[3] It is located near the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio rivers, approximately 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Pittsburgh.

[4] The area around Beaver was once home to Shawnee Indians, who were later displaced by groups such as the Mingoes and the Lenape.

It was part of the Ohio Country that was in dispute during the French and Indian War.

After the war, the fort was the home of the First American Regiment, the oldest active unit in the US Army.

By then, the frontier had moved westward and there was no further need for a permanent garrison to protect the area.

In late 2007, local officials proposed the consolidation of Beaver with Brighton Township, although nothing came of the initiative.

Included in the boundaries of the district is the Matthew S. Quay House, the National Historic Landmark home of Beaver native Senator Matthew Quay, and the site of Fort McIntosh, a fort constructed in the 1780s.

It eventually moved into the basement of a former high school on College Avenue in Beaver.

A fundraiser was started in Beaver County in 1961 to raise the $130,000 to build a new establishment.