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The outline of Beaver County is most distinctive and is likely to be recognized by anyone who has ever seen it on a map. We have often wondered how it came to be that way, and we thought you may enjoy a brief review of how the county boundaries were formed.
Beaver County was created by the state legislature in 1800 and its boundaries were legally established at that time. Since the western boundary coincides with the state line, however, we must go back a few more years to the eve of the American Revolution.
At that time, the land that was to become the south side of Beaver County, in addition to all of the land south of the Ohio River, was claimed by Virginia as well as Pennsylvania. Both colonies believed that they had the most legitimate claim to the disputed area, based on their own interpretations of the boundaries outlined in the colonial charters granted by England.
In 1779, Virginia conceded to the Pennsylvania claim and agreed to the boundary description in Penn's charter. Since the southern boundary of Pennsylvania had already been established as far west as the Maryland claim, it was logical to extend this "Mason and Dixon" line westward to the end of Pennsylvania's claim, which was to be at a point five degrees in longitude west of the Delaware River.
It wasn't until 1784, however, that the line was finally surveyed, but not before much hardship and bitterness were endured by the settlers in the area because of the dispute.
So it was in the early summer of 1785 that a party of surveyors, assembled at the end of the extended Mason and Dixon line and turned their attention northward, toward Lake Erie. The line they surveyed was accepted as the boundary between Pennsylvania and Virginia. It was later to become the eastern boundary of the state of Ohio and the western boundary of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. (Later still, during the Civil War, it became one of the boundaries of the new state of West Virginia.)
The running of this line also put an end to the proposal that a new state be formed out of these disputed western lands. (The present day "Tri-State" area) The new state would have been called Westsylvania, and Pittsburgh would have been the capital. The Pennsylvania Legislature went to the trouble of declaring that promotion of any such action was treasonable. This made the local residents unhappy, since many of them were loyal Virginians anyway. And so it happened that our hills became part of Pennsylvania for all time.
After having been part of Cumberland, Bedford and Westmoreland Counties at various times through the years, certain lands then in Washington and Allegheny Counties were established as the new county of Beaver. The boundaries were described as follows:
"Beginning at the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek on the Ohio River; thence up the said creek to the west line of Alexander's district of depreciation lands; thence northerly along ~he said line and continuing the same course to the north line of the first donation district; thence westerly along the said line to the western boundary of the State; thence southerly along the said boundary across the Ohio River to a point in the said boundary, from which a line to be run at a right angle easterly will strike White's mill on Raccoon Creek, and from such point along the said easterly line to the said mill, leaving the said mill in the county of Beaver; thence on a straight line to the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek, the place of beginning; be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county to be henceforth called Beaver County; and the place of holding the courts of justice shall be at Beaver town, in the said county."
It is obvious that the county was basically rectangular in shape, since this seems to be a logical shape for a governmental subdivision where no natural boundaries are available. The southeast corner was cut off, it seems likely, in recognition of the position of Pittsburgh as the county seat of the reduced Allegheny County and also as the west's leading city.
Big Sewickley Creek, the county's only water boundary was adopted as part of this southeast line as more practical than a nearly parallel surveyed line would have been.
Beaver County was originally divided into six townships, but only two of these remain, much changed in size and shape (Hanover and South Beaver).
In 1849, more than a third of the county was taken, along with a sizeable part of Mercer County, to form the new county of Lawrence. The city of New Castle grew up on the original MercerBeaver line, and although it is in the center of its own county now, the street that the court house is on is still known as County Line Street.
The new northern boundary of Beaver County was drawn quite arbitrarily by the state legislature. The line sliced through four townships, leaving fractions of each on both sides. Changes have erased all of these twins. A very narrow strip of Little Beaver Twp. was left in Beaver County, and this was annexed by Darlington Twp. soon after. Big Beaver Twp. was cut neatly in half, leaving a township of that name in each county. Today, however, both have been incorporated and we find Big Beaver Borough and New Beaver Borough.
The little bit of North Sewickley Twp. left stranded north of the new line was joined with Wayne Twp., and the one-third of Perry Twp. south of the line was merged with part of Marion Twp. until Franklin Twp. was created in 1850.
So we learn that the present county boundaries were established at three different periods, in 1785, 1800 and 1849, each a significant milestone of our local history.