Saturday, August 24
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
$20.00 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 pm on August 23.
Click here to purchase a ticket.
For as long as there has been industry in the United States, there have been company towns—that is, communities built by businesses. While many of the roughly 2,000 such towns built across the country were known for their abysmal conditions, Vandergrift, stands out for its exceptional history and design.
George G. McMurtry, who was president of Apollo Iron & Steel Co. and established the town in 1895, believed that good housing and a pleasant environment would ensure his workers’ loyalty and increase their productivity. To create a plan for “something better than the best,” as McMurtry described it, he hired the famed Olmsted family of landscape designers.
Join us to learn how the layout designed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm responded to both the landscape and McMurtry’s goals.
This tour will include insights from local business figures and residents of the community, leading us through this unique company town and discussing efforts to revive both the economy and community spirit.
The tour will wrap up at a new local winery built in a restored church.