MC Timeline 1851-1900

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1800-1850 1851-1900 1901-1950 1951-2000 References

Mercer County History Timeline
Courtesy of the Mercer County Historical Society and Autumn Buxton

The World 1851-1900

Mercer County 1851-1900

1851
(May 3) The city of San Francisco is almost entirely destroyed by fire; (Dec. 29) the first YMCA in America opens its doors in Boston

1852
(Mar. 13) A cartoon depicting "Uncle Sam" as the symbol for the United States appears for the first time; (Mar. 20) Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published

1853
Franklin Pierce becomes the 14th president

1854
(Jul. 6) The Republican Party is formed

1857
James Buchanan becomes the 15th president

1858
(May 11) Minnesota becomes the 32nd state; (Aug. 5) the first transatlantic cable is completed stretching from Newfoundland to Ireland

1859
(Feb. 14) Oregon becomes the 33rd state; (Jun. 30) Acrobatic Frenchman Emile Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope in just five minutes; (Aug. 27) the American oil industry begins when the first oil well is drilled by Edwin Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania

1860
(Apr. 3) The first two Pony Express riders set out to deliver mail across the western United States

1861
(Jan. 29) Kansas becomes the 34th state; (Feb. 6) English Adm. Robert Fitzroy issues the first "weather forecast"; (Jul. 17) the first US paper money is issued; Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president

1862
(May 20) The Homestead Act goes into effect; (Jul. 12) the Congressional Medal of Honor is authorized

1863
(Jun. 20) West Virginia becomes the 35th state; (Nov. 19) President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address

1864
(Apr. 22) Use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on US coins is authorized by Congress; (Oct. 31) Nevada becomes the 36th state; (Nov. 2) the US Post Office introduces the money-order system

1865
President Lincoln is assassinated; (Jul. 5) the Salvation Army is founded in London, England; (Dec. 18) slavery is abolished in the United States with the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution

1867
(Mar. 1) Nebraska becomes the 37th state; (Mar. 30) the United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7 million; (Jul. 2) the first elevated railroad opens in New York City

1868
(Feb. 24) Impeachment proceedings are brought against President Andrew Johnson; (Jun. 23) the first "Type-Writer" is patented

1869
(May 10) The first transcontinental railroad in America is completed; Ulysses S. Grant becomes the 18th president

1870
The population of the United States is 38,558,371; (Feb. 26) New York's first subway line is opened to the public; the (Jun. 22) US Department of Justice is created; (Jun. 26) the first boardwalk in the world is completed in the resort town of Atlantic City, New Jersey

1871
(Oct. 8) The great fire of Chicago breaks out when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicks over a lantern in her barn

1872
(Apr. 10) Nebraskans plant more than a million trees in celebration of the first Arbor Day; Susan B. Anthony is arrested while attempting to vote

1873
(Oct. 20) P. T. Barnum opens his Hippodrome in New York City, built to house the "Greatest Show on Earth" (covered five acres and accommodated 10,000 seated patrons at a time)

1875
(May 17) The first Kentucky Derby is held

1876
(Mar. 10) Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone; (Jul. 15) the first "no-hitter" in baseball history is pitched by George Washington Bradley; (Aug. 1) Colorado becomes the 38th state; Custer takes his "Last Stand"

1877
(Aug. 11) The first moon of Mars is discovered; Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19th president

1878
(Feb. 19) Thomas Edison patents the phonograph; the Mexican government is organizing an army corps to operate against the US troops on the Rio Grande; a law is passed fixing the weight of a ton of coal at 2,000 pounds goes into effect ($500 penalty)

1879
California outlaws the employment of Chinese workers; the electric light bulb is invented by Thomas Edison

1880
The population of the United States is 50,155,783; (Dec. 20) Broadway, New York's main thoroughfare, becomes the "Great White Way" as it is lit by electricity for the first time

1881
(May 21) The American Red Cross is founded by Clara Barton; James A. Garfield becomes the 20th president; Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st president when Garfield is assassinated

1883
(May 24) The Brooklyn Bridge opens

1885
(May 2) Good Housekeeping magazine makes its debut; Grover Cleveland, the first Democratic president since the Civil War, becomes the 22nd president

1886
(May 8) Dr. John S. Pemberton sells the first Coca-Cola at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia; (Oct. 28) the Statue of Liberty is presented to America by France; Mark Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1888
(Jun 3) Casey at the Bat, the immortal baseball classic, is published

