HARMONY BOROUGH                           HISTORIC HARMONY INC.
Municipal Building 218                                 Mercer St., P.O. Box 524
217 Mercer Street, P.O. Box 945                Harmony, PA 16037
Harmony, PA 16037                                    724-452-7341
724-452-6780                                             www.harmonymuseum.org
www.Harmony-PA.gov

HARMONY BOOK SIGNING DEC. 18 AT BOTTLEBRUSH GALLERY

HARMONY --  Shelby Miller Ruch will sign copies of her book, "Harmony," and display vintage pictures of the community on Friday evening, Dec. 18, at Bottlebrush Art Gallery and Shop, 539 Main St., Harmony.

Ruch's 127-page book, published in Arcadia Publishing's popular Images of America series, presents more than 200 images that chronicle more than 250 years of Harmony area history, people, places and events. Sales proceeds benefit Historic Harmony, the nonprofit volunteer historical society and preservation advocate that operates the eight-property Harmony Museum.

 

Bottlebrush Gallery occupies an early 19th century building, pictured in Harmony, that was constructed by the communal Harmony Society that founded Harmony in 1804 and then in 1815 became the home of the community's Mennonite "second founder," Abraham Ziegler. The town center and nearby Harmony Society cemetery became western Pennsylvania's first National Historic Landmark District in 1974.

 

The book signing is part of a 5-8 p.m. Procrastinator's Party with libations, tasty treats and sales. For more information, contact the gallery at 724-452-0539, Web site www.bottlebrushgallery.com, or Historic Harmony at 724-452-7341, Web site www.harmonymuseum.org.
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CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
12/11/09
 

 

HISTORIC HARMONY INSTALLS DIRECTORS FOR 2010-2012 TERMS

HARMONY -- Historic Harmony installed attorney Tim Shaffer, Prospect, and retired teacher Linda Werner Powlus, Harmony, to three-year board terms beginning Jan. 1 during the organization's annual membership Christmas dinner on Tuesday (Dec. 8). The  nonprofit historical society and preservation advocate,  founded in 1943, operates the Harmony Museum.

 

They were elected in September. Shaffer, who joined Historic Harmony's board in 1998, was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate 1981-1996. Werner Powlus returned from Germany upon retirement from the U.S. Department of Defense, for which she was a school guidance counselor and previously an elementary school teacher. She also served on Historic Harmony's board, 1978-1980, before going to Germany.

 

Werner Powlus succeeds longtime director Eleanor M. Wise, Harmony, who did not stand for reelection. The retired Seneca Valley School District teacher has been an Historic Harmony board member since 1982  and was previously a director in 1977 and 1971-1974. 

 

Historic Harmony's eight other directors are President John Ruch, Zelienople; Vice President Cathryn Rape, Harmony; Recording Secretary Joan M. Szakelyhidi, Harmony; Treasurer Joseph White, Harmony; Mary Ann Landis, Economy Borough; Barbara Pabst, Forward Township; Vincent Stefanos, Stowe Township; and Barbara Vickerman, Jackson Township.

 

Harmony, at I-79 exits 77-78, is western Pennsylvania's first National Historic Landmark District and one of the region's most significant historic sites. George Washington visited an Indian village here during his 1753 mission to the French Fort LeBoeuf, south of Lake Erie, sparking the French & Indian War; a "French Indian" fired its first shot at him nearby. Harmony was founded a half-century later, encompassing about 9,000 acres as the first American home of the Harmony Society of pacifist German Lutheran Separatists that gained international fame as 19th century America's most successful communal group. The Harmonists moved to southwest Indiana Territory and sold their holdings in 1815 to Harmony's Mennonite "second founder" Abraham Ziegler, then returned in 1824 to found what is now Ambridge, only 22 miles from Harmony. All of this and many other aspects of the area's rich history are presented in Harmony Museum exhibits.
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CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
12/10/09

 

HISTORIC HARMONY INVITES 2010 HERITAGE AWARD NOMINATIONS

HARMONY --  Historic Harmony will accept written nominations until Dec. 31 for Heritage Awards to be presented at its annual Harmoniefest dinner and historical program on Feb. 13.

 

Awards are offered in two categories: preservation, restoration or renovation of buildings or sites, and efforts to encourage appreciation of local history.

