Special Walking Tour: Vandergrift, PA

Saturday, August 24
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

$20.00 per person

This tour is limited to 20 participants.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 p.m. on August 23.

Purchase a ticket below.

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, PA, 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. Local business figures and other residents will lead us through this unique company town and discuss efforts to revive both the economy and community spirit. The tour will wrap up at a new local winery built in a restored church.

Tour meeting point: Vandergrift Museum & Historical Society, 184 Sherman Avenue, Vandergrift, PA 15690

Tour ending point: Wooden Door Winery, 101 Custer Avenue, Vandergrift

Please arrive 15 minutes before start time in order to ensure that the tour gets underway on time. Dress for the weather (PHLF tours proceed rain or shine!), and wear comfortable shoes. By purchasing a ticket for this tour, you acknowledge that you are physically able to undertake the tour, assume all personal risk during the tour, consent to being photographed during the tour, and permit PHLF to use your image in our communications.

This tour is handicap accessible. Please notify us of your needs two business days in advance of the tour.