1889
(May 31) More than 2,000 lives are lost in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood; (Nov. 2) North Dakota and South Dakota become the 39th and 40th states; (Nov. 8) Montana and (Nov. 11) Washington become the 41st and 42nd states; Benjamin Harrison becomes the 23rd president; Wall Street Journal is first published

1890
The population of the United States is 62,622,250; (Aug. 19) the Daughters of the American Revolution is organized in New York City; (Jul. 3) Idaho and (Jul. 10) Wyoming become the 43rd and 44th states; (Nov. 29) the first Army-Navy football game is played

1891
The zipper is invented by Whitcomb L. Judson

1892
(Jan. 20) The first basketball game is played in Springfield, Massachusetts

1893
Grover Cleveland becomes the 24th president

1896
(Jan. 4) Utah becomes the 45th state; (Jan. 5) the first demonstration of x-rays is given by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen; (Aug. 12) gold is discovered in Klondike Creek in the Yukon Territory

1897
(Apr. 27) The body of Ulysses S. Grant is moved to a tomb, now a national monument; (Sep. 21) the editor of the New York Sun writes an editorial in response to an 8-year-olds question and answers, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"; William McKinley becomes the 25th president

1898
(Apr. 25) United States declares war against Spain; (Jul. 1) Theodore Roosevelt and the "Rough Riders" stage a victorious assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba; (Sep. 1) the first female telephone operator, Miss Emma Nutt, is employed in Boston

1899
(Oct. 14) The Literary Digest predicts a dim future for the "automobile", claiming it will never "come into as common use as the bicycle"

1900
The population of the United States is 76,094,000; (Apr. 11) the US Navy acquires its first submarine; (Nov. 2) the first National Automobile Show opens at New York's Madison Square Garden

1851
Dr. McElrath charges $.25 for office calls and as high as $.50 for house calls;2 John and William Bigler become governors of California and Pennsylvania respectively at the same time;1 company houses in Sharon are built to accommodate workers;25 (Nov. 2) Dr. W. H. Axtell reports an epidemic of dysentery that is extensive and fatal in Sandy Creek and New Vernon townships;4 Liberty, Pine, Deer Creek, New Vernon, and Perry townships are created; Georgetown is incorporated as Sheakleyville29

1852
(May 15) Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorizes the purchase of land for a "county farm"4

1853
(Aug. 19) Ground is broken for the Erie Railroad; (Oct. 23) earliest known edition of the Independent Democrat is published4

1854
The first election for the position of county superintendent of schools ($400/year) is held;1 Jamestown is incorporated

1855
(Aug. 28) Peoples Convention is held and creates the Republican party in the county;4 a very wet summer spoils the grain25

1856
Residents of West Middlesex buy shares at $5 each to build a small frame house to serve as school and church;4 (May 13) an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly creates the Mercer School District;4 (Nov. 22) West Greenville Times newspaper publishes first issue;4 Hempfield and Sugar Grove townships are created29

1858
(Jun. 5) A frost kills all the crops; flour soars to $18 a barrel the next winter25

1859
Sandy Lake is incorporated29

1861
(Jan. 22) A lecture is given at the courthouse on "Our National Troubles"; Capt. James Wood plots out Wheatland;25 (Oct. 16) the first draft of the Civil War is held in Mercer4

1863
(Oct. 11) The first freight train arrives in Sharon4

1864
Brothers R. D. and James Frey publish the first edition of the Sharon Herald ($1.50/year in advance);1 (May 20) the first locomotive crosses State Street in Sharon (the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad);4 (Jan. 8) the re-enlisting troop members of the 57th Pennsylvania receive a one-month furlough;1 West Middlesex is incorporated29

1865
(May 22) The first train leaves from Mercer Iron & Coal Company mine (near Stoneboro) with five cars4

1866
(Feb. 25) Due to a faulty stove pipe fire destroys the courthouse;4 Stoneboro and New Lebanon are incorporated29

1867
The second courthouse is erected for $98,0001

1868
Mercer-born representative John A. Bingham is Judge Advocate General in the impeachment trail of President Jackson; the brick jail is erected for $67,000;1 (Jan. 7) an ordinance in Greenville prohibits wooden buildings on Main Street between the river and Penn Street;4 John L. Morrison buys the Sharon Herald1

1871
(Jan. 21) Laird's block on Main and Race streets burn in Greenville (losses amount to $44,000);4 (Jan. 7) the Advance newspaper is started in Greenville; the Erie Canal Extension closes (abandoned after the Elk Creek aqueduct collapsed)25