 

A preservation/restoration nomination should explain why a site is worthy of recognition, and include its street address and the owner's name, address and telephone number. Local history nominations should identify the individual or organization and the noteworthy activity, as well as the nominee's address and phone number. A nomination for either category should also include the name, address and phone number of the person submitting it.

 

Submissions can be mailed to Heritage Awards, Historic Harmony, Box 524, Harmony PA 16037, or e-mailed to hmuseum@zoominternet.net.  Historic Harmony's board of directors chooses award recipients after evaluating nominations.

 

Historic Harmony established the recognition program in 1991.  Of 96 Heritage Awards presented, 83 recognized preservation or restoration projects, most of them in Harmony, Zelienople, and Jackson and Lancaster townships.

 

Special commendations were presented during Historic Harmony's 2009 Harmoniefest to Joan Teichart, Zelienople, for her efforts to conserve area heritage that included preservation of Zelienople's 1805 Buhl House and Strand Theater; and to Patrick J. Boylan, Zelienople, and members of the Dietz family in Florida and California for assuring continuation of the historic Baldinger's Market business.

 

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CONTACT:  Kathy Luek, Administrator
724-452-7341
12/2/2009

 

ELEGANT ANNUAL DINNER BENEFITS HARMONY MUSEUM

 

HARMONY, Pa. --  This month's special Harmony Museum Candlelight Christmas fundraising dinner will be served on Sunday evening, Dec. 13, in Stewart Hall at the museum, 218 Mercer St. in the center of the Harmony National Historic Landmark District.

 

Admission is $25 per person, and prepaid reservations are required by Tuesday, Dec. 8, for an elegant annual repast that always fills the hall. Reservations and more information are available from the museum office, phone 724-452-7341 or e-mail hmuseum@zoominternet.net. Proceeds benefit museum operations.

 

Entree choices are beef Wellington (seasoned filet baked in puff pastry), chicken allouette (breast baked in puff pastry with herbs and cheese) and seafood lasagna (fresh crab, scallops and shrimp in wine béchamel sauce). These are served with potato gratin, sweet potato streusel and green beans in citrus marinade.

 

The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a wine and cheese reception; dinner is served at 5:30. Select desserts prepared from home recipes complete the meal. Beverages will be provided, but guests are welcome to bring their own favorites.

 

The museum, housed in a building 200 years old this year, is open 1-4 p.m. for regular guided tours. A new exhibit describes an 1811 mill on the Connoquenessing Creek whose dam survived until its removal this summer. Exhibit rooms are decorated for Christmas, and the Yobp-Eckstein log house village and toy railroad display is a Christmas season attraction in the adjacent Wagner House museum annex. The Museum Shop as well as Harmony's other specialty shops and art gallery are also open for the afternoon.

 

Harmony is 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles north of Pittsburgh's Point at I-79 exits 87-88. The area's recorded history began more than 250 years ago with George Washington's visit to a Delaware Indian village here during a 1753 diplomatic and military mission that sparked the French and Indian War. Pacifist Lutheran Separatists from southwest Germany founded Harmony in 1804, and their Harmony Society became 19th century America's most successful communal group. After their relocation to Indiana Territory in 1814, resettlement was led by pacifist Mennonites from eastern Pennsylvania. These and many other aspects of a remarkable area history are presented through Harmony Museum exhibits.
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11/23/2009
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341

WASHINGTON'S 1753 MISSION COMMEMORATION SET FOR NOVEMBER 27
"A little snow never stopped George! See you Friday!!"

HARMONY, Pa. --If a walk in the woods sounds like a good plan after a day of Thanksgiving eating, you'll want to join other hikers and history buffs at the Harmony Museum on Friday, Nov. 27, for a scenic hike and "history party" commemorating George Washington's travels through Butler Country in 1753. Washington, then a 21-year-old major in the Virginia militia, traveled through Pennsylvania Indian country to confront the French who were building forts on land claimed by England and the Virginia Colony. The findings of his trip were instrumental in the start of the French and Indian War less than a year later.

The event starts, and ends, with Harmony Museum tours and a hot-apple-cider-and-cookies reception in the museum's Stewart Hall, on the diamond at the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District. Groups of hikers will be taken by bus to a hiking path in Connoquenessing Township that closely follows the Indian path that Washington likely traveled in the winter of 1753. Slippery Rock University history students will serve as history guides on a 45-minute hike through the woods. The shuttle will return hikers to Stewart Hall.

