In January, 1816, the Beaver County Court divided South Beaver Township and Ohio Township into four townships, one of which was named Adams, for Dr. Samuel Adams who settled in what is now the upper part of the city of Beaver Falls. The township's name was soon changed to "Chippewa," which comes from the Indian word "Chipwayanwok" meaning "tailskins." The Indians who lived in the area were so named because of the nature of their dress: the tails of animals formed a fringe around their jackets. Many of the township's early residents were farmers of Scotch-Irish descent with farms varying from 100 to 300 acres.
Education in Chippewa began in a log cabin in 1830, followed by two frame and two log structures-all privately financed. Four brick one-room school houses were constructed later, these being Braden, Dunlap, Flying, and McKinley Schools. (McKinley School is the only one still standing.) The first consolidated school was completed in 1931 and is now part of the Chippewa Elementary School on Shenango Road. With a further growth in population, a jointure was formed with Patterson Township, and in 1959, what is now the Highland Middle School was constructed on Shenango Road. Now a part of the Blackhawk School District, the new High School was built recently on Blackhawk Road in the township.
Chippewa's first place of worship was built through a community effort among the area's early settlers. The Powers, Inman, Stratton, Layland, Cross, and other families banded together and built the Powers meeting house on the Thomas Stratton farm, about one and one fourth miles south of the intersection of Wallace Run Road. This stone church was the forerunner of the Chippewa Community Methodist Church located at the corner of Darlington and Shenango Roads. The Chippewa religious community has grown with the addition of the United Jewish Community Center on Route 51, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, and the United Presbyterian Church on Blackhawk Road.
The first business establishment in Chippewa was McLaughlin's Blacksmith Shop built on the corner of old Blackhawk and Winterburn Roads in 1901. Situated next to the city of Beaver Falls, Chippewa received much of the urban boom of the l950's when most of the farmland in the area was sold as building lots. The expanding population has attracted various types of commercial enterprises, and the community now has its own park to provide its residents with recreational facilities. Chippewa Township is also the home of the Beaver County Airport. It was officially dedicated in the spring of 1953, and it now serves as home base for more than 90 single-engine and multi-engine general aviation aircraft. With the opening of Route 60 from the Greater Pittsburgh Airport to Chippewa, future expansion of the township seems assured.