East Lackawannock Township is unique in its colorful history and its irregular shape situated south and west of the Mercer County courthouse.

It's outline on a map could best be described as a profile of Abraham Lincoln's head, with Springfield Township eclipsing Abe's beard. Interstate 80 travels through his nose and passes beneath his right ear.

Since Mercer is the county seat and head of county government, the borough appropriately dominates Abe's forehead, with roadways branching out to every region of the township and beyond.

Just as Abraham Lincoln was instrumental in ending slavery, so were the abolitionists effective in providing freedom for all who arrived in East Lackawannock Township.

Throughout the past century, East Lackawannock Township has continued to thrive, maintaining its predominantly rural-residential characteristics. It's name is derived from the Delaware Indian name meaning "the place of the forks of the stream.''

Another source given for the name state that "Lac'' is the French word for "deep lake'' found in its northern region, which was known to have been home to the Indian Chief Wannock and his tribe.

Rocky terrain carpets its rolling hills and fertile valleys. The township was once the eastern part of Lackawannock Township, but was separated from Lackawannock Township in 1849 at the meandering Little Neshannock Creek line.

It is bordered on the east by Neshannock Creek and the Springfield Township line, on the north by Jefferson Township, and on the south by the Wilmington Township line.

In 1900, area roads were all dirt, requiring regular upkeep. A township resident was selected to serve as pathmaster who was given a book listing all taxpayers in his school district and the tax owed by each resident. The pathmaster would call the men to repair the district roads as needed, working for their road tax.

Later, tax assessors were hired and tax was paid in cash. By 1999, 27 miles of township roads, all except four miles, have been widened and paved.

Farming has been the primary industry in the township since its earliest settlers arrived. Among them was John Lynch whose land patent was granted on Oct. 18, 1786 by the Pennsylvania which later was owned by Seth Hoagland.

Born in Mercer County in 1822, Hoagland introduced fertilizer to improve crop production, raised animals and cultured bees.

He also established the Hoagland Post Office in 1882, operated a general store and founded the Hoagland Cemetery, renamed Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where he was buried in 1890.

The Hoagland Village was located at the intersection of North Stonebase and the Mercer-Pulaski roads.

Another early settler, John Mayne, came from Beaver County 1840, purchasing a timbered tract of land in the southeast portion of the township. He erected a stone and stucco home over a natural spring in 1860. The Mayne home was the first in the area to be wired for electricity.

The House on the Hill, located on Route 318, was a farm house built by Thomas Rogers in 1832 on 200 acres of land which had been deeded to Samuel Clendenin in 1809 or his service as a private in the Revolutionary War.

In the old stone basement, an 1840 newspaper, entitled "Freemen's Monitor'' was discovered, among other antislavery publications from that period. It is believed that during the early 1840s, the house was used as a refuge for runaway slaves.

Of further historical note, Frank J. McCain, who owned the home from 1899 to 1910, was famous for building the first Ferris Wheel at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. He also assisted in constructing the first steel skyscraper in Chicago.

In 1908, McCain remodeled the house to make it more modern. He acquired stone steps from the burned out Mercer County Court house that he had helped to build.

Early industry included harvesting timber, for the township has heavily wooded regions which are still producing an abundance of high-quality lumber.

In 1838, the Iron City Furnace was built by William Wallace on Bestwick Road. It operated until 1856 and was the last iron works to survive in the township.

Bog ore was used to manufacture the iron, but there was great difficulty transporting the iron to market on dirt roads which were reduced to mud during the rainy season.