The program is sponsored jointly by the Harmony Museum, The Old Stone House and Washington's Trail 1753.

The reception at Stewart Hall includes area artists and experts with a special interest in Washington's 1753 mission. Carl Robertson, director of Providence Plantation near Evans City, will discuss his research on Washington's fateful journey. Noted artist Deac Mong of Franklin will discuss The First Shot, his painting depicting a "French Indian" firing the French and Indian War's first shot at Washington near today's Evans City that is displayed in the museum; signed prints will be available for purchase from Washington's Trail 1753. The Harmony Museum and Old Stone House will offer their recently republished book on Washington and guide Christopher Gist's mission journals and other items.

Event hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with hike departures scheduled for 11 and 11:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Cost is $5 per person, $12 per family, including the reception, museum tour and shuttle transportation to and from the hike. While walk-ins are welcome, reservations are strongly encouraged to secure a hiking time. The first 100 hikers to reserve a spot will receive a free "Washington's Trail 1753" button. Make reservations by calling the Harmony Museum at 724-452-7341.

The event replaces a Harmony Museum commemoration previously scheduled for Nov. 28.
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CONTACT: John Ruch, Harmony Museum, 724-316-6002
Rod Gasch, Hike Volunteer, 724-290-2129

HARMONY MUSEUM FLEA MARKET

HARMONY, Pa. -- A flea market at Stewart Hall, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3rd, benefits museum operations. Lunch will be available. Table rentals are $12 each or $20 for two. Vendors may set up during the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 2nd. Information and table reservations are available by phoning 724-452-5860

HARMONY MUSEUM OFFERS FALL FEST GERMAN BUFFET

HARMONY, Pa. -- As autumn's coolness and color emerge across Western Pennsylvania, it's time for another Harmony Museum "like Mutter made" German dinners, on Saturday, Oct. 10, in the museum's Stewart Hall at Main and Mercer streets in the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District. As in Octobers past, the reservation-only buffet is presented as part of the Zelienople-Harmony Area Business Association's annual weekend-long Country Fall Festival.

 

This time around the spread includes sauerkraut soup, bratwurst, meatballs with bleu cheese, roasted pork, sauerkraut, German potato salad, spaetzle (German noodles), seasonal salads and vegetables, and an assortment of desserts. Tea and coffee is available for those who don't bring their favorite German beverage.

 

Cost is $15 per person, with proceeds benefiting museum operations. Prepaid reservations for either of two sittings, at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., are required and can be arranged with the museum office at 724-452-7341 --  the museum's dinners are so popular that walk-ins can not be accommodated.

 

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh and 30 miles south of I-80. Its recorded history began with a Delaware Indian village visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission seeking French withdrawal from the region, triggering the French and Indian War. The first shot of the war, which grew into the first global conflict called the Seven Years War, was fired at Washington nearby. 

 

The original Harmonie, founded in late 1804 by German Lutheran Separatists, comprised some 9,000 acres spanning today's town and portions of today's Jackson and Lancaster townships. Their communal Harmony Society, which adopted celibacy while anticipating the imminent return of Christ, soon gained international renown and substantial wealth. The Harmonists departed in 1814 to create a second Harmonie in Indiana Territory, returning a decade later to establish Economie, now Ambridge, where the society was dissolved in 1905. Harmony's resettlement began in 1815 under Mennonites Abraham Ziegler from Eastern Pennsylvania.

 

The Harmony Museum offers guided tours 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. Visitors learn about the Harmonists, Mennonites, the region's 18th century Indians and 19th century pioneer life, the regional boarding school for girls that operated 1817-1826 in what is now the main museum building, classic percussion sporting longrifles by 19th century gunsmith Charles Flowers, oil and gas booms, two centuries of local medical practice, and Harmony's ongoing historic preservation.

 

SUMMER'S FINALLY GOTTEN HOT, BUT HARMONY MUSEUM OFFERS COOL DINNER

HARMONY, Pa. -- August has finally brought hot weather to the area, but you can enjoy another one of those popular Harmony Museum German buffet dinners in air conditioned comfort on Saturday, Aug. 22, in the museum's Stewart Hall at the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District.

