Cities In Pennsylvania With The Most Historic KKK Members


The cities in Pennsylvania with the most historic KKK members are Refton and Lawrence for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Historical KKK locations in Pennsylvania research summary. We analyzed research using Saturday Night Science from the Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped Klaverns by city from 1915-1940. This report analyzes the locations of historic KKK organizations to see where they were the most prevalent in Pennsylvania.

  • The city in Pennsylvania with the most number of Klaverns was Philadelphia with 18 Klaverns.
  • The city in Pennsylvania with the most number of Klaverns per capita was Refton with 0.0061 Klaverns.
  • There were historically 144 Klaverns in Pennsylvania.
  • There were a total of 101 places in Pennsylvania with at least 1 Klavern during the period of reference.

Hate groups can be hard to measure because, typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. These cities have historically been the most racist in Pennsylvania based on the number of KKK Klaverns.

This report does not speak to the current people who live there or the current state of the KKK in the same towns or areas.

Most Racist Cities In Pennsylvania Map


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


A quick history lesson on the KKK

What is the KKK? In a nutshell, the KKK was formed back in 1865, and there have been three separate movements, all three of which were supposedly ‘purification movements’ in America. The 1865-1870s movement sought to overthrow Republican state governments.

The second movement (1915 – 1944) saw millions of members of the KKK form, which was opposed to immigration into America, especially against Catholics and Jews.

The most memorable movement of the KKK started in the 1950s, which was involved in the Civil Rights movement and targeted the black population in America.

The number of active members of the KKK is much smaller these days.

The cities below are the places where there were Klans back in the day and where the number of Klans per the current population is high. This means the number of racist members of the community has historically been the highest, according to the math.

The 10 Most Historically Racist Places In Pennsylvania

  1. Refton
  2. Lawrence
  3. Commodore
  4. Franklin
  5. Elderton
  6. Rowes Run
  7. Herndon
  8. Weissport
  9. Vanderbilt
  10. Dayton

This report is an analysis of the locations of historic KKK organizations divided by the number of people who currently live there.

For more Pennsylvania reading, check out:

Methodology: How We Measured The Most Historically Racist Places In The Keystone State

While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.

Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.

Using Saturday Night Science, we analyzed the locations of historic KKK organizations per capita using current population data.

There You Have It – The Most Historically Racist Cities In Pennsylvania

When you’re looking at the places in Pennsylvania with the highest number of historical KKK Klaverns per capita, this is an accurate list.

Below is a chart that lists all cities in Pennsylvania with at least one KKK organization from 1915-1940.

The cities with the largest number of KKK klaverns per capita were Refton, Lawrence, Commodore, Franklin, Elderton, Rowes Run, Herndon, Weissport, Vanderbilt, and Dayton.

For more Pennsylvania reading, check out:

Cities With Hisoritcally High KKK Membership In Pennsylvania

Rank City Population Klans Klans Per Capita
1 Refton, PA 165 1 0.00606061
2 Lawrence, PA 381 2 0.00524934
3 Commodore, PA 238 1 0.00420168
4 Franklin, PA 293 1 0.00341297
5 Elderton, PA 295 1 0.00338983
6 Rowes Run, PA 336 1 0.00297619
7 Herndon, PA 359 1 0.00278552
8 Weissport, PA 405 1 0.00246914
9 Vanderbilt, PA 443 1 0.00225734
10 Dayton, PA 464 1 0.00215517
11 Finleyville, PA 467 1 0.00214133
12 Summerville, PA 485 1 0.00206186
13 Allison, PA 564 1 0.00177305
14 Roscoe, PA 706 1 0.00141643
15 New Florence, PA 774 1 0.00129199
16 Lykens, PA 1,631 2 0.00122624
17 South Fork, PA 1,009 1 0.00099108
18 Dunbar, PA 1,083 1 0.00092336
19 Dalton, PA 1,265 1 0.00079051
20 Tower City, PA 1,278 1 0.00078247
21 Reynoldsville, PA 2,746 2 0.00072833
22 Apollo, PA 1,534 1 0.00065189
23 Homestead, PA 3,157 2 0.00063351
24 Wellsboro, PA 3,301 2 0.00060588
25 Montrose, PA 1,694 1 0.00059032
26 Rochester, PA 3,628 2 0.00055127
27 Dover, PA 1,878 1 0.00053248
28 Everett, PA 1,969 1 0.00050787
29 Kittanning, PA 3,977 2 0.00050289
30 Braddock, PA 2,030 1 0.00049261
31 Leechburg, PA 2,137 1 0.00046795
32 Wrightsville, PA 2,356 1 0.00042445
33 Millersburg, PA 2,540 1 0.0003937
34 Bentleyville, PA 2,554 1 0.00039154
35 West Newton, PA 2,599 1 0.00038476
36 Schnecksville, PA 2,614 1 0.00038256
37 Turtle Creek, PA 5,335 2 0.00037488
38 Nanty-Glo, PA 2,675 1 0.00037383
39 Dallas, PA 2,806 1 0.00035638
40 Towanda, PA 2,899 1 0.00034495
41 Summit Hill, PA 3,002 1 0.00033311
42 Wyoming, PA 3,057 1 0.00032712
43 Sharpsburg, PA 3,436 1 0.00029104
44 Millvale, PA 3,740 1 0.00026738
45 Sewickley, PA 3,832 1 0.00026096
46 Charleroi, PA 4,069 1 0.00024576
47 Windber, PA 4,078 1 0.00024522
48 Slatington, PA 4,258 1 0.00023485
49 Hamburg, PA 4,293 1 0.00023294
50 Bradford, PA 8,665 2 0.00023081
51 Honesdale, PA 4,364 1 0.00022915
52 Mount Pleasant, PA 4,431 1 0.00022568
53 Beaver, PA 4,479 1 0.00022326
54 Northampton, PA 9,921 2 0.00020159
55 Uniontown, PA 10,203 2 0.00019602
56 Titusville, PA 5,479 1 0.00018252
57 Paoli, PA 5,616 1 0.00017806
58 Punxsutawney, PA 5,927 1 0.00016872
59 Franklin, PA 6,448 1 0.00015509
60 Clairton, PA 6,752 1 0.0001481
61 Ambridge, PA 6,973 1 0.00014341
62 Tamaqua, PA 6,994 1 0.00014298
63 Middletown, PA 7,529 1 0.00013282
64 Connellsville, PA 7,578 1 0.00013196
65 Gettysburg, PA 7,632 1 0.00013103
66 Dubois, PA 7,718 1 0.00012957
67 Ellwood City, PA 7,743 1 0.00012915
68 Carnegie, PA 7,960 1 0.00012563
69 Phoenixville, PA 16,530 2 0.00012099
70 Perkasie, PA 8,511 1 0.0001175
71 Collingdale, PA 8,778 1 0.00011392
72 Carbondale, PA 8,843 1 0.00011308
73 Swissvale, PA 8,963 1 0.00011157
74 Bristol, PA 9,657 1 0.00010355
75 Lock Haven, PA 9,860 1 0.00010142
76 Chambersburg, PA 20,430 2 9.79e-05
77 Oil City, PA 10,383 1 9.631e-05
78 Harrisburg, PA 49,297 4 8.114e-05
79 New Kensington, PA 12,959 1 7.717e-05
80 Kingston, PA 13,105 1 7.631e-05
81 Coatesville, PA 13,130 1 7.616e-05
82 Sharon, PA 13,845 1 7.223e-05
83 Indiana, PA 14,025 1 7.13e-05
84 Pottsville, PA 14,136 1 7.074e-05
85 Hanover, PA 15,365 1 6.508e-05
86 Wilkinsburg, PA 15,894 1 6.292e-05
87 Chester, PA 34,007 2 5.881e-05
88 Bethlehem, PA 75,050 4 5.33e-05
89 West Chester, PA 18,860 1 5.302e-05
90 Mckeesport, PA 19,663 1 5.086e-05
91 Johnstown, PA 20,576 1 4.86e-05
92 Scranton, PA 75,842 3 3.956e-05
93 Williamsport, PA 29,377 1 3.404e-05
94 Wilkes-Barre, PA 41,202 1 2.427e-05
95 York, PA 43,817 1 2.282e-05
96 Reading, PA 88,051 2 2.271e-05
97 Altoona, PA 45,987 1 2.175e-05
98 Lancaster, PA 59,368 1 1.684e-05
99 Pittsburgh, PA 306,045 4 1.307e-05
100 Philadelphia, PA 1,546,920 18 1.164e-05
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

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