Mercersburg, Pennsylvania

Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 73 miles (117 km) southwest of Harrisburg. Originally called Black Town, it was incorporated in 1831. In 1900, 956 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,410 people lived here. The population was 1,540 at the 2000 census.

History

The borough was Hugh Mercer, a general in the American Revolutionary War.

The Mercersburg Historic District, Lane House, and Mercersburg Academy are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Mercersburg is located at 39°49′46″N 77°54′7″W / 39.82944°N 77.90194°W / 39.82944; -77.90194 (39.829388, -77.901952).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all of it land.

Mercersburg is located at the foot of the Appalachian mountains just north of the Mason–Dixon line, which serves as the state border with Maryland. Whitetail Ski Resort is located near the town, opens around Christmas for the winter season.

Pennsylvania state highways 16, 75 and 416 all pass through Mercersburg, which is approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Interstate 81.

Mercersburg Academy

Mercersburg Academy is a highly selective private, independent, coed college preparatory boarding school of 435 students in grades 9-12/postgraduate located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. The school, which was founded in 1893, is set on 300 acres and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

According to the school's mission statement, “Mercersburg Academy prepares young men and women from diverse backgrounds for college and for life in a global community. Students at Mercersburg pursue a rigorous and dynamic curriculum while learning to live together harmoniously in a supportive residential environment. Mercersburg's talented faculty instill in students the value of hard work and the importance of character and community as they teach students to think for themselves, to approach life thoughtfully and creatively, to thrive physically, to act morally, to value the spiritual dimension of human existence, and to serve others.”

The Hill School

The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The Hill is part of an organization known as the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). This organization was founded more than forty years ago on the basis of a number of common goals and traditions. Member schools include The Hill School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Deerfield Academy, The Lawrenceville School, The Taft School, The Hotchkiss School, St. Paul's School, Loomis Chaffee, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Phillips Academy Andover. The Hill is also accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

As of July 2015, The Hill's endowment was approximately $155 million.

History

The Hill School was founded in 1851 by the Rev. Matthew Meigs as the Family Boarding School for Boys and Young Men. The School opened on May 1, 1851, enrolling 25 boys for the first year. The Family Boarding School was the first of its kind in America. According to Paul Chancellor’s The History of The Hill School: 1851-1976, “He [Meigs] wanted to stress that he was not founding still another academy, but a type of school quite new and rare in America. There is a tendency to think that the boys’ boarding school as we know it existed as long as there have been private schools. It has not. Most of the 12 to 15 schools generally considered the “core” group were established in the last half of the nineteenth century. Of this whole group of schools, The Hill was the first to be founded as a family boarding school, i.e., a school where the students lived on campus, as opposed to boarding with families in the town. Upholding The Family Boarding School tradition are the approximately 30 percent of today's Hill students who have a legacy connection. Today's student body includes young women who were first admitted to The Hill in 1998.