 

The spread will include sauerbraten, bratwurst, chicken schnitzel, cucumber salad, tomato salad, German potato salad, spaetzle, red cabbage, green beans and zucchini cakes, plus dinner rolls and a dessert assortment. Tea and coffee will be available for those who don't bring their own favorite German beverage.

 

Cost is $15 per person, with proceeds benefiting museum operations. Prepaid reservations for either of two sittings, at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., are required and can be arranged with the museum office at 724-452-7341 -- walk-ins cannot be accommodated.

 

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh and 30 miles south of I-80. Its recorded history began with a Delaware Indian village visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission seeking French withdrawal from the region that sparked the French & Indian War. The war's first shot was fired at Washington nearby by a "French Indian."

 

The original Harmony, founded in late 1804 by German Lutheran Separatists, comprised some 9,000 acres spanning today's borough as well as major portions of what became Jackson and Lancaster townships. Their communal Harmony Society, which adopted celibacy while anticipating the imminent return of Christ, soon gained international renown and substantial wealth. The Harmonists departed in 1814 to create a new home in Indiana Territory, returning a decade later to establish Economy, now Ambridge, where it was dissolved in 1905. The resettlement of Harmony began in 1815, led by Mennonites from eastern Pennsylvania.

 

The Harmony Museum offers guided tours 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. Visitors learn about the Harmonists, Mennonites, the region's 18th century Indians and 19th century pioneers, a boarding school for girls that operated 1817-1826, the classic percussion sporting longrifles made by 19th century gunsmith Charles Flowers 1850-1897, the area's oil and gas booms, two centuries of local medical practice, and Harmony's award-winning historic preservation successes.

 

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
8/9/2009
 

HARMONY CHRISTMAS DINNER ON FOODIE YOUTUBE

 

HARMONY MUSEUM INVITES PUBLIC TO AUG. 11 WOODLAND INDIANS PROGRAM

HARMONY – Historic Harmony invites the public to attend "Portal to the World of the Eastern Woodland Indians 1750-1813," a presentation by Dr. Stephen Glinsky of Slippery Rock, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, in  the Harmony Museum's Stewart Hall. Admission is free.

 

The program brings history to life with firsthand accounts by Eastern Indians of their impressions of the British, French and settlers from before the French and Indian War to  post-Revolution America and the death of the great Seneca Chief Tecumseh. Glinsky, who encourages audience interaction,  discusses Indian land cessions, George Washington's 1753 mission to western Pennsylvania (then considered part of Virginia while also claimed by France), Christian Frederick Post's work with Delawares and other tribes, capture of Mary Jemison by Indians, murder of Chief Logan's family, 1778 treaty with White Eyes and other Delawares, and Tecumseh.

 

Glinsky illustrates his presentation with two dozen paintings by famed area artist Robert Griffing. Side displays include Griffing books and prints as well as flintlock rifles and pistols, powder horns and other accoutrements. Members of the audience also receive a 10-page booklet. Historic Harmony will serve light refreshments.

 

Glinsky's program and appearance are made possible by a grant from the Venango Center for Creative Development.

 

The Harmony Museum, ranked among the region's top 25 museums, is on the diamond at the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District. The area's recorded history began with an Indian village visited by 21-year-old Washington during his 1753 mission that sparked the French & Indian War. Nearby, the war's first shot was fired at him by a "French Indian." The mission, and the shot that might have radically changed American history had Washington been killed, is the subject of a museum exhibit and a dramatic painting, "The First Shot," displayed there.

 

The communal, celibate Harmony Society of German Lutheran Separatists founded Harmony in 1804. When they moved to southwest Indiana Territory in 1814-1815, area resettlement was led by Mennonites. The Harmonists returned in 1825 to establish their third and final home, Economy (now Ambridge) in Beaver County, where the society was dissolved in 1905 and is commemorated by Old Economy Village.   Harmony became the region's first National Historic Landmark District in 1974.

 

The eight-property Harmony Museum interprets this and more of the area's extraordinarily rich history. It is open 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88,  about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles south of I-80.

 

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7/19/2009
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
 

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HARMONY MUSEUM'S 5TH ANNUAL "REGION-MADE" ANTIQUE GUN SHOW
 

HARMONY, Pa. -- The Harmony Museum presents its 5th annual antique firearms show and sale on Saturday, Aug. 8, in the museum's Stewart Hall on the diamond in the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District.

