Mount Jackson, Pennsylvania

Mount Jackson, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated community
Mount Jackson
Mount Jackson
Coordinates: 40°57′44″N 80°26′7″W / 40.96222°N 80.43528°W / 40.96222; -80.43528
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyLawrence
TownshipNorth Beaver
Established1815
Elevation
1,152 ft (351 m)
Time zoneUTC-5
Postal code
16102
Area codes
GNIS feature ID1181724

Mount Jackson is a small village in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.[1] It was home to Battery B, a Union Army volunteer light artillery regiment that saw significant action in the American Civil War.

History

North Beaver Township was formed in 1810, and Mount Jackson was founded within its boundaries[2] five years later, eventually becoming recognized as the township's hub. Named for Andrew Jackson soon after his victory in the Battle of New Orleans, Mount Jackson was founded by John Nesbit on a plot of farmland that he owned. The farming village's earliest residents were mostly Scotch-Irish and Presbyterian, with many arriving from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The first person to build a house there was William Henry, who also became the village postmaster. The only stagecoach route from New Castle to the train station at Enon Valley ran through Mount Jackson until the Civil War,[3] after which New Castle received its own train station.[4]

The village was home to Battery B (or the "Mount Jackson Guards"),[4] a Union Army volunteer light artillery regiment that saw significant action in the Civil War.[3] On June 8, 1861, 80 area recruits left Mount Jackson and walked the nine miles to Enon Valley (present day Route 551) to board a train which would take them to Pittsburgh, and from there to the warfront.[5] The village commemorated this event with its annual "Battery B Day", which marked the Union victory with a parade, reunion and memorial service for the fallen. It commenced in 1869 and was observed annually through the early 1930s,[6] with the last veteran of the regiment dying in 1930.[4] A 20 ft (6.1 m) monument commemorating their service was dedicated in 1912 by surviving veterans[7] and placed on Route 108 at the cemetery right outside the village[2][3] which holds the remains of American Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans.[5] An original cannon from the Raritan Arsenal that was added to the monument in 1923 was moved to the North Beaver Township building in 2010.[7]

Newly graduated high school students from the village were drafted to serve in the United States Armed Forces during World War II.[8][9] After the war, the new neighborhood of Jackson Knolls was carved out of the adjacent forest known as Nesbit Grove[7][9] (or Nesbit Woods),[4] with the entrance to the development being located opposite the war memorial on Route 108.[10] In 1964, the village felt the effects of the explosion at the American Cyanamid chemical plant in nearby Edinburg, with windows being blown out.[9][11]

As of 1979, agriculture and dairy farming still constituted a significant part of the economy in Mount Jackson.[12] The nearby borough of S.N.P.J. was created out of Mount Jackson farmland.[13] The village celebrated its 200th birthday in 2015 with a parade, fireworks and a prayer service. As of August 2015, it was still a one-stoplight village.[3] The Mount Jackson Museum, which was formed around this time, was to be housed in a reproduction Sinclair service station situated in proximity to the North Beaver Township building.[14]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±

The United States Census Bureau defined Mount Jackson as a census designated place (CDP) in 2023.[15]

Education

Historically, education in the village revolved around the Mount Jackson School and North Beaver Township High School.[16] High school extracurricular activities included basketball[17] and music, with the school featuring a 26-piece orchestra.[18] In 1929, the Mount Jackson School building was repurposed into a trade school called the North Beaver Vocational High School,[19][20] which offered courses in farming, woodworking and homemaking.[21] The village is currently served by the Mohawk Area School District in nearby Bessemer. Founded in 1958, it operates Mohawk Elementary School and Mohawk Junior Senior High School.[22]

