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Last week, when I was talking about Ambridge, PA, I mentioned that Ambridge was founded in 1907, but I left out the details behind that date. Shortly before that date, The American Bridge Company (division of US Steel) purchased the remaining land that had been part of the town of Economy for slightly over 100 years. Some of the following is from Wikipedia. Some is from the National Registry of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination form. The last three historic photos are also from the nomination form.
The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States—Old Economy Village is an historic settlement that is located in Ambridge…The village is the last of three settlements established by the Harmony Society in the United States.
Old Economy Village — Wikipedia
Harmony was laid out by George Rapp in 1804 on land (5,000 acres) pur[1]chased from Detmar Basse for $10,217.74. The village was located near Pittsburgh in the forests of Butler County on the Connoquenessing River.
“Undeterred by the cold and primitive conditions in the new region that was to be their new home, a considerable number of families appeared on the scene a few days after the sale had been confirmed. By January 14, 1805, thirty-one families were on the new lands and were beginning the work of building the first Harmonie. Some of them … were quartered in the homes of Germans living nearby.”
By the spring of 1805 some 300 of Rapp’s followers, who had spent the winter in Philadelphia and Baltimore, moved to the new village. In the ensuing 10 years, the “Harmonie Society” developed into a prosperous agricultural and manufacturing community.
NRHP Nomination Form #73002139
The Harmonites named their last town Economy, after the spiritual notion of the Divine Economy. Here, under the business acumen and efficient management of Frederick Rapp, society members enjoyed such prosperity that, by 1829, they dominated the trade and the markets of Pittsburgh and down the Ohio River.—The settlements were economically successful, producing many goods in a clothing factory, a sawmill, a tannery, and from their vineyards and distillery. Society members also produced high quality silk for garments.
The Harmonites were industrious and utilized the latest technologies of the day in their factories. In Economy, the group aided the construction of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, established the Economy Savings Institution and the Economy Brick Works, and operated the Economy Oil Company, Economy Planing Mill, Economy Lumber Company, and eventually donated some land in Beaver Falls for the construction of Geneva College. The society exerted a major influence on the economic development of Western Pennsylvania. But since the group chose to adopt celibacy and the people in the group kept getting older, more work gradually had to be hired out.
The high-water mark of the society’s prosperity was at the close of the administration of R. L. Baker in 1868; its wealth at that time being probably $2,000,000. By 1890, however, it was hopelessly in debt, on the verge of bankruptcy, with a depleted membership of aged people.
The society’s land was acquired by the American Bridge Company to expand the borough of Ambridge- incorporated in 1905 and named after AMerican BRIDGE
Old Economy Village — Wikipedia
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about an interesting societal experiment. I also hope you will visit some of the posts by the other participants.
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All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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