 

As has been the case with all previous shows, visitors of all ages will learn about 18th and 19th century guns and accoutrements made in the Western Pennsylvania-Eastern Ohio region, and see at least one previously unknown rifle made by outstanding 19th century Harmony gunsmith Charles Flowers. Historic Harmony invites visitors to bring items from their own collections to learn more about them from exhibitors.

 

Show hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m., admission is $5 per person, and lunch and refreshments will be available. Proceeds benefit museum operations. Harmony's specialty shops and art gallery are added attractions.

 

Collectors from Western Pennsylvania and Ohio will exhibit mostly non-cartridge firearms made before 1898. Many of the longrifles displayed were made for hunting and target competitions, although others will have military or other significant histories. A number of guns displayed will be rare and important examples not often seen by the public. Many, especially fine flintlock and percussion longrifles made in the classic design that originated in Pennsylvania (sometimes called Kentucky) by the region's gunsmiths, are sought today as works of art.

 

Among dozens of exhibits will be custom-built percussion hunting or target longrifles made in Harmony by Flowers during the second half of the 19th century. The former coal miner and Civil War veteran became a gunsmith ca. 1850, and continued in the trade until his death in 1897. A number of previously unknown Charles Flowers rifles have appeared at each of the museum's past shows, and the Aug. 8 edition will be no exception. A particularly unusual example, returned to Harmony from Atlanta via Tennessee, will be among at least 10 Flowers rifles on display.

 

For an additional fee, guided tours of the Harmony Museum will be offered 10 a.m.-4 p.m., affording an opportunity to view its outstanding Ball Collection of 10 longrifles that spans Flowers' career.

 

Also displayed will be a rare, crudely repaired rifle by Charles Chaney, briefly -- ca. 1836-1840 -- a gunsmith in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County, and then Birmingham, now Pittsburgh's South Side. Believed to have apprenticed with the exceptional gunsmith Thomas Allison at Lovi, west of Butler County's Cranberry Township, Chaney moved his family to Blair County in 1840 and pursued a career as an engineer.

 

Additional information about the antique firearms show and exhibitor registration can be obtained from the Harmony Museum at 724-452-7341.

 

Harmony has attracted cultural tourism for 200 years. The area's recorded history began with an Indian village visited by 21-year-old Virginia Maj. George Washington during his 1753 mission to the region that sparked the French & Indian War. Nearby, the war's first shot, fired with a flintlock musket from less than 50 feet by a "French Indian," missed Washington. The mission, and the shot that might have radically changed American history had Washington been killed, is the subject of a museum exhibit and a dramatic painting, "The First Shot," on temporary loan to the museum.

 

The communal, celibate Harmony Society of German Lutheran Separatists founded Harmony in 1804. When they moved to southwest Indiana Territory in 1814-1815, the area's resettlement was led by Mennonites from eastern Pennsylvania. The Harmonists returned in 1825 to establish their third and final home, Economy (now Ambridge) in Beaver County, where the society was dissolved in 1905 and is commemorated at Old Economy Village.   Harmony became the region's first National Historic Landmark District in 1974.

 

Ranked among the Pittsburgh area's top 25 museums, the eight-property Harmony Museum interprets the area's extraordinarily rich history. It is open 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88,  about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles south of I-80.
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[Editors: Digital photo of a Flowers rifle in the museum's Ball Collection is available.]
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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341

 

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HARMONY MUSEUM SEEKS DONATIONS FOR HISTORIC MENNONITE CEMETERY CARE

HARMONY, Pa. -- Historic Harmony, the volunteer historical society and preservation advocate that operates the eight-property Harmony Museum, has launched a special fundraising campaign to support ongoing care of the cemetery at the Harmony Mennonite meetinghouse.

 

The organization hopes descendants of Harmony's 19th century Mennonites will be especially interested in assisting maintenance of the cemetery grounds and its grave markers. The campaign was suggested by a Westmoreland County resident, a descendant of local Mennonites and the drive's first contributor.

 

Harmony was founded in 1804 by German Lutheran Separatists. When they moved to Indiana, their 9,000 acres were purchased in 1815 by Abraham Ziegler of Lehigh County. His and other Mennonite families -- including Boyer, Moyer, Rice, Schontz, Stauffer, and Weisz/Wise --  resettled the area. They established a burial ground that year immediately north of Harmony, and in 1825 erected the meetinghouse, the oldest Mennonite church west of the Allegheny Mountains. Among those buried there are Ziegler, Harmony's "second founder," many members of his and other Mennonite families, and three of the congregation's bishops, John Boyer, Abraham Tinstman and Joseph Ziegler, Abraham's youngest son. Others interred there are veterans of the War of 1812 and Civil War, including gunsmith Charles Flowers.