Transportation

Major roads and highways

Notable people

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mount Jackson, Pennsylvania
  2. ^ a b (July 31, 1972) "News Digest – In Mount Jackson". New Castle News. Retrieved January 28, 2026. (subscription required) "Mount Jackson, a community in North Beaver Township, is rich in history. Included is this memorial erected in honor of a battery of field artillery headed by Capt. James H. Cooper. The battery was one of the famous military units at Gettysburg."
  3. ^ a b c d Pezzuto, Lugene. (August 6, 2015) "Mount Jackson's 200 Years Observed". New Castle News. Retrieved January 28, 2026. (subscription required) "Mount Jackson was named for Gen. Andrew Jackson who was victorious in the final battle of the War of 1812 – the Battle of New Orleans."
  4. ^ a b c d Lowry, Nancy. (August 1, 2015) "Mount Jackson Served as Home to Battery B". New Castle News. Retrieved February 4, 2026. (subscription required) "By April 28, the Jackson Guards was created ... New Castle and Mahoningtown did not have railroad stations until after the Civil War ... The reunions began in 1869 and stopped in 1930 following the death of the last local veteran, David Needler of Edinburg."
  5. ^ a b Grzebieniak, Mary. (June 30, 2016) "Mount Jackson Honors Soldiers Who Fought in Civil War". New Castle News. Retrieved February 18, 2026. (subscription required) "It was a June day in 1861 when 80 Civil War recruits left Mount Jackson ... Then they walked the nine miles from Mount Jackson to the railroad station in Enon Valley where they caught a train to Pittsburgh ... and headed for the battlefield ... Just over the hill behind the monument, many Civil War veterans and even Revolutionary War veterans are buried."
  6. ^ (June 29, 1932) "Battery B Day is Observed at Mount Jackson – Former Residents Gather in Memory of Departed Civil War Heroes". New Castle News. Retrieved February 1, 2026. (subscription required)
  7. ^ a b c Lowry, Nancy. (August 8, 2015) "Cannon 'Priceless' But Not Worth Much Money". New Castle News. Retrieved February 2, 2026. (subscription required) "The 1912 reunion was delayed until June 28 so the monument could be shipped, placed and dedicated ... In April 1923, a Civil War-era cannon was added to the monument ... Several years ago, the cannon was removed from its original spot. A refurbished cannon and rebuilt chassis were relocated to the North Beaver Township building and athletic complex in 2010."
  8. ^ a b (September 30, 2009) "Mount Jackson Class of 1940". New Castle News. Retrieved January 28, 2026. (subscription required) "Pictured, from left, are Paul McKinley, Oscar Paden, Helen Kusnierczyk Wolaninn, Donald Fox and Leroy Harrier."
  9. ^ a b c Grzebieniak, Mary. (July 31, 2015) "Mount Jackson Memories – Former Farm Girl Remembers Quieter, Simpler Village". New Castle News. Retrieved January 28, 2026. (subscription required) "American Cyanamid, she said, 'was a big thing in the community, it was a job', although she remembered that people who worked there 'got terrible headaches' and the explosions that sometimes came from the plant were unnerving to those in the area ... 'In 1943 and '44, they were drafting men for the war right out of high school', she recalls ... A large wooded area that she had been warned as a child to stay away from became the sprawling Jackson Knolls housing development ...
  10. ^ (June 11, 1985) "Moving Memorial at Mount Jackson Being Considered". New Castle News. Retrieved February 2, 2026. (subscription required) "Township Secretary Margaret Seltzer said consideration has been given to moving the memorial, possibly to share space with the Battery B Civil War unit memorial on Pa. 108, at the entrance to Jackson Knolls."
  11. ^ "American Cyanamid Company (Burton Works) – Edinburg PA". Lawrence County Memoirs. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  12. ^ Lowry, Nancy. (February 24, 1979) "Bessemer–Mount Jackson Area: From Factories to Farms". New Castle News. Retrieved February 5, 2026. (subscription required) "Both the Kusnierczyks and the Harmons agree that the area offers them some of the best farmland in the community."
  13. ^ Pezzuto, Lugene (August 7, 2015) "Mount Jackson Farm Gave Birth to SNPJ". New Castle News. Retrieved February 1, 2026. (subscription required)
  14. ^ Grzebieniak, Mary. (June 11, 2015) "Museum Work to Begin Soon". New Castle News. Retrieved February 18, 2026. (subscription required) "It will be a replica of the Sinclair Gas Station which stood in Mount Jackson in the early 1950s and will be built alongside a cul-de-sac at the end of Ross Drive, on the North Beaver Township complex at 861 Mount Jackson Road."
  15. ^ "2023 Geography Changes". United States Census Bureau.
  16. ^ (November 19, 1924) "Mt. Jackson Cornet Band to Give Concert on Friday Evening". New Castle News. Retrieved February 9, 2026. (subscription required) "Members of Mt. Jackson Cornet Band will give a concert Friday evening, November 21 in the North Beaver township high school auditorium at Mt. Jackson."
  17. ^ (October 30, 1928) "Community Night to Be Held Friday at Mount Jackson". New Castle News. Retrieved February 4, 2026. (subscription required) "There will be no basketball practice for either boys' or girls' teams until December 1, states Francis McDowell, varsity basketball coach."
  18. ^ (October 31, 1928) "Speakers Program Community Night at Mount Jackson". New Castle News. Retrieved February 4, 2026. (subscription required) "Music will be interpolated in the program at various intervals by the 26 piece high school orchestra which is under the direction of William McCullough supervisor of music in the township."
  19. ^ (August 5, 1929) "Prepare to Open Vocational School at Mount Jackson – Capable Instructors Secured for Coming Term; Building to Be Repaired". New Castle News. Retrieved February 3, 2026. (subscription required) "County Superintendent of Schools, J.C. Syling, announced this morning, that preparations have been started to repair and condition the old Mt. Jackson school building, which will be operated as a vocational school during the coming year."
  20. ^ (May 28, 1931) "Commencement of Mount Jackson High on Friday". New Castle News. Retrieved January 29, 2026. (subscription required) "Dr. C.C. Crawford, president of Edinboro State Teachers' College will be the principal speaker at the commencement exercises of the North Beaver Vocational high school of Mount Jackson Friday, when 17 graduates will receive diplomas."
  21. ^ (December 5, 1930) "Some 527 Students at Mount Jackson – North Beaver Township School is One of First Consolidated". New Castle News. Retrieved January 29, 2026. (subscription required) "Every Freshman and Sophomore must take agricultural work. The boys from these two classes are also required to study woodwork and the girls sewing, cooking, laundry, and other household topics."
  22. ^ About Us. Mohawk Area School District. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
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