Return to Milestones Vol. 2, No. 1
Editors Note--This article is from 1976 and aspects of the Association are probably no longer accurate.
The Great Arrow Historical Association of the Center Township - Monaca Area was organized April 1973 to provide an opportunity for persons interested in local history to meet and exhcange ideas and accumulate historical items for a museum, to encourage historical research and writing and to preserve historical landmarks. The Association's name was chosen for the Oneida chieftain Monacatootha (Great Arrow), who was helpful to the earliest of our settlers.
A dedication ceremony was held on June 28, 1973 for the historical marker commemorating the original site of Thiel College on Hanover (4th) Street in Phillipsburg (Monaca) chartered in 1870. On May 18, 1975, a dedication ceremony was held in Center Township commemorating Beaver County's first highway -Brodhead's Road -- a supply route from Fort Pitt to Fort McIntosh. North Branch Presbyterian Church was selected for the marker site as it lies on a portion of the "old road" and is convenient for persons wishing to stop. Another marker will soon be erected and dedicated in Aliquippa at the former railroad station. The marker is for the first colonial residents, Alexander McKee who operated a trading post and Colonel John Gibson, farmer, who later turned to a military career. The markers were all presented to the Great Arrow Historical Association by the Beaver County Commissioners and the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation.
Activities of the Association have included participation in the First and Second Historical Symposiums held at the Penn State Campus (1974) and the Community College of Beaver County (1975); Beaver County's 175th Anniversary celebration; tended booths at the Mall bazaar and at the Boat Regatta in Bridgewater which kicked off Beaver County's Bicentennial program.
For public interest and membership drive, reprints were made from the original Fowler map of Monaca 1900 which was donated to the Association by Travel Unlimited, Monaca. Currently the members are researching the businesses in the area. Members and guests have enjoyed field trips, interesting programs and a monthly newsletter.
Since originally organized in the United Presbyterian Church of Monaca, the meetings have been held at the Community College of Beaver County and the Center Township Municipal Building on the fourth Tuesday of each month except July and December. The Association was incorporated August 1975 as a non-profit organization and inquiries may be made to: The Great Arrow Historical Association, 968 Chapel Road, Monaca, Pa. 15061.