Buffalo Church
Buffalo Township, Union County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Organized by Presbyterian pioneers, 1773; broken up by Indian raids. Resumed, with first regular pastor, 1787. Log church of about 1775 replaced by stone in 1816 and by brick in 1846.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Presbyterian settlers pushing into the Buffalo Valley organized this congregation in 1773, only to see it scattered when frontier warfare swept the West Branch country during the Revolutionary years. The faithful regathered and installed their first settled pastor in 1787, and their humble log meetinghouse of about 1775 gave way to stone in 1816 and brick in 1846. Each rebuilding marked a community putting down deeper roots in a valley it had nearly abandoned.
Why it matters
The church's survival through Indian raids and resettlement captures the fragile, contested nature of the early Pennsylvania frontier and the role of faith communities in holding it together.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Buffalo Church
Buffalo Township, PA · est. 1948
Organized by Presbyterian pioneers in 1773, this Buffalo Valley congregation was broken apart by frontier raids before regathering under its first regular pastor in 1787. A log meetinghouse of about 1775 was succeeded by stone in 1816 and brick in 1846 as the settlement steadied and grew. This marker points travelers toward the church that stands a mile to the north.
Albany Purchase
Monroe Township, PA · est. 1947
On July 6, 1754, at the great intercolonial council in Albany, the Six Nations of the Iroquois deeded a vast tract of land to Pennsylvania's Proprietors — a transaction that opened enormous new territory to European settlement. The northeast corner of that purchase lay a mile north of Penns Creek, its boundary running vaguely 'north of the west as far as your Province extends.' Such sweeping and loosely defined cessions would soon fuel bitter conflict on the frontier.
Muncy
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