1770 George Washington canoes by and notes good possibilities of site
1778 General Lachlan McIntosh establishes Western Headquarters of Continental Army, builds fort and leads expedition against Ohio Indians
1779 McIntosh's expedition relieves Fort Laurens
Colonel Brodhead replaces McIntosh and removes headquarters to Fort Pitt, leaving three companies of 8th Pennsylvania as garrison
1784 1st American regiment arrives at Fort McIntosh
1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh (January)
Alexander McLean surveys Beaver Reserve
1788 Fort McIntosh ordered demolished
Typical of the earliest settlements in the nearby countryside was this log cabin at Service Creek.
1791 Surveyor Daniel Leet lays out town of Beaver
1793 First town lots sold
Water systems established
1796 French traveler General Georges Collot lists six houses and Lacock's tavern as comprising town
1798 Major Robert Darragh settles in Bridgewater
1799 Redstone Presbytery sends minister to congregation at Beaver Creek
First school built
1800 Beaver made seat of new county of Beaver
Academy lands surveyed
1802 Beaver incorporated and has Post Office
1804 Eastern boundary set at Beaver River
First court held
Borough township formed
1806 Representatives of Aaron Burr build two boats on Beaver River and 40 people leave for Blennerhasset Island
1807 Town now has 30 houses
First newspaper, The Minerva published
Ferry operating at Vanport
1810 New court house built
Abner Lacock elected to Congress
1811 Zudock Cramer's Navigator lists 30 houses, jail, post office, several inns and printing office
1812 Academy built
Water lines extended to public square
1813 Abner Lacock elected United States Senator
Presbyterians get first pastor - Ezekiel Glasgow
1814 Clark Square appropriated as burial ground
1815 Bridgewater- Rochester bridge opens
Academy opens
Brighton Township created
1816 Market House built
1819 Second newspaper, Western Argus published
1820 Methodists organize in Coulter's Tavern
1821 Sharon Methodist Church built
Bridgewater-Rochester bridge blown down
1825 Presbyterian Church erected in public square
Town Council reduces its pay from $1.25 to 500 a day
1829 Daniel Agnew opens law office
Methodists given permission to make bricks for church from clay in public square
1830 African Methodist Church organized
First Bridgewater School (Sharon) built
1831 Ground broken for Ohio-Erie Canal
Iron pipes replace hollow logs
1832 Bridgewater has 110 homes, 4 stores and tavern
Great flood
1833 Ohio-Beaver Canal opens
Logs from Fort McIntosh form the now-hidden walls of this house on River Road, considered to be Beaver's Oldest
1834 Bridgewater combines with Sharon
1835 Beaver School District formed
Catholic Church built
Vanport laid out
1836 Beaver acquires fire engine by public subscription
1837 Beaver population is 1, 100
1838 Journeyman printer Michael Weyand goes to work at Beaver Argus
First public school building in Beaver
1839 Bridgewater Methodist Church (Otter Lane) built
1840 Hamilton pottery opens in Bridgewater
1844 Girls admitted to Beaver Academy
1851 Daniel Agnew elected to Beaver County Bench
1852 Cleveland and Pittsburgh RR begins service
1853 United Presbyterian Congregation formed
Female Academy and Beaver College and Musical Institute open
1859 Present County Jail built
Bridgewater School built (now municipal building)
1861 Market Street School built
United Presbyterian Church built (now Conservatory Apartments)
Beaver Council authorizes $200 for cannon and home guard of 40 citizens
1863 Captain Matthew S. Quay awarded Congressional Medal of Honor
Daniel Agnew named Chief Justice of State Supreme Court
New Beaver cemetery purchased
1864 Frederick Walters begins small bakery at Insurance and Turnpike
Beaver Council buys shade trees for Third Street
1867 Beaver Academy closes
1868 Matthew S. Quay becomes editor of Beaver Radical
1870 Vanport potteries in full operation
Bridgewater population is 1, 112
1872 Methodists build second church in Public Square
1874 Michael Weyand publishes Beaver Times
1875 Piersol's Academy opens
1877 New Court House dedicated
1879 P.& L. E. RR begins service from Beaver
Bell Telephone given permission to install lines
1880 First high school classes begin in Market Street Building
1881 Sidewalks ordered for Third Street
1884 Great flood destroys Bridgewater- Rochester and C&P Bridges
1885 First telephone office opens in Beaver
First gas street lights in Beaver
1886 First pumping station built
1887 Matthew S. Quay elected to U.S. Senate
1888 Sharon-New Brighton bridge opens
First National Bank chartered
1889 Vanport Presbyterian Church organized
1890 First electric power
Bridgewater population 1, 177
1891 First street car service
Soldiers of the north and south are united under a bond of peace symbolized by this monument in McIntosh Square.
1892 Present Presbyterian Church built
1894 Cook-Anderson Company formed
Beaver Savings and Loan chartered
1895 Fire destroys Beaver College
1896 Christian Congregation formed
1899 Beaver Times becomes a daily
W. E. Clyde Todd named Curator of Ornithology at Carnegie Museum
1900 Population of Beaver 2,348; Bridgewater 1,347;
Brighton Township 697; Borough Township 612
1902 Beaver Trust Company opens
Keystone Bakery builds present plant
Woman's Club of Beaver founded
1903 Present Christian Church built
Gas lights replaced by electric
1904 Present United Presbyterian and Methodist
churches built
Matthew S. Quay's funeral brings national leaders to Beaver
1908 Hamilton Awning Company formed
Interurban Line to Wellsville opens
Lincoln School built
1910 P.&L.E. Bridge, third largest of its kind, built
1912 Beaver Municipal Building dedicated
1915 Bridgewater Elementary School built
1916 Fort McIntosh School built
1917 Vanport School built
1919 Coca Cola Bottling Company opens
1921 Fire destroys Cook-Anderson Lumber Yard
1924 Tornado destroys more than 400 trees and damages homes in Beaver
1925 Fort McIntosh Club moves to present site
Beaver college moved to Jenkintown
1926 Beaver High School wins WPIAL track title
High School moved to College Avenue
1927 Auditorium and Gymnasium added to High school
1928 Lutheran Congregation formed
1931 Rochester- Bridgewater bridge burns
1932 General Assembly of United Presbyterian Church held in Beaver
Court house destroyed by fire
1936 Great St. Patrick's Day Flood swamps Bridgewater
1937 Buses replace street cars of Beaver Valley Traction Co.
1938 Interurban Line to Steubenville stops service
1940 Beaver Swimming Pool opens
Michael Baker Inc., organized
1941 Curtiss-Wright builds plant in Vanport
Early settlers, soldiers of the Revolution, native Indians lie beneath the grounds of Clark Square where this memorial stands.
1946 Work begins on Brady's Run Park
1947 Westinghouse Standard Control Division replaces Curtiss-Wright
1948 Beaver Memorial Library opens at Insurance and Fourth
1950 Brady's Run Park dedicated
1954 New wing added to high school (now Elementary)
Beaver begins a string of winning football seasons
1955 Episcopal Church moves to Beaver
1956 Lutherans build present church
Ground broken for Geriatric Center
1959 High School moves to Gypsy Glen and Junior High to College Avenue
Market Street building razed
Geriatric Center dedicated
1961 Mike Casp named Army football captain
1962 Memorial Library on River Road dedicated
1968 Present Episcopal Church built
1972 International Headquarters of Michael Baker Engineers dedicated in Brighton Township
1973 John Skorupan named All-American at Penn State
1974 Beaver ends string of winning football seasons - a state record
Excavation of Fort McIntosh begins
1975 County's 175th anniversary celebrated in Beaver