BY PAT FARNELLI
Correspondent

The tiny borough of Hop Bottom was recently chosen as the safest and most peaceful place to live in Pennsylvania, by a website which ranks municipalities by various criteria: onlyinyourstate.com.

The site looked at Neighborhood Scout’s crime rates in the state to determine the safest towns. According to the website: “When deciding where to move, safety plays a huge role. Especially if you have children or small pets.”

In a list of the top 10 safest places in the state, Hop Bottom garnered the top spot.

Hop Bottom is named for the wild hops which grew in the valley and were gathered to brew with grains for beer. The community was originally called Foster, and had a train station on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad. The railroad is still used by freight trains.

For the past three or four years, truck traffic from the gas industry through the tiny borough has increased dramatically.

Some residents of Hop Bottom were surprised, but pleased, to hear that it was chosen for its safety.

Borough councilwoman Janice Webster said, “With a population of 300, everybody knows everybody else. We do have some drugs, small time, but not unheard of.”

The Hop Bottom borough web page shows a photo of a welcome sign made by Molenko’s Paint Shop & Sign Graphics in neighboring Brooklyn Twp. The sign is illustrated with the hops plants and a locomotive. The borough website offers: “With a population of 300, Hop Bottom is much like the fictional ‘Mayberry.’ Everyone is your neighbor and everywhere you go in town you will see a friend.”

Frequently, residents are told to stop by Black’s Store for information if no one is present at the borough hall on Forest Street.

Webster said that many compare the village to towns from the early 1900s, and that safety issues handled by the borough council are more likely to be solved with a street sign or guard rail than by investigations or arrests.

The borough police chief, Ron Cosgrove, patrols the neighborhood and state highways in the borough limits with a familiar Hop Bottom police car. Most of the citations issued are for speeding. Mayor Paul Henry also keeps an observant eye on the community, checking stop signs and picking up after cars and pedestrians.

One recent instance of crime created a stir in Hop Bottom. Black’s Store, a small general store on Main Street, was burglarized on July 19, and the shop ransacked.

Barbara and Sarah Corey, proprietors, said the culprits took some irreplaceable things from the business, such as an antique cash register and counter drawers. Sarah’s six-year-old daughter, Abigail, was keeping her savings for the Harford Fair in a wallet in the file cabinet, which was taken as well. The store is known for its penny candy counter, popsicles, pantry staples, and useful hardware and stationery items.

With a population of 323 people and just one neighborhood, Hop Bottom is the 981st largest community in Pennsylvania. The borough is just .6 square miles, and is located at the junction of state route 167 and US 11. Much of the housing in Hop Bottom was built prior to World War II.

Here’s a link to the original OnlyIn YourState.com article:

Here Are The 10 Safest And Most Peaceful Places To Live In Pennsylvania