New Brighton's beginnings as a community can be traced back to 1815 when David Townsend laid out a plan of lots on the terrace above the river bank opposite the busy industrial village of Brighton. Named in deference to its previously established neighbor, New Brighton was soon to grow in prominence until the Harmony Society, proprietors of "old" Brighton, found it necessary to change the name of the earlier settlement to Beaver Falls to avoid confusion with its vigorous progeny.
The town proper was laid out in 1828, again by Townsend in anticipation of the new canal to be built along the Beaver River by the state. Prosperity accompanied most canal construction, and New Brighton was no exception. Water powered mills of every description soon lined the river bank, and canal boats passing through the five locks in town were ready to haul the goods to market and bring back necessary supplies.
Notable among early industries was Townsend's stone mill on the river bank. Known in time as Wilson's Mill or the Quaker Mill, the building was one of the county's largest gristmills and had its own dam on the river until canal water became available for power.
Prosperity brought bridges: The first bridge across the Beaver, built in 1815 from Brighton, had washed out in a little over two years. In 1833, a replacement was built in the design of the more durable Rochester-Bridgewater span, built in 1816. This covered bridge would stand until 1900, but tolls were so high that many travelers preferred to use the ford below the canal dam. The year of 1837 brought a covered bridge to Fallston, one that would endure the elements until the flood of 1884.
By 1838, the New Sewickley Township village of New Brighton was ready for incorporation as a borough.
The coming of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad in 1851 led to the eventual demise of the canal, but the latter held out for another quarter-century offering New Brighton every advantage in transportation. Even after canal traffic stopped (in 1882), the waters of the canal provided power for many industries until other sources of energy became available.
The first reference to the land that would become New Brighton is recorded in the annals of the Moravian missionaries (led by David Zeisberger) who, in 1770, camped in the area on their way to establish a mission to the Indians at Friedenstadt (now Moravia, in Lawrence County).
In 1788, Fort Mclntosh on the Ohio River was abandoned in favor of a small blockhouse which was constructed on the Beaver River a short distance above Blockhouse Run (There is a marker on Third Avenue near this point). The Blockhouse was manned by a small garrison of 19 who were responsible to maintain security on the frontier. This was the most advanced position held by the United States Army in the Ohio Country. It was at the trading post here, in 1791, that Captain Sam Brady and his men ambushed a group of nine Christian Indians (including women and children), killing four of them. The Blockhouse was abandoned in 1793 as unnecessary after Wayne's Legion moved westward into the Indian stronghold in the Northwest Territory (Ohio).
New Brighton's first settler is believed to be John Wolf, who built a grist mill on the Beaver River at the head of Eighth Avenue. Development of Brighton village across the river followed soon thereafter, and with it, the eventual laying out of New Brighton.
In the twentieth century, New Brighton's industry has left the rivers, but many diversified industries remain in town. A number of institutions have been established in the community including the Young Men's Christian Association, The American Red Cross, and the armory of the Pennsylvania National Guard, Company B. Most traces of the canal and water-powered industry were covered by the Pennsylvania Railroad when it moved its tracks from the center of 5th Avenue to the river bank in 1926, but the 1865 Union Dam remains, now supplying water for the area's water system. With Fallston, Pulaski, and Daugherty, the community is part of the New Brighton Area School District.