Mercersburg
A brief introduction
The village, which began as a trading center, mill, and tannery site in the mid-1700s, was originally owned by James Black. The town was later acquired by William Smith, Sr. in 1759, becoming Smith's Town, and was finally laid out and named Mercersburg in 1786 by William Smith, Jr., in honor of Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer. The town contributed to history, being the birthplace of President James Buchanan and home to the renowned Mercersburg Academy, founded in 1899.
The Mercersburg Academy Chapel
This American Gothic Chapel, located on the Mercersburg Academy campus, was designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built between 1924 and 1925. It features exquisite stained glass windows and oak carvings that bear thistle and mae motifs as memorials to the men who lost their lives in World War I. Carillon recitals on the forty-nine bell carillon in Barker Tower are given weekly on Sundays at 3:00 P.M. when school is in session..