Mount Jackson, PA

Mount Jackson is a small village in North Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, founded in 1815 by John Nesbit. The name honors Andrew Jackson, who had recently become famous for victory at the Battle of New Orleans. Mount Jackson grew as a farming village and a stop on the stagecoach route between New Castle and the railroad station at Enon Valley, keeping the community tied to the roads that crossed western Pennsylvania.

Its strongest historical thread came during the Civil War. Eighty local recruits left Mount Jackson on June 8, 1861, walking nine miles to Enon Valley to board a train for Pittsburgh and the Union Army. They became Battery B, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, and fought in major engagements including Gettysburg. Survivors began an annual reunion in 1869; Battery B Day brought a parade, veterans' gathering, and memorial service through the early 1930s. A monument and cannon still mark the story near the village cemetery. Mount Jackson remains small, but its name, stage road, and Civil War battery give the crossroads a history much larger than its footprint.