Borough municipal offices are located at 590 East Market Street, Mercer PA 16137.
Phone: 724‑662‑3291.
Beginnings [1]
Mercer, county seat, population 1932; was once an Indian village of seventy lodges; no settlement was made here until after Wayne's victory over the Indians in 1795; it was laid out in 1803, on two hundred acres of land given by John Hoge of Washington County. The courthouse, built, 1909, colonial; brick, stone, and concrete; is in center of the public square of three acres; interior finished in white marble; mural painting in dome by Edward Everett Simmons, represents Power, Innocence, Guilt, and Justice; in the court rooms on second floor are symbolic mural paintings, "Criminal Law," by Vincent Aderente, and "Civil Law," by Arthur Foringer, made in 1911; panels 11 by 12 feet; in the judges' chambers is a portrait of Honorable Henry Baldwin, former member of the Mercer County bar, and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1830-44. On courthouse grounds is the monument, granite and bronze, to soldiers of Mercer County in the war of 1861-65.
The Humes Hotel, at the northeast corner of the Public Square, built, 1817, then known as "The Hackney House," oldest hostelry in the county, had as guests Marquis de Lafayette in 1824; his room, No. 12, is open to guests; President Taylor and Buchanan, and General John B. Gordon of Georgia also visited here. The celebrated Harthegig healing springs, named after an Indian chief, is near Mercer; Indians claimed it healed them of many diseases. HOPE MILLS was the birthplace and the early home of George Junkin, D.D., who was father-in-law of General Stonewall Jackson; his father was a captain in the War of 1812. GROVE CITY is a picturesque college town, being the home of Grove City College, founded by Dr. Isaac C. Kettler. Buhl farm, near SHARON, is a recreation park for citizens of Shenango Valley and has club house, swimming pool, golf, tennis, and baseball grounds.