Raccoon Township was formed in 1833 from parts of Moon and Greene Townships and was named for Raccoon Creek which forms its eastern boundary.
In its early years, the township consisted of a string of villages, along Frankfort and Green Garden roads, surrounded by farms and wooded areas. Today, suburban development has connected the villages, and the farms are dwindling as industry offers better employment. Much open space remains, but the township, like many others, is losing its rural character.
The Service United Presbyterian Church, one of the earliest churches in Beaver County, was founded in Raccoon township. Originally a log building erected sometime before 1792, the church today is a brick structure (built in 1928) on the shore of the Service Creek Reservoir. The first pastor of Service Church, Rev. John Anderson, D.D., soon established another institution, the Service Theological Seminary, or "Eudolpha Hall," the first seminary in the United States west of the Alleghenies. The Presbyterian Church trained young men for the ministry in this two- story log cabin in the early 1800's in an attempt to reduce the Church's dependence on Scotland for its supply of ministers. Among other churches in Raccoon Township is the Mt. Pleasant United Presbyterian, founded in 1876.
Post offices established at the township's villages led to somewhat permanent place names: Holt, Green Garden, Mc Cleary; these names are found on recent maps, but they are no longer village centers. Service post office was at Mechanicsburg, still an important crossroads in the southwest corner of the township.
Raccoon's river frontage was lost to Shippingport Borough (incorporated 1910) and Potter Township (erected 1912).
Citizens were concerned about loss of taxable land when hen in the 1950's, the Service Creek Reservoir was created by the Ambridge Water Authority.
Today, a newly installed water system serving six hundred residents is a leading factor toward better development of the community. In planning for future recreational needs, the township recently purchased forty-five acres on Frankfort Road (Route 18) for a municipal park. The township is included in the Hopewell Area School District.