The town of New Galilee began as a village at a rail juncton and soon became an important stop on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad.
Most of the land in the borough was originally part of the James Nicholson farm, located on the Little Beaver Creek in the western part of Big Beaver Township. The Nicholsons, who had come to this area from the South, willed their farm to their three former slaves. In 1840, Betty Mathers, the only remaining heir, married Henry Jordan. The Nicholson-Jordan home still stands, and several descendants of the Jordans remain in the area. The name also survives in Jordan's Run, which flows through the farm.
The railroad arrived in 1851 (originally, the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad) and a connecting line to Cannelton, the Pittsburgh, Lisbon, and Western (now Youngstown and Southern to Lisbon) was built in 1852. Soon a fair sized village developed, but was still unnamed in 1854. Jordan Run was remembered by a local resident who suggested that since Galilee in the Bible lands was "beyond Jordan," then perhaps the village should be called "New Galilee."
In the next decade, stores, hotels, and a school appeared in the village, as rail traffic increased. A grist mill was built and small manufacturing plants were started, producing coal oil and kegs. In 1868, the village was incorporated. The Galilean United Presbyterian Church dates back to the same year, but it was known as Rocky Spring LJ.P. Church until 1976.
In recent years, the town's relationship with the railroad has declined, the trains no longer stop here, and all traces of the station and yards have disappeared. Frequent Conrail freights pass through, interrupting traffic on Route 351. Otherwise, New Galilee remains a quiet country town.