Stony Batter, Pennsylvania

In 1783, James Buchanan Sr. and his wife, Elizabeth Speer immigrated from County Donegal, Ulster Ireland and established a trading post and inn at the base of Tuscarora Mountain on The Forbes Road, that ran from Carlisle to Pittsburgh. The trading post became known as Stony Batter, the name of his family home near Ramelton. They had seven children to reach adulthood, James Jr. was the oldest.

James Sr. was a very successful merchant and landowner. In 1796, he physically moved his log cabin to the nearby town of Mercersburg (90 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.), where he operated a general store. This bustling town would be James Buchanan’s home for the remainder of his childhood years. The log cabin is now on the campus of Mercersburg Academy.

The monument is a 38 foot square by 31 foot high pyramid built of local stone. Construction began in 1907 and was accepted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1911 from the trust of Harriet Lane Johnston, President James Buchanan niece. The Park now is a thick wooded forest with a babbling brook, much like it was at the turn of the 19th century.

Mercersburg Academy is an independent selective college=preparatory boarding and day school founded in 1893 and is one of the highest endowment-per-student independent schools in the country.

The campus is absolutely beautiful, image an Ivy League college in New England. When I was there it was a beautiful summer day, and the air was filled.