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$22,500 Project Supported by Volunteers, Donors

Members of the Jefferson College Historical Society gathered on the campus of Canonsburg Middle School on Monday, August 31, to dedicate the first of 15 shiny, new historical markers.

The new historical marker located on the campus of Canonsburg Middle School tells passersby about the importance of the Rev. John McMillan’s log schoolhouse. (Photo Credit: Jefferson College Historical Society)

The first of the new signs reminds passersby that before Canonsburg was famous for Sarris Candies and Perry Como, it was renown as home to the Rev. John McMillan (1752-1833). North Hills resident Donna Johnston, a descendent of McMillan, was on hand for the dedication and gave remarks before unveiling the marker.

It highlights the importance of the Presbyterian minister’s log school, a site that attracted European immigrants, especially the Scotch-Irish, settling west of the Alleghenies. McMillan’s ministry and teaching defined Canonsburg as an academic center on the eighteenth-century frontier. His school was a forerunner to Jefferson College, which later became part of Washington and Jefferson College only after some ‘Canonsburgers’ fought the merger until an 1871 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court left no further appeals.

Once casting is completed by Lake Shore Industries in Erie, fourteen other historical markers will be installed throughout the borough. They replace faded and missing signs originally erected in 2003 as part of a high school project by students attending Western Area Career and Technology Center in Chartiers Township. The new signs are larger and more durable than the originals.

JCHS launched its “Replace the Signs” campaign in December 2017 and rallied local historians and genealogists in its newsletter edited by Gina Nestor of Canonsburg. “I thought the campaign would take a year. It actually took 26 months,” according to Nestor.

Text on each historical marker is based on research by the late Dr. James T. Herron Jr., a longtime Canonsburg historian, and his protégé Nestor who notes, “The sources were our original archival Canonsburg Daily Notes newspapers and deed transactions.”

Donna Johnston, a descendant of the Rev. John McMillan, speaks at the dedication of the first of fifteen historical markers being installed in Canonsburg by the Jefferson College Historical Society. (Photo Credit: Jefferson College Historical Society)

Installation of the McMillan school marker represents the final phase of the $22,500 project supported by community funding from 31 individuals, organizations and businesses.

“We were pleased with the support of local businesses, especially the Slovenian Savings & Loan,” said JCHS president Susan DeLost of Washington.

Two national fraternities, Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Kappa Psi, also chipped in. Both were founded at Jefferson College.

“Each fraternity funded several of the historical signs,” according to Mike Roman of Canonsburg who led preservation efforts for the McMillan log school in 2004.

While the project has faced some delays related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Johnston is optimistic. “A lot of ancestry research takes place in Canonsburg. Once all signs are installed and publicity gets broader coverage, there are people who take road trips just to see historical locations and this will increase local tourism.”

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