, showing Rush Township (in green on the top right) prior to major partitions;
Mahoney Township (in yellow to the left of Rush) was part of Rush until 1849. The township was incorporated in 1811 and is named after Judge Jacob Rush, younger brother of
Benjamin Rush, a signer of the declaration of independence. Judge Rush was the judge of the third judicial district of
Northampton County which included the area which would become Rush township prior to Schuylkill County's formation in 1811. Rush township has been greatly reduced in size since 1811.
Mahanoy Township split off in 1849,
Ryan Township and
East Union Township took sections of Rush in 1866. In 1873
Kline Township split off, and in 1882
Delano Township split off.
19th century The township was largely settled by German families during its foundation, with the economic basis of the township being agriculture. The company
Gross & Wisimer built the township's first three mills, two sawmills and a gristmill, in 1812. However, during the
Civil War the township focused almost entirely on
Gunpowder production with five gunpowder mills being constructed in the township during the war. These mills resulted in a series of fatal accidents as they were prone to exploding. There were four notable and fatal explosions in 1868, 1871, 1874, and 1879. In 1854, the
Catawissa and Little Schuylkill railroads where built through the township joined soon after by the
Nesquehoning Valley Railroad Company building a spur connecting
Mauch Chunk to
Tamanend and rail interchanges at Haucks, Pennsylvania and
Quakake. The rail industry came to dominate the local industry as millions of tons of
Anthracite coal would pass through the township.
20th century The declining use of coal to heat homes and generate electricity resulted in the closure of the
Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1921. The massive decline in the rail industry greatly hurt Rush township which is still recovering. ==Geography==