Vandergrift’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Vandergrift. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In the 1890s the Apollo Iron and Steel Company was in a dramatic round of industrial restructuring and labor tension, ending a bitterly contested labor dispute at its Apollo, Pennsylvania, steelworks by hiring replacement workers from the surrounding countryside. To avoid future unrest, the company sought tighter control over its workers, not only at the factory, but also in their homes. Drawing upon a philosophy of reform movements in Europe and the United States, the company's leader, George McMurtry, adopted what was later known as welfare capitalism, with the company going beyond paychecks to provide for the social needs of the workers, and providing a benign physical environment and good housing, to make for happier and more productive workers. Wanting a loyal workforce, McMurtry developed a town agenda that drew upon environmentalism as well as popular attitudes toward capital's t…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Vandergrift’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vandergrift’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewVandergrift, Pennsylvania, July, …, 1895: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Vandergrift
See all 13 →
Vandergrift, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, July, 1895 (1895) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.