West Mifflin is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

, United States, located southeast of downtown

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after

Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin wa ...

, 1st

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, signer of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, and 1st

Quartermaster General of the United States Army The Quartermaster General of the United States Army is a general officer who is responsible for the Quartermaster Corps, the Quartermaster branch of the U.S. Army. The Quartermaster General does not command Quartermaster units, but is primarily ...

. Although the borough is heavily residential, it is home to one of America's oldest traditional amusement parks, Kennywood Park. Other employers include advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology research and development facility, Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory; monorail manufacturer Bombardier;

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant; Community College of Allegheny County's South Campus; and the Allegheny County Airport.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.80%, is water. The landscape is largely hilly and wooded, and the borough's eastern boundary is contiguous with the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-c ...

three separate times. Much of the original landscape has been altered as a result of the historic dumping of

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

byproducts such as

slag Slag is a by-product of smelting ( pyrometallurgical) ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous (by-products of processing iron and steel), ferroalloy (by-product of ferroalloy production) or non-ferrous/base metals (by-p ...

and

fly ash Fly ash, flue ash, coal ash, or pulverised fuel ash (in the UK) plurale tantum: coal combustion residuals (CCRs)is a coal combustion product that is composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out of coal-fired ...

Environmental monitoring

Coal mining has also affected the flow and water quality of small streams. Land developers have produced more level ground by clean-filling ravines and other small parcels of land to improve the land usage. Toxic waste dump areas are monitored with water quality improvement with bioremediation successfully implemented. West Mifflin operates its own

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

facility. The Environmental Protection agency regulates 78 facilities for environmental compliance. Asbestos waste and radioactive waste and controls were addressed in 1991.

Surrounding and adjacent neighborhoods

West Mifflin has ten land borders, including the

neighborhoods of Lincoln Place and Hays as well as Munhall and

Whitaker Whitaker (also Whittaker) is a surname of English and Scottish origin, meaning the white acre, also spelled " Whittaker" and " Whitacre." Notable people with the surname include: People with the name * The Whitaker iron family - a family importan ...

, to the north, Duquesne to the east, Dravosburg to the southeast, Jefferson Hills and Pleasant Hills to the south, Baldwin to the west and also a short border with Clairton to the south. Three segments of West Mifflin run along the Monongahela River. Adjacent to these areas across the river are Braddock,

North Braddock North Braddock is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. North Braddock was organized from a part of Braddock Township in 1897. The borough prides itself in being the "Birth Place of Steel" as the home of Andrew Carnegie's ...

, McKeesport and Glassport.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 22,464 people, 9,509 households, and 6,475 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 1,586.2 people per square mile (612.5/km²). There were 9,966 housing units at an average density of 703.7 per square mile (271.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 89.64%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 8.85%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.12% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population. There were 9,509 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.89. In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $36,130, and the median income for a family was $46,192. Males had a median income of $36,984 versus $26,529 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $18,140. About 8.8% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over. The unemployment rate is just over 6%.

Government and politics

Schools

Seven schools exist in West Mifflin: 4 public schools and 3 private schools. West Mifflin public schools belong to one district- West Mifflin Area School District. School students in the neighboring boroughs of

and Duquesne also attend school in the West Mifflin School District. There are 2 West Mifflin elementary schools, 1 West Mifflin middle school, 1 West Mifflin High School, and 13 West Mifflin preschools. New England Elementary has been closed since June 2012. Saint Agnes School has been closed since June 2019. New Emerson has been closed since 2020. Prior to July 2016,

Wilson Christian Academy Wilson Christian Academy was a private Christian school in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, that was established in 1977. It offered preschool for four- and five-year-olds, a full day kindergarten program and classes for grades 1 through 12. In July 2 ...

existed at 1900 Clairton Road. It was merged into Cornerstone Christian Preparatory Academy which is currently at that location. West Mifflin school administrators' use of school credit cards for meals has been called into question. The West Mifflin School District charges tuition for nearby Duquesne students to attend. All-State Career School has a campus in West Mifflin. Class A CDL licenses have been in-demand in the area with the rise of fracking. Community College of Allegheny County also has its South Campus in the borough at 1750 Clairton Road.

Transportation and infrastructure

West Mifflin is accessible primarily by road, though no

Interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

pass through the area. The main road passing through most of the area is Pennsylvania Route 885, which intersects with

Pennsylvania Route 51 Pennsylvania Route 51 (PA 51) is a major state highway in Western Pennsylvania. It runs for from Uniontown to the Ohio state line near Darlington, where it connects with Ohio State Route 14. PA 51 is the termination point for Pennsylvania R ...

nearby in the borough of

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

. West Mifflin is the location of Allegheny County Airport, a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airport; as a result, most of West Mifflin is in Class D airspace. The nearest airports with commercial service are Pittsburgh International Airport and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

In Media

In one episode of the skit Monster Chiller Horror Theatre with Count Floyd on the Canadian TV comedy series

Second City Television ''Second City Television'', commonly shortened to ''SCTV'' and later known as ''SCTV Network'' and ''SCTV Channel'', is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from T ...

, the Count talks about a fictional horror film called Blood Sucking Monkeys from West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

Borough of West Mifflin official website

West Mifflin Borough on Facebook

West Mifflin Borough Recreation official website

West Mifflin Borough Recreation on Facebook

West Mifflin Borough Police Department official website

West Mifflin Borough Police Department on Facebook

West Mifflin Community Website

West Mifflin Area School District

West Mifflin Sanitary Sewer Municipal Authority
{{S-end Populated places established in 1788 Pittsburgh metropolitan area Boroughs in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania populated places on the Monongahela River Superfund sites in Pennsylvania 1942 establishments in Pennsylvania