Ambridge Area High School - Bridger Yearbook (Ambridge, PA)

Page 7 text:

Significance OLD EOONOM l 'rMORI AL Mairtaincd by Pennsylvania Historkral and Museum Commission as a State memorial to the HARMONY SOCIETY Orqnntzed Frfrwr, IS. 1805 UlwJived December 15,1905 Thc-e boiUimp. erected crwtprne a portion of the thlri srliVnunt I,, the society. 1st Settlement- Harmony. Batter Go, IflOfl-B 2nd Settlement-New Harmony. Posey Co ';£ P£5S 3rd Settlement-Economy, Bcnver Co- Pit, H24-I905 The memorial plaque at Old Economy is a familiar landmark to AHS students. i iiiliiBtlflBBgl

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Economy’s Ideals Inspire Modern Ambridge In the early nineteenth century, a unique community was established on the site of our modern industrial town of Ambridgc. Economy, as it was called, was an experiment in communal living founded by a group of German religious refugees. Hewn from the wilderness of Beaver County, the tiny society prospered and grew under the gentle guidance of Father George Rapp. The settlement lay in a favorable as well as picturesque location, with the sloping banks of the Ohio River at its foot, and the rolling hills of the Appalachians behind it. Crops were cultivated on acres of fertile farmland, and the famous orchards at either end of the village were beautiful and fragrant in the spring, bearing varieties of fruit in the harvest season. Both industry and agriculture flourished. Wines and whiskey were distilled and sold. The textiles from Economy’s whirring wool, cotton, and silk mills were coveted by many well-known seamstresses throughout America. Their timber holdings of 5,000 acres were exploited, and they engaged in the coal and oil business. At one time, a controlling interest was held in the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. Principles of the highest order were employed by these pious people. To those passing through the community food and lodging for the night were offered. The Economy Hotel also provided excellent accommodations and genuine hospitality. Due to its practice of celibacy, however, members began to decline in numbers. In 1905 they sold to the United States Steel Company a large tract of land on which it built the American Bridge Works. It was here, around the walls of the smoking, fuming mill, that the workers built their first modest homes. From these humble beginnings grew the Am-bridge of today. Thus our forefathers of Economy endowed the town of Ambridge and its citizens with a heritage rich in idealism, high principles, honest industry, and true Christian charity. The creative architectural and cultural achievements of the Harmonists have been key inspirations toward the growth of a thriving metropolis. J The quaint dwellings which proved most sufficient to the former residents of Economy . . . . . . have been developed, through the extended education and welfare of modern Ambridge, into superb structures to satisfy the needs of rapid growth and prosperity.