Foxburg Borough Hall, P.O. Box 327, Foxburg PA 16036.
Phone: 724‑659‑2002.
Beginnings [1]
The Borough of Foxburg, located on the Allegheny River, derived its name from the Fox family of Philadelphia who originally owned all the land on which it is built. Samuel Mickle Fox, believing that the land in the interior of the State would prove valuable in the future, sold some properties in Philadelphia, and, in 1796, purchased a large tract of land from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
At his death about 118,000 acres were divided. Later his oldest son, Joseph, bought twelve tracts of land in what is now Clarion County, from the trustees of his father's estate. In 1827, he decided to settle on and improve some of this land and with this purpose in view he brought his family to what, in 1847, became the village of Foxburg. It was not until 1928 that Foxburg became a borough.
The house in which the Fox family first lived and in which Mr. Fox served as a first postmaster, is still standing on the bank of the Allegheny River a mile below town. Foxburg has never been a real industrial town although during the oil excitement oil well supplies were manufactured here. It was in 1865 that the first well was drilled on what is now the site of the B. & O. shops. Don Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, came in 1875 to see a well torpedoed on the river bank below town. It was named for him and produced for over thirty years. Rutherford Hayes our nineteenth president, also visited the town in that year. Foxburg owes a great deal to the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsylvania R. R. for keeping a large part of its people employed. The B. & O. shops here have never been closed down. The Century Silica Co. and G. R. Kester Dairy Farm are other sources of employment.
There is a Grade School that ranks high in the County but in 1930 the High School consolidated with the Richland Township High at St. Petersburg.
In 1882, the Memorial Church of Our Father, Episcopal, was built by the Fox heirs in memory of Samuel Mickle, William Logan, and Sarah Lindley Fox. It is a beautiful vine covered stone sanctuary. Two years later came the Methodist Church, a frame building. which was replaced in 1911 by a modern stone structure.
The slogan of the Foxburg Bank is, "A Good Bank since 1870," for it was in that year that it began business in a hardware store. In 1871 the bank moved to a brick building which occupied the site upon which the present structure stands. Desiring an increased comfort and convenience for those transacting business with the bank and to maintain the high standard in banking efficiency, a new building of native stone was erected in 1934, and is one of the finest in the county.
Foxburg has the distinction of having the oldest golf course in the United States. Mr. Joseph M. Fox introduced golf here in 1887, and furnished the land on which the first course was laid out. Although only a nine hole course, it is well kept and compares favorably with larger courses. In 1909 the Foxburg Free Library, built of native stone, was given to the town by Miss Hannah Fox, in memory of her mother. It contains some 7,000 books and stands today a credit to the town and surrounding neighborhood, symbolizing Miss Fox's interest in the town founded by her ancestors.