A history of Ambridge,
since 1824
Postcards, papers and photographs of Ambridge from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The town is near the location of Legionville, the training camp for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States. Wayne's was the first attempt to provide basic training for regular U.S. Army recruits and Legionville was the first facility established expressly for this purpose. The Harmony Society first settled the area in the early 19th century, founding the village of "Ökonomie" or Economy in 1824. Although initially successful, accumulating significant landholdings, the sect went into decline. By the end of the 19th century, only a few Harmonists remained. The society was dissolved and its vast real estate holdings sold, much of it to the American Bridge Company, who subsequently enlarged the town and incorporated it as Ambridge in 1905.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Ambridge’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewOn to Washington, we want the bon…, 1932: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Ambridge
See all 25 →
Ambridge, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as On to Washington, we want the bonus, Ambridge Pa. Veterans (1932) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the Library of Congress (9). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.