 

The cemetery contains about 600 graves. Most date from the 19th century, although a number of burials occurred in the first third of the 20th century and its most recent was in 1955. The oldest marked grave is that of Solomon Funk, who died in September 1815.

 

The stone and brick meetinghouse was closed in 1902, its congregation by then in serious decline. Care of the site was later assumed by the Mennonite Memorial Church & Cemetery Association, a descendants group that ceased to exist after giving the property to Historic Harmony in 1977.

 

"While there's been no local congregation for more than a century, many people throughout Butler County, northern Beaver County and far beyond the area count Harmony Mennonites among their ancestors," said Historic Harmony President John S. Ruch. "We hope they, and of course anyone who is interested in preserving this important historical site, will help us build a fund to assure continued proper care for this historic cemetery. It is the most difficult of our protected properties to maintain, and unfortunately we've never had the benefit of a dedicated fund for its maintenance."

 

Ruch noted that donations by local descendants in the 1990s paid for repair or replacement of markers on ancestors' graves, but many other markers remain in need of repair. In addition, Historic Harmony has done extensive meetinghouse restoration and maintenance, and continues to do so.

 

Contributions can be sent to Historic Harmony, Box 524, Harmony, PA 16037, with a notation they are for the Mennonite Cemetery Fund.

 

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
 

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HARMONY MUSEUM'S DISPLAYS PAINTING DEPICTING WAR'S FIRST SHOT

HARMONY, Pa. -- "The First Shot," Deac Mong's painting depicting a "French Indian" firing the first shot of the French and Indian War at young Virginia Maj. George Washington near Harmony in 1753, has been placed on display at the Harmony Museum.

 

The historically important but little-known incident occurred near today's Harmony and might well have changed American history dramatically had its outcome been different -- the musket ball missed Washington. The five-foot by four-foot painting is on loan to the Harmony Museum after being displayed at the Ft. Pitt Museum in Pittsburgh.

 

Martin J. O'Brien, chair of  the nonprofit organization Washington's Trail - 1753 that commemorates Washington's mid-18th century mission and a retired Butler County Common Pleas Court judge, commissioned the work. Unveiled in April 2008 at Pittsburgh's Sen. John Heinz History Center, the painting has also been displayed at Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Fayette County. Its Harmony appearance marks the first opportunity for the general public to see it in Butler County, where the shooting occurred nearly 256 years ago.

 

Washington, then only 21 and with no military experience, came to the region from Williamsburg, Va., late in 1753 bearing Lt. Gov. Robert Dinwiddie's ultimatum that the French withdraw from what  Britain considered part of Virginia. When he delivered the document at Fort LeBoeuf (Waterford, Erie County), the response was a counter-demand that the British stay out of New France. The mission itself essentially assured war between Britain and France.

 

As Washington traveled to Fort LeBeouf his party spent the night of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 1753 at Murdering Town, a Lenni Lenapi (Delaware) village across the Connoquenessing Creek from where Harmony would be established 51 years later. Returning unaccompanied on Dec. 27, on foot in harsh winter weather, Washington and guide Christopher Gist encountered an Indian whom Gist recalled having seen at the French Fort Venango (Franklin). The native offered to show them the fastest route south to the Forks of the Ohio, but instead led them several miles to the northeast, then without warning fired at Washington. He was allowed to flee and Washington and Gist resumed their southward trek.

 

Area historians consider this the first shot of the French and Indian War, and many believe North American history would have unfolded much differently had the young Washington died in that remote Western Pennsylvania clearing. A few months later French forces drove off Virginians building a stockade at the Forks of the Ohio and constructed Ft. Duquesne there. After soldiers and Indians led by now Lt. Col. Washington ambushed a small French party at Great Meadows (near Uniontown), French troops secured Washington's surrender on July 4, 1754, at Ft. Necessity, and the French and Indian War, which expanded into the first global conflict, the Seven Years War, was under way.