1872
The cornerstone for "Greenville Hall" is erected (the first Thiel College building); (Feb. 21) Wheatland is created;1 railroad reaches Pine Grove (now Grove City); Bethel is incorporated29

1873
An atlas of Mercer County is published; (Jan. 15) the "Chicago Fire" of Greenville engulfs 300 feet x 120 feet on the south and north sides of Main Street (35 buildings burn, total loss of $83,000)4

1874
Sharpsville is incorporated; (Aug. 4) the Sandy Lake News newspaper is established;4 Fredonia Institute, originally for men only, allows women to attend4

1875
(Jun. 10) The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Mercer County forms at the courthouse4

1876
Isacc Ketler opens "select school" in Pine Grove (now Grove City College);29 (Mar. 2) firebug burns several businesses in Greenville;4 (Mar. 25) the Mercer Iron & Coal Company has produced 629,158 tons of coal in 13 years4

1877
A history of Mercer County is published29

1878
(Jun. 3) A new game law is passed that any one catching a black bass less than six inches long will be fined $10; advertisements for Carters Liver Pills and land in Kansas for $2.50 to $5/acre appear19

1879
The Academy Building, the structure of the forerunner of Grove City College, is built29

1880
The county's population is 56,161;13 the Sharon Times ceases publication25

1881
(Feb. 11) Wheatland Bessemer Steel incorporates1

1882
(Apr. 1) C.H. Buhl becomes sole owner of the Sharon Iron Company;1 (Oct. 15) Sharpsville Furnace opens a new and modern furnace;1 first issue of Pine Grove Telephone is published29

1883
(Nov. 17) Greenville Water Company and the (Nov. 20) Sharon Water Works are incorporated; (Nov. 19) the Mercer Heat, Light & Power Company is chartered; Grove City is incorporated from Pine Grove; (Dec. 10) Samuel S. Mehard is appointed judge of Mercer County1

1884
People are riding the first bicycles (the "hi-wheels")25

1885
The Evening Eagle is sold and changes its name to the Sharon Eagle25

1886
(Aug. 17) Protected Home Circle No. 1 is organized1

1887
(Jan. 28) Miller & Gordon Opera House in Mercer burns destroying the Mercer Dispatch;1 (Apr. 11) Wheatland Iron incorporates;4 (May 3) the Shenango Hook & Ladder Company reorganizes as the Sharon Fire Department;4 (Aug. 26) the Sharon Steel Casting Company make its first steel4

1888
(Feb. 28) The number of dogs on the tax roles for the county is 4,843; a history of Mercer County is published; (Jul. 24) the first passenger train from the new station on Main Street leaves Greenville4

1890
The county's population is 55,744;12 fire destroys much of North Broad Street in Grove City; the Shenango Valley Electric Light Company (now Penn Power) begins operating29

1891
(Apr. 7) An ordinance for construction of a plant to furnish electricity to Greenville is approved4

1892
(Feb. 16) The first paving ordinance occurs in Greenville;25 electric street lights are put up in Sharon;25 James S. Fruit applies for a charter for the Sharon-Sharpsville hospital;4 the daily Sharon Telegraph and the weekly Sharon Star begin publication29

1893
(Jun. 8) Construction of sewers connect two lines in Greenville and in Sharon4

1895
Bars have to close promptly at 10:00 p.m.25

1896
(Jan. 30) The Mercer County Telephone & Telegraph is organized;25 the doors of the Christian H. Buhl Hospital open to the sick of Shenango Valley;24 (Dec. 18) the second courthouse has work completed to ensure the safety of county records from fire4

1897
(Nov. 11) The Soldiers Monument in front of the courthouse is dedicated as "Mercer County's Tribute to Her Soldiers";4 the last issue of the Sharon Record is published25

1898
Dr. Fithian and John Carruthers start the Friction Clutch Factory (forerunner of Cooper-Bessemer); fire destroys much of South Broad Street in Grove City29

1899
The dismantled, numbered pieces of the John Stevenson, Jr. mansion in New Castle are loaded onto railroad cars and reassembled in Sharon;26 (Jul. 12) an ordinance passes to curb and pave streets in Sharon from Sharon Rail Way on the east to Irvine Avenue on the west4

1900
The county's population is 57,387;12 ground is broken for South Sharon; (Oct. 8) the Sharon Steel Hoop Company is incorporated11

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1800-1850 1851-1900 1901-1950 1951-2000 References

Last Updated 05/18/2015 04:48 PM