The Sharon area was first settled in 1795. It was incorporated as a borough on October 6, 1841, and incorporated as a city on December 17, 1918. The city operated under the Pennsylvania third-class city code until 2008, at which point it adopted a home rule charter under which the elected position of mayor was replaced with a hired city manager and financial officer.
The founding families of Sharon first settled on a flat plain bordering the Shenango River, between two hills on the southwestern edge of what is today Sharon's downtown business district. According to local legend, the community received its name from a Bible-reading settler who likened the location to the Plain of Sharon in Israel.
Initially a center of coal mining, Sharon's economy transitioned to iron and steelmaking and other heavy industry after the arrival of the Erie Extension Canal in the 1840s. Following extensive national deindustrialization of the 1970s and 1980s, the city's economy diversified and is now based primarily on light industry, education, health care, and social services.
Prior to Prohibition in 1919, Sharon was home to a large commercial beer brewery, Union Brewing Co., which was forced to close its doors like many U.S. breweries of the era. During World War II the Westinghouse Electric Corporation at Sharon produced 10,000 torpedoes for the US Navy.[4]
In 2004, local politicians proposed the creation of the city of Shenango Valley, a new municipality consisting of Sharon as well as Hermitage, Sharpsville, Farrell, and Wheatland with the issue being put on the ballot in the form of a referendum.[5] Then Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell voiced support for the measure and would be joined by Kathleen McGinty, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, and Dennis Yablonsky, Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development with the trio touring the region to urge for voters to pass the motion.[5] The city would largely be an expansion of Hermitage, whose city government would be retained including the office of mayor and its nine-member city council.[5] The merger would have kept the various independent school districts intact.[5] The effort would ultimately be defeated, and via the ordinance, the issue of merger could not be brought up again until 2009.[6]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2), all land. The Shenango River flows through the city and provides drinking water to Sharon and several surrounding communities.
As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 16,328 people, 6,791 households, and 4,189 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,342.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,676.7/km2). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 1,964.9 per square mile (758.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.44% White, 10.85% African American, 0.21% Asian, 0.18% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 2.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.
From the Census Ancestry Question, Sharon has the following ethnic make-up: German 21%, Irish 14%, Italian 11%, Black or African American 11%, English 8%, Polish 5%, Slovak 5%, Welsh 3%, Scots-Irish 2%, Hungarian 2%, Dutch 2%, French (except Basque) 2%, Croatian 1%, Scottish 1%, Russian 1%, Swedish 1%, Arab 1%, Slavic 1%, American Indian tribes, specified 1%. Sharon's Jewish community is served by the Reform JewishTemple Beth Israel.
There were 6,791 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the city, the population was distributed with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,945, and the median income for a family was $34,581. Males had a median income of $30,072 versus $20,988 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,913. About 14.0% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.
Sharon has hosted annual WaterFire festivals since 2013, a free public art installation designed by Barnaby Evans which consists of 80 burning braziers along the Shenango River in downtown Sharon. On average, WaterFire Sharon events host 40,000 visitors.[16]
Children in Sharon are served by the Sharon City School District. The district colors are black and orange, and the school mascot is the Tiger. The following schools currently serve Sharon:
Case Avenue Elementary School – grades K-6
C.M. Musser Elementary School – grades K-6
West Hill Elementary School – grades K-6
Sharon Middle School – grades 7-8
Sharon High School – grades 9-12
St. Joseph's School served as the parochial school for Sharon until 2011 when it closed as part of a merger between Notre Dame School and Kennedy Catholic High School to form the Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools. Parochial school students in Sharon now attend St. John Paul II Elementary School, Kennedy Catholic Middle School and Kennedy Catholic High School in nearby Hermitage.
Sharon is home to the Shenango campus of Pennsylvania State University, which offers several two-year and four-year degrees. It also hosts Laurel Technical Institute, a for-profit trade school, and the Sharon Regional Health System School of Nursing.
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