 

The Harmony Museum was the region's first museum to install an exhibit interpreting Washington's 1753 mission and the start of the French and Indian War. 

 

Harmony, one of southwest Pennsylvania's most significant historic places, was founded in 1804 by pacifist German Lutheran Separatists. Their celibate Harmony Society became 19th century America's most successful communal group, and Harmony has been a heritage tourism destination for more than 200 years. In 1814 the nearly 900 Harmonists began relocating to Indiana Territory, and Mennonite Abraham Ziegler from eastern Pennsylvania bought all society holdings except its cemetery. The Harmonists returned in 1824 to settle their third and final home only 22 miles southwest of Harmony, now commemorated as Old Economy Village in Ambridge. The commune was dissolved in 1905.

 

During the second half of the 19th century, Harmony's Charles Flowers made fine percussion hunting and target longrifles, now considered works of art as well as historic firearms. Oil and natural gas booms emerged in the area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

 

Ranked among the region's top 25 museums, the eight-property Harmony Museum presents these and other elements of rich area history. It is open 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays.

 

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
6/24/2009

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HARMONY BUSINESS ASSN. PRESENTS SIX SUMMER EVENTS

HARMONY -- The Harmony Business Association invites the public to enjoy six music events this summer, with three Thursday concerts in the diamond at the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District as well as three more intimate Saturday acoustic performances in the Harmony Museum garden. 

 

The diamond will be closed to vehicle traffic for the free 7:30 p.m. concerts by Eugene and the Nightcrawlers on July 2, Zelienoople-Harmony Community Jazz Band on Aug. 6 and The Right Rhythm Band on Sept. 3. HBA suggests concert-goers bring lawn chairs. Refreshments will be available.

 

McPharlin's Music Studio will provide the music on three Saturdays during the summer, June 27, July 25 and Aug. 29, when old fashioned European style pizza will be available 3-7 p.m. Fresh from the Harmony Museum's wood-fired beehive oven.

 

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CONTACT: Harmony Museum Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
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HARMONY MUSEUM INVITES PUBLIC TO MAY 12 OPEN HOUSE

HARMONY – Historic Harmony invites the public to an open house 6:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, to learn more about the organization, its Harmony Museum, and activities for those of all ages seeking volunteer activities important to the community and region. Light refreshments will include  goodies fresh from the first-ever bake with the museum’s recently restored 19th century beehive oven.

HH relies on volunteers with diverse personal interests who are committed to assuring ongoing success of the organization’s work. “Many people during the past 66 years have made it possible for the historical society to preserve Harmony’s history and historic sites and interpret them for visitors from across the country and around the world,” said President John Ruch.

The open house is an opportunity for people less familiar with Historic Harmony to get to better know the community as well as the organization and its active volunteers.

“Whatever an individual’s interest, we can benefit from their involvement,” Ruch said. “Whether a longtime or brand new member, or someone who is just curious about what Historic Harmony is about, all are welcome. Folks of all ages and talents keep the museum functioning with ever-improving quality and professionalism that has brought Historic Harmony so far while garnering a deserved reputation as the region’s most active historical society and preservation advocate.”

The Harmony Museum is the only Butler County institution among the region’s top 25 museums in an annual ranking compiled by the Pittsburgh Business Times. More information is available from Historic Harmony at 724-452-7341.

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4/26/2009
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341

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HARMONY MUSEUM WELCOMES SPRING WITH GERMAN BUFFET

HARMONY, Pa. -- The Harmony Museum welcomes the spring season with the first of its popular German buffet dinners for 2009, presented on Saturday, April 18, in Stewart Hall adjacent to the museum at the center of Harmony's National Historic Landmark District.

The buffet will be laden with stuffed pork, meatballs in caper sauce, assorted sausages, dandelion salad, asparagus, glazed carrots, German potato salad, spaetzle, red cabbage, potatoes, applesauce, and a dessert assortment. Tea and coffee will be available for those who don't bring their own favorite German beverage.

Cost is $15 per person, and all proceeds benefit the museum. For required prepaid reservations for either of two sittings, at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., contact the museum office at 724-452-7341. The dinners have become so popular that the museum can no longer accommodate walk-ins.

Harmony, a heritage tourism attraction for 200 years, is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh and 30 miles south of I-80. Its recorded history began with a Delaware Indian village visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission seeking French withdrawal from the region that sparked the French & Indian War. The war