Genealogy is the study of the origin and historical development of something. Compiling data on our family is a task that can be very time-consuming and difficult, but ultimately exceedingly rewarding.



The end result of that research is a family tree.



One of the fundamental reasons why people from our area take such great pride in being from Beaver County is the feeling that we are all one big family. While our industrial past brought people from every possible ethnic and religious background into Beaver County, we all can�t help but feel as if we belong to the same family.



Beaver County was founded in 1800, carved out of Washington and Allegheny counties. The original layout of the county had six very large townships -- Sewickley, North Beaver, South Beaver, First Moon, Second Moon and Hanover. That�s right folks, much of Beaver County developed from what was originally Moon Township, which is now one of our neighbors to the south.



These six original townships are going to form the basis of our Beaver County family tree.



Sewickley Township was the first of the six to begin splitting up. Almost as soon as the people of Sewickley Township were getting used to their new address, the township split in half in 1801. North Sewickley Township would split up again in 1845, forming Wayne, Perry and Marion townships, with one piece retaining the original name to this day. Wayne and Perry townships would end up being part of the land that went to form Lawrence County in 1849. Marion Township would persevere as well, losing only Franklin Township in 1850. In 1918, a tiny strip of North Sewickley was annexed to form part of Ellwood City.



New Sewickley has an argument as the most important of the original six townships. Economy Township (1827), New Brighton (1838), Freedom (1838), Rochester (1840) and Pulaski Township (1845) all were direct descendants of New Sewickley. From Economy Township came Baden (1868), Harmony (1851), Conway (1903) and finally, Ambridge (1905). What remained of Economy Township became Economy borough in 1958. Rochester is interesting, as it started as a township before the urban part spun off in Rochester borough (1849), with another piece becoming East Rochester in 1908.



Pulaski Township would go on to give us Eastvale (1892) and Daugherty Township (1894). All three municipalities exist to this day.



Many people who move into Beaver County -- and frankly, many longtime residents as well -- get confused by all of our �Beavers.� South Beaver Township is where they all originated. It all started in 1802, when Beaver, Little Beaver and Big Beaver broke off from South Beaver. Our county seat, Beaver, would then give birth to Bridgewater (1834) and Borough Township (1804), which became Vanport Township in 1970. Little Beaver would be the home of Darlington borough, founded as Greersburg in 1820. Darlington Township was formed in 1847. These areas make up what is left of the Little Beaver name in Beaver County, and live on through the Little Beaver Historical Society, which is based appropriately in the building that was once Greersburg Academy.



Big Beaver lay dormant until 1868, when New Galilee was formed. Homewood (1910), Koppel (1912) and finally Big Beaver borough (1960) make up the rest of what was once Big Beaver Township.



Ohio Township formed out of South Beaver in 1805. Brighton Township (1816), Glasgow (1854), part of Midland (1906) and Ohioville (1960) are descendants of Ohio Township. Fallston (1829), Patterson Township (1841) and Industry (1856) came from Brighton Township. From Patterson Township came Beaver Falls (1868) and Patterson Heights (1899). Chippewa Township, formed in 1816, was originally home to White Township (1887), College Hill (1892) and West Mayfield (1923).



Hanover Township was the point of origin for Greene Township (1812), Hookstown (1843), Frankfort Springs (1844) and Georgetown (1850). First and Second Moon townships broke off into Moon and Hopewell townships in 1812, with slivers of land also going to Hanover and Greene townships. Hopewell Township would lose Independence (1848), Aliquippa (1894), Woodlawn (1908) and South Heights (1909). Aliquippa (now West Aliquippa) and Woodlawn would combine to form modern-day Aliquippa in 1928. Moon Township split into Raccoon Township (1833), Phillipsburg, now Monaca (1840), and Center Township (1914). Potter Township (1912) was formed from Raccoon, and Shippingport (1910) was formed from part of Raccoon and Greene townships.



The Moon Township of 2015 contains none of the original First or Second Moon townships of Beaver County.



Midland Hotel correction



I was notified by several diligent readers that the Midland Hotel, which was featured in the March 24 edition of Histories & Mysteries, was not demolished to make way for Lincoln High School. I have confirmed that our readers' information is correct, as the hotel was, in fact, not torn down until years later. Thank you, readers, for your assistance.



If you have any subjects, questions, or comments for Histories & Mysteries, please send them to historiesandmysteries@yahoo.com. Each week, we will choose a few new topics and update past ones with readers notes and questions.