RACCOON TOWNSHIP
BEAVER COUNTY, PA
ABOUT RACCOON TOWNSHIP
Raccoon Township has a land mass of 19.3 sq. miles located centrally in the southern half of Beaver County. Surrounding communites include: Greene Twp to our west, Hanover Twp to our south, Independence Twp to our south and east, Center Twp to our east, Potter Twp to our north and Shippingport Boro to our northwest. We are within easy driving distance for shopping at the Beaver Valley Mall, air transportation via the Pittsburgh International Airport, and cultural activities in metropolitan Pittsburgh.
In recent years Raccoon has been undergoing a metamorphosis from a rural farming community into a rural bedroom community. Our officals had the forsight to see this coming and instituted zoning that sat aside areas of the township that would remain agricultural but still allowed for organized growth in other areas.
Our History
Raccoon Township was formed in 1833 from parts of Moon and Greene Townships and was named for
Raccoon Creek which forms its eastern boundary.
Raccoon's river frontage was lost to Shippingport Borough (incorporated 1910) and Potter Township (erected 1912).
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.
Citizens were concerned about loss of taxable land when 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 1974, planning for future recreational needs, the township purchased forty-five acres along Frankfort Road
(State Route 18) for a municipal park.
The township is included in the Hopewell Area School District .
In 1918 the township had a budget of $3,760 and the property tax was set at 5.5 mills.
In 2017 the budget was $1,167,690.00 and the property tax was 12.5 mills.
The township once had five one room school houses. One of the schools, Smith, still stands today.
The first municipal building, also the polling place was located on Green Garden Road near the intersection of Green Garden & Route 18.
In 1915, township employees made 22 cents an hour. The laborers who plowed the roads made 56 cents an hour and the road master made 25 cents.
In 1925 the township spent $15,000 paving Green Garden Road. The paving project stretched from the Hopewell Township line to Clearview Road.
The Township Police Department was located in the home of the Chief of Police until 1975 when it was moved to the old municipal building, that currently houses the Public Works Department.
Courtesy of Beaver County Bicentennial Atlas
