Jackson Township, Highland County

How Jackson Township, Highland County began

Jackson Township, in southern Highland County, was set off from Brush Creek and Concord townships in 1816 and named for Andrew Jackson, the victor at New Orleans the year before. Its settlement began on the west fork of Brush Creek, where Thomas McCoy built a cabin in 1801 and Job Haigh arrived in 1803; preaching at Haigh's house grew into the neighborhood's Baptist church. James Storer and Lancelot Brown platted Belfast in 1834, and Fairfax, laid out in 1845, straddles its line with Concord. The township has no incorporated village and remains rural, with 1,053 residents in 2020.

Settled 1801, by Thomas McCoy, from Bourbon County, Kentucky; township set off in 1816.

Where the name comes from

Named for Andrew Jackson, the victor of the Battle of New Orleans (January 1815), when the township was set off in 1816.

Before the town

Nothing site-specific beyond two recorded mounds is documented for Jackson Township itself. The 1902 county history 'The County of Highland' lists mound counts reported to the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society by township, including 'Jackson, two,' alongside larger counts for Paint (9), Concord (8), and Brush Creek (3) townships. The county's dominant prehistoric monument, Fort Hill -- a 35-acre hilltop enclosure with roughly a mile and a half of stone-and-earth wall and 36 verified gateways, built by people of the Hopewell tradition -- lies a few miles away in neighboring Brushcreek Township, not in Jackson Township. For the historic period, Shawnee people moved through and lived across this part of southern Ohio in the eighteenth century, and the region was inside the Virginia Military District set aside for Revolutionary War land bounties rather than covered by a single named cession treaty specific to Highland County; the county history's treatment of Native history is general to the county rather than particular to Jackson Township. Both Scott's 1890 history and the 1902 history place an early frontier fight near Belfast: soon after St. Clair's defeat in 1791, a party of about forty Kentuckians under John McNary, retreating toward Manchester, was surprised at breakfast by Native warriors at the first fork of Brush Creek just above Belfast, south of a mound standing in the forks. The Kentuckians fired a volley and fled, and reached Manchester that evening; McNary later visited the spot after Belfast was built and pointed out the mound and the forks.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Adena culture, Hopewell culture.

• Jackson Township mounds (mound) — Jackson Township, Highland County (exact locations not given in the source), likely Adena or Hopewell (precise culture not specified in source) (archive.org)
• Mound in the forks of Brush Creek above Belfast (mound) — At the first fork of Brush Creek just above Belfast, prehistoric (culture not identified) (archive.org)
• McNary skirmish near Belfast (battle) — First fork of Brush Creek just above Belfast, early 1790s, soon after St. Clair's defeat of 1791 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. c. 1791-1792 — Soon after St. Clair's defeat, John McNary's party of Kentuckians is surprised by Native warriors at the first fork of Brush Creek above the later site of Belfast, fires one volley and escapes to Manchester.
2. 1801 — In the spring Thomas McCoy, from Bourbon County, Kentucky, builds a cabin on the west fork of Brush Creek near the later site of Belfast, then in Adams County.
3. 1803 — In the spring Job Haigh settles on Brush Creek near the later site of Belfast; within a year there is occasional preaching at his house.
4. 1807 — The first section of the Old West Union road, cut for wagons by William C. Scott and Samuel Williamson at ten dollars a mile, ends where the village of Fairfax now stands.
5. 1815 — The Belfast Methodist church is organized at the home of Samuel Clark about 1815.
6. 1816 — The county commissioners set off a new township from Brush Creek and Concord and name it Jackson; Klise gives October 5, 1816, and Thompson September 24, 1816.
7. 1833 — The Baptist church that grew from preaching at Job Haigh's home builds on Rock Lick about 1833; a division over slavery about 1837 forms the East Fork church, which builds on the Belfast pike in 1853.
8. 1834 — James Storer and Lancelot Brown plat Belfast; the Storers and their neighbors organize a Presbyterian church there about 1835.
9. 1845 — B. F. Pullium plats Fairfax, which in the 1870s is counted partly in Concord and partly in Jackson Township.
10. 1900 — The census counts 912 people in Jackson Township.

Stories

The fight at the forks of Brush Creek

After Arthur St. Clair's army was routed in 1791, John McNary of Shelby County, Kentucky, was sent north with about forty men to bury the dead, but the country was too dangerous and they turned back toward Kentucky, losing three or four men to Native marksmen on the way. Believing they were outnumbered, they made a forced march until they were within a day of Manchester on the Ohio River. They stopped for breakfast at the first fork of Brush Creek, just above the later site of Belfast and south of a mound in the forks, and were surprised there by a Native party who seemed as startled as they were. The Kentuckians fired one volley, saw several men fall, and ran; the pursuit lasted some hours but never caught them, and they reached Manchester that evening. The 1902 history calls it the second battle fought within the county's lines, and Scott's 1890 history titles it the Battle of Belfast. Years later, after Belfast was built, McNary returned and pointed out the mound and the forks of the creek as the place.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Hillsboro City73% of residentsClear Creek (via Selph Road & Liberty Park Reservoirs)
• Highland County Water Company, Inc.25% of residentsSand-and-gravel aquifer wells (Ross/Highland Co. well fields; local wells)
• Seaman Village2% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells near Manchester)
• Adams County Regional Wd0% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells near Manchester)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-06-23

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