PRINTER'S NO. 1592
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1153
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY VOGEL, MARCH 9, 2016
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 9, 2016
AN ACT
Designating a portion of State Routes 108 and 551 in Lawrence
County as the Battery B Memorial Highway.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Battery B Memorial Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) On the morning of June 8, 1861, the Mount Jackson
Guards of Mount Jackson, Lawrence County, gathered at the
Mount Jackson Methodist Episcopal Church on present-day State
Route 108 to bid goodbye to loved ones before going off to
fight in the Civil War, which many believed would be a grand
adventure.
(2) These men were farmers, school teachers, clerks and
laborers from North Beaver Township, Little Beaver Township,
Mahoning Township, New Castle and other areas of Lawrence
County.
(3) The gathering point is now the site of the Battery B
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Monument placed by veterans in 1923, which sits on the west
side of Battery B Cemetery, also known as Mt. Jackson M.E.
Cemetery, to commemorate this event.
(4) The group of more than 80 young men started off on
foot for the nine-mile journey to the railroad station in
Enon, traveling on present-day State Routes 108 and 551,
being hailed by local supporters as they began their epic
journey, and sometimes being offered wagon rides from local
farmers to ease their trip to Enon.
(5) The Mount Jackson Guards, later designated Battery
B, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, along with many other
Lawrence County regiments, boarded the train to Camp Wright,
Camp Wilkins and other training camps in the Pittsburgh area
to prepare themselves for Camp Curtin in Harrisburg and to
fight the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.
(6) Battery B distinguished itself in major battles,
such as Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg and Petersburg,
and because they served until Lee's surrender at Appomattox
in April 1865, they hold the record for the highest amount of
casualties of any artillery unit in the Civil War.
(7) Many members of Battery B were present in the Grand
Review of Troops in Washington, DC, and from 1869 to 1930,
Battery B held elaborate reunions in Mount Jackson, including
locals, Lawrence County residents, State dignitaries,
military officers, Battery B members from almost every county
in Pennsylvania and most of the 48 states, as well as
veterans from other Pennsylvania regiments.
(8) As many as 2,000 people gathered in the little
village of Mount Jackson to honor this illustrious group of
men, to hear speeches by the members that reminisced about
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their experiences and to join in a picnic prepared by the
proud citizens of the town.
(9) Recently, an article from the New Castle News was
discovered, reporting that on September 26, 1925, a parade
was given to celebrate the completion of the concrete road
from Derringer's Corners, North Beaver Township, continuing
to the village of Enon Valley, Little Beaver Township.
(10) The article suggested on that historic occasion
that State Routes 108 and 551 from Mount Jackson to Enon
Valley be named the "Battery B Highway."
(11) The members of the Enon Valley Community Historical
Society have proposed that this old suggestion made 90 years
ago become a reality.
(b) Designation.--The section of State Routes 108 and 551 in
Lawrence County from the intersection of State Route 108 and Old
Hickory Road at the Battery B Monument to State Route 551 ending
at the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Enon
Valley, is hereby designated the Battery B Memorial Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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