nearby municipality of Darby Township.

Geography

Darby has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	780		—
1870	1,205		54.5%
1880	1,779		47.6%
1890	2,972		67.1%
1900	3,429		15.4%
1910	6,305		83.9%
1920	7,922		25.6%
1930	9,899		25.0%
1940	10,334		4.4%
1950	13,154		27.3%
1960	14,059		6.9%
1970	13,729		−2.3%
1980	11,513		−16.1%
1990	11,140		−3.2%
2000	10,299		−7.5%
2010	10,687		3.8%
Est. 2015	10,687	[3]	0.0%
Sources:[4][5][6][7]

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 10,299 people, 3,405 households and 2,393 families residing in the borough. The population density was 12,624.5 people per square mile (4,849.3/km²). There were 3,999 housing units at an average density of 4,902.0 per square mile (1,883.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 36.37% White, 60.00% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population.

There were 3,405 households, out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 30.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 25.6% 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 2.88 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 33.4% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $26,938, and the median income for a family was $30,065. Males had a median income of $35,507 versus $22,451 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,990. About 35.5% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.6% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Darby is a relatively urban place, with almost twice the population density of nearby Darby Township. The Pennsylvania State Police reported^[8] that the crime rate (per capita)in 2011 compared to the per-capita rate for Delaware County as a whole was six times for violent crimes (murder, robbery and assault, not including sex crimes), 24 times for property crimes (including arson), but only two times for drug offenses (not including alcohol offenses).^[9]

Education

William Penn School District serves Darby.

• Park Lane Elementary School (K-6)
• Walnut Street Elementary School (K-6)
• Penn Wood Middle School (7-8)
• Penn Wood High School, Cypress Street Campus (9-10) (Yeadon)
• Penn Wood High School, Green Avenue Campus (11-12) (Lansdowne)

The city is also home to Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), a parochial school affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

Transportation

Darby is served by the SEPTA Subway–Surface Trolley Lines number 11 and 13 at the Darby Transportation Center and the SEPTA Wilmington/Newark Line at the Darby station.

Darby once had two other railroad stations. One, owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (now the Philadelphia Subdivision of CSX), sat at Main and Sixth Streets,^[10] where the SEPTA Route 11 trolley crosses today. The other, owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, stood where the current station stands, and later across the tracks.^[11]

Notable people

• John Bartram, early American botanist and father of the even more famous traveler and botanist William Bartram, was born in Darby and is buried there at the Friends Cemetery at 13th and Main Street. His botanical garden exists nearby and is the oldest surviving botanical garden in the US.^[12]
• Leo Burt, placed on FBI "Ten Most Wanted" list for his role in the Sterling Hall bombing; born in Darby
• John Drew, Negro League baseball executive
• W.C. Fields, entertainer, born in Darby
• John Patrick Cardinal Foley, former Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and former President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, lived in retirement in Darby at the Villa St. Joseph of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
• Monica Horan, actress best known for her role as Amy MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond
• John James Pearson (1800–1888), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• John Stanford, former superintendent of the Seattle school district and United States Army officer; born in Darby
• Annis Boudinot Stockton, the first woman poet to be published in the British American colonies
• Estelle Ricketts, first published African-American woman composer
• Chris Wheeler, sports broadcaster

References

1. see New Sweden
2. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 100.
3. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
4. "Number of Inhabitants: Pennsylvania" (PDF). 18th Census of the United States. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
5. "Pennsylvania: Population and Housing Unit Counts" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
6. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
7. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
8. "Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System".
9. 483 vs 4168, 881 vs 19521 and 101 vs 2442, reported crimes respectively, for borough population of 10,687 and county population of 558,979 as given in their report.
10. Existing Railroad Stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
11. Existing Railroad Stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
12. "Experience America's first botanic garden".