Mercer School in Greene Township
Greene Township was formed in 1812 from parts of the original Hanover and Second Moon Townships. In 1812, the population of the new township (which still included the little crossroads village of Hookstown and the river settlement at Georgetown) was 1,245.
Well before the establishment of the township, however, the Mill Creek Presbyterian Church-oldest church in Beaver County-had been founded in the area. As early as 1785, a request from the Mill Creek congregation for supply ministers appears in Presbytery records. Supply ministers filled the pulpit until 1799. Then George M. Scott, a native of Bucks County and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, was appointed first settled pastor. On July 1, 1799, he set off for "Mill Creek, near the Ohio river," arriving July 20, and preaching his first sermon "at Mill Creek meeting house to a large audience" the next day. According to Bausman's history, "the first house of worship was a log cabin, 18 x 20 feet.... and this building was constructed so as to afford security from surprise. It was without doors or windows, being lighted from the roof and entered by an underground passage. "
In January, 1814, during the War of 1812, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Miller of Greene Township marched his 138th Pennsylvania Militia Regiment (which included 2 "South Side" companies) north to Erie, where the men spent a "very severe winter" by the Lake.
About 1828 or 1830, John Ralston taught school on the Moore Heirs' farm in Greene Township. About the same time, on another farm, (Greene Township was mostly farm country) Thomas Sweins also established a school.
In 1833 the eastern portion of Greene Township was taken to form part of the new Raccoon Township. The next census in 1840 showed a corresponding drop in population to 1500 the 1830's figure of 1709.
The year following Raccoon's establishment, the Tomlinson's Run United Presbyterian Church was organized in a barn near the Virginia (now West Virginia) line. The first pastor was the Reverend Marcus Ormond (who also served Hookstown's U.P. Church). Greene Township men were among those from the "South Side" who in 1862 enlisted in Ormond's Company H of the 140th Pennsylvania Infantry for service against the Confederacy. The Township lost territory with the incorporation of Hookstown and Georgetown Boroughs in 1843 and 1850 but population remained relatively stable from 1850 through 1880. Most of the taxables named in Weyand and Reed's 1876 county directory are listed as either "farmers" or "laborers." Between 1880 and 1900 the population began to drop, due, Bausman's history says, to "changed conditions in the business of farming and to the gravitation of population towards the towns and cities. "
In 1883, the Greene Township Farmers Club was formed. In 1885, they held a "fair" or "exhibition" on the Alexander Nickel farm, which fair, according to one source, "was the forerunner of the celebrated Hookstown fair." (The Hookstown Fairgrounds are actually within Greene Township rather than Hookstown Borough limits.)
The decline in population noted by Bausman continued into the early decades of the 20th century, but recently the picture has changed. From a figure of 691 in 1920, the population swelled to 1,489 in 1970. While farming still predominates, Greene Township seems to be developing into a residential community for people making their living in Pittsburgh and vicinity. The Township is part of the South Side School District.