The Skills That Built a New Nation Are Building the Next Generation: The InHarmony Initiative at Old Economy Village

Posted by on Aug 13, 2026 in | Comments Off on The Skills That Built a New Nation Are Building the Next Generation: The InHarmony Initiative at Old Economy Village   A student runs a hand along the smooth edge of a wooden board, carefully checking for splinters before lifting it onto a workbench in the woodshop at Old Economy Village, a preserved 19th-century Harmonist settlement and National Historic Landmark in Ambridge. For many students, it is the first time they have created something tangible, something that began not on a screen but in their...
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Founding Economy

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on Founding Economy “It will be but two years since the forest was first felled upon which Economy is built; the roots still remaining in the streets are evidences of the short time that has elapsed. It is astonishing what united and regulated human effort has accomplished in so short a time!” – Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, 1826   Two hundred years ago, on June 6, 1824, the Harmony Society landed at...
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Trailheads

Posted by on Feb 25, 2020 in | Comments Off on Trailheads History never truly sleeps on the Pennsylvania Trails of History, but winter is generally a slower season with reduced schedules and fewer programs and events. Charter Day, the celebration of Pennsylvania’s founding (the second Sunday in March), is the traditional start to our spring season. As the weather warms, activity increases at the sites and museums. The landscape loses its dull winter...
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Looking Back at 2018

Posted by on Jan 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on Looking Back at 2018 This past year marked the centennials of the end of World War I and the start of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Of special significance to Pennsylvania was the 300th anniversary of the death of founder William Penn. What follows is a brief glimpse of 2018 on the Pennsylvania Trails of History, a few highlights among many.   William Penn’s Legacy To commemorate the 300th anniversary of...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by on Nov 19, 2019 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director With the arrival of fall, you can find festivals everywhere in Pennsylvania. Celebrations of harvest range from the National Apple Harvest Festival in Arendtsville, Adams County, and the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, Chester County, to old-country inspired Oktoberfests from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Many are established traditions with local origins — Stahlstown in Westmoreland County...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Summer 2018

Posted by on Nov 12, 2019 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Summer 2018 Topics in the Summer 2018 Newsletter: PHF Sponsors Children’s Visit to Old Economy Village PHF Identifies PHMC’s 21st-Century Museums Initiative as a Fundraising Priority PHF Hosts Rotary International Students for Tour of The State Museum PHF Hosts Giving Circle Members at 4th Annual Dinner   pennsylvania-heritage-foundation-newsletter-summer-2018...
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Natural History Trails

Posted by on Oct 30, 2019 in | Comments Off on Natural History Trails Charles Willson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum, although relatively short-lived, influenced the development of similar projects elsewhere. In 1827, the year Peale died, the Harmony Society at Economy in Pennsylvania opened one of the first natural history museums west of the Alleghenies. Like Peale’s museum, the Harmonist effort was largely exhausted by the middle of the 19th century, and its...
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2016 Trails

Posted by on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on 2016 Trails In 2015 the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum in Galeton, Potter County, officially opened its expanded visitor center to the public. The museum also debuted Challenges and Choices in Pennsylvania’s Forests, an artifact-rich exhibit exploring the history of the lumber industry, the rise of the conservation movement and professional forestry, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and current best practices...
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George Rapp’s Coat and Cap

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on George Rapp’s Coat and Cap Silk was all the rage in America during the 1820s and 1830s. Initially imported from Europe, silk fabric was used in men’s suits, women’s dresses and miscellaneous household articles. The Harmony Society, always at the forefront of industry at the time, added silk manufacturing to its long list of enterprises shortly after the religious communal group settled in 1825 at their last home in...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter

Posted by on Aug 21, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter Topics in the Summer 2013 Newsletter: Stories from the Homefront: Pennsylvania in the Civil War Opens in September New PaHeritage.org Website Trailheads: 250 Years on the Pennsylvania Trails of History Welcome New PHF Members Welcome New State Museum Affiliate Members PHF Board Harrisburg SciTech High School Docents Washington Crossing Historic Park Visitor Center Pennsylvania Lumber Museum...
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