Harrisville

The rural countryside and fertile soils of Harrisville, dappled with northern red oak and tulip poplar, were once used by the Seneca people to grow corn.

In 1826, Ephraim Harris founded the borough, just a total of .8 square miles of land and .01 square miles of water. Harris, who would later work on the Underground Railroad and serve as an Army physician during the Civil War, saw the community’s first school built in 1830 and high school in 1856.

The Borough of Harrisville

Today, Harrisville is home to approximately 900 residents, many of whom rely on its fruitful land for crop and dairy farming. Locals revel in the outdoors, choosing to pass their recreational time in the natural beauty of the small region as they hike, hunt, and fish.

While most of its residents drive to work in Slippery Rock or Grove City - or perhaps make the 45-mile trip south to Pittsburgh – many mechanics, technicians, and artisans stay in town to develop local commerce in the manufacturing and auto industry.

Despite its modest size, Harrisville is a close-knit community that prides itself in its small-town atmosphere with its quiet lakes and its summer getaways, its music and its fireworks. It finds joy in a good BBQ rib and a cured Havarti cheese on a breezy Friday night. It boasts raw honey and dried herbs, smoked meats and baked bread at the surrounding farmers markets on Saturday summer mornings.