Worth Township was a relatively recent addition to the map of Butler County. It was created in 1855 and formed mostly from land taken from Muddy Creek Township and a small portion of Slippery Rock Township. It was named after General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the Mexican War.

Slippery Rock Creek runs though the northern corner of the township and Muddy Creek forms its southern boundary.

The southern portion of the new township was noted for its mineral wealth particularly coal and natural gas deposits, but drillings during the1859 oil boom that gripped Butler County turned up no oil deposits. The northern part of the township contained productive farmland.

The “1900 Butler County Centennial Souvenir” claimed “It’s estimated that Worth Township raises twice as much wheat as any other township in the county.”

The area that became Worth Township was home to the Cornplanter Native Americans, a band of the Delaware. The first white men that entered the area, according to the 1895 “History of Butler County,” were David Studebaker and Abraham Snyder.

The two men had traveled with a large party from Westmoreland County in 1790. When reports of the hostility of the tribes to the north reached the travelers, the majority elected to remain in the Pittsburgh area, but Studebaker and Snyder pressed on to the north. The pair encountered Native Americans in the area of the township now known as Moore’s Corners and found the Native Americans were friendly.

The two men built a log cabin and stayed in the area for three months, hunting and exploring before leaving. In 1793, David Studebaker returned to the cabin with his sister and set up permanent residence. Later, his father Joseph Studebaker and his family joined him.

Joseph Studebaker, according to the “History,” has already led an adventurous life before reaching what would become Worth Township. He and his sister had been captured by Native Americans in Cumberland County in 1755. The siblings were captive for nine years roving with the band through Western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

“The History of Butler County, Pennsylvania,” published in 1883, states shortly before Joseph Studebaker was released in 1764 in eastern Ohio, his sister was thrown from a horse and killed. Joseph Studebaker served in the Revolutionary War and was counted as a friend of George Washington.

David Studebaker, according to “An Historical Gazetteer of Butler County Pa.” by Luanne Eisler, Glenn McKinight and Janet Smith, was a relative of Clement Studebaker of Alliance, Ohio, a wagon maker and the father of Henry and Clement Studebaker, who became automobile manufacturers. David Studebaker married Catherine Michaels, the first marriage in the area that would become Worth Township, and raised one son and four daughters.

Other pioneers, mainly of Scotch-Irish ethnicity and many veterans of the Revolutionary War followed in Studebaker’s footsteps.

William and John Elliott and John Dennison settled in the area in 1793. The next year saw David, George and Rebecca Armstrong’s arrival.

Johnathan Kelly, a blacksmith, arrived with his mother and father in 1796. Kelly built a cabin that year, but then went to Pittsburgh. When he returned in 1797, he found another pioneer, Benjamin Jack, living in the cabin and, the “History” records “evicted him without process of law.”

However, a Benjamin Jack is credited with later building the first brick house and planting the first orchard in the future township.

By 1803, Thomas Coulter started the first industry in the area by establishing a saw mill. Alexander McBride built a grist mill in 1820 and added a saw mill in 1827. Charles Coulter established a carding mill after the War of 1812 in the village of Mechanicsburg in the township. Henry Sutliff bought the carding mill in 1854 and did an extensive trade in blankets and flannel during the Civil War.

Another early industry was whiskey making. The distilling of whiskey gave the area’s farmers an easy way to transport their grain crops. The township was known for having many whiskey makers, but Hugh Henderson was acclaimed as the leading distiller in the township.

The “History” records “Old settlers who loved a good whisky as well as old friends looked upon the product of Henderson’s still as very fine indeed.”

In addition to mills and stills, the township’s settlers quickly established churches. The United Presbyterian Church was organized in 1809 under the name Mouth of Wolf Creek Church with a congregation made up of immigrants from Northern Ireland. Prior to 1809, the Rev. John Anderson preached under an oak tree. Later visiting Presbyterian clergymen would conduct services at the house of a John Moore until 1811 when a log church was built. The log church burned in 1839, a short time after work on a new church commenced.

The Zion Baptist Church was organized in 1841. Worship services were conducted in an old school house until 1843 when a brick church was completed. The Mount Union Church of God was begun in 1871. Its congregants met in the Rocky Springs schoolhouse until a church was built in 1873.

Schoolhouses soon followed the churches. The “History” lists the first school in township commenced in 1810 in a log house on the Pisor farm. Robert Marcus, the schoolmaster, taught 25 students at $6 a head. But he died during the school’s first term, and a friend from Mercer, John Mitchell, took over teaching duties. Before the War of 1812, a second school opened on the McNees farm. Two more schools opened after the War of 1812. In 1835, the common school law was adopted leading to the creation of eight school districts in the township each with a school.

One schoolhouse was named the Gum Tree Schoolhouse because of a large, old gum tree in front of the building. Gum Tree was also the name of an early village nearby. When the tree became disease and had to be cut down, the village became known as Gum Stump.

Education in the township wasn’t without controversy. An April 7, 1893, article in the Butler Eagle reported John Craig of Worth Township was in Butler “to look up school laws.” Craig said Schoolhouse No. 1 in the township had been closed for three years for lack of students. “Attendance is too small to warrant hiring a teacher,” the article noted. The article noted the 12 or 14 students in district are either attending other schools or have no school privileges.

The article noted “Some taxpayers in the district have grown tired of paying school taxes and having no school privileges.”

The first post office in the township was established in 1849 just east of the village of Mechanicsburg in William Jack’s store. His son, Cochran Jack, was the first postmaster. The post office was closed in 1902.

Another post office was established at Gum Stump at the intersection of Pittsburgh and Mercer roads. According to the “Historical Gazetteer,” the residents wanted to the post office to be called Grand City, but a bureaucratic error it was officially named Grant City, a name the area still holds.

For a time, Mechanicsburg, so named for the number of mechanics who lived there, was the only village in the township. In 1895, it had 12 houses including a general store, harness shop, post office, blacksmith shop, town hall, wagon shop, woolen mill and tannery. Today, the village’s site is known as Jacksville.

The Worth Township Gas Company was started in 1892 to operate a natural gas well on the Glenn and McClymonds farms. “The 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County Pa. and Representative Citizens” published in 1909 said profitable gas wells on the Elliott, Pisor, McCracken and Boyd farms in the late 1880s formed part of the Grove City Gas Plant.

The Worth Mutual Fire Insurance Co. was chartered in the township in 1875 to insure farm buildings and products in 12 townships. It had a $1 million of insurance in its books by 1909.

In the 1960s, Worth Township lost 20% of its land to the state for Interstate 79 and Moraine State Park.

Every July and August since 1977 the township’s population swells by an estimated 10,000 people as members of the Society of Creative Anachronism stages its annual Pennsic War at the Cooper’s Lake Campground near the intersection of Interstate 79 and U.S. Route 422. The long-running “war” between the East Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom of the SCA features armored combat, fencing, archery and arts and sciences exhibitions as well as performing arts and dancing.

Coopers Camp Ground also hosts the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival annually on the second weekend of June. The festival features car shows, on-site off-roading, a Jeep history exhibit and vendor area.