Foxburg lies in the scenic rural valleys of the Allegheny and Clarion Rivers.  Foxburg is approximately 55 miles north of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River.    The area is rich in natural resources including  lumber, oil, and natural gas which was shipped to towns along the Allegheny River in route to Pittsburgh.  The natural resources created fortunes for some entrepreneurs.    

     In 1785, the Land Office of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued a warrant for a piece of 1,100 acres of land along the Allegheny and Clarion Rivers.  The purchaser was  Samuel Mickle Fox from Philadelphia.  Samuel Mickle Fox was a member of the Colonial Assembly.  Governor Thomas Mifflin signed the deed for this property for the sum of "five pounds, six shillings, nine pence".  Samuel Mickle Fox acquired another 18,000 acres along the valley.

     In 1820, Joseph  Mickle Fox, son of Samuel Mickle Fox married Hannah Emlen of Philadelphia and eventually built a summer home in Clarion County.  They built the Fox Mansion completely out of materials obtained from  their land.  The mansion was completed in 1828.  Aside from the mansion, the Fox's built carriage houses, stables, an ice house, a greenhouse, barns, a log cabin for a play area for the Fox children, and a complete arboretum.  The Fox's built the first arboretum  in the Commonwealth and obtained a specimen from each indigenous tree to the area.  The Mansion was kept within the Fox family until 1967.  Since 1967, the mansion has been owned by several families.  The stables, barn and an arena for horses was used as a therapy school for physically challenged persons.  Currently, the Fox Estate is  privately owned.   

     Recognized as philanthropists, the Fox family took great interest in the local community and built the Memorial Church of Our Father, the Foxburg Free Library, and the Foxburg Golf Course.  
 Memorial Church of Our Father (right) is an Episcopal Church.  The church was dedicated to the Foxburg community in 1882. The masonry stone is all native to the area.  This Gothic  architectural style is a beautiful work of art. The adjacent cemetery is the resting place some members of the Fox family.
   The Foxburg Library was dedicated to the community in 1910.  Like the Fox Mansion, the library is constructed from gray stone.  Currently, the ground level serves as the library and the second floor serves as the A. -C. Valley Medical Center.  When first built, the second floor was used as a local theatre.  
  The Foxburg Country Club (right) and the golf course are perhaps the most well known of the Fox family gifts to the community.  Congress named Foxburg's golf course as the oldest golf course in continual use in the United States.  The golf course was founded in 1887 by Joseph M. Fox.  Fox was introduced to golf while traveling abroad in England to partake in cricket matches.  
Joseph was a member of the Merion Cricket Club,  also known as  "The Gentlemen of Philadelphia."    Fox was so intrigued by golf, that upon his arrival back to the summer estate, he made a three hole course in a cow pasture.  Eventually,  the Foxburg Golf Club was established and the golf course was expanded to nine holes.  The Foxburg Country Club is home to the Golf Hall of Fame.

 
Local Facts of Clarion County:  The following information can be found in Nora M. Stewart's booklet entitled, The Achieving Student and Local History.
1681 -
Charles II, King of England, granted William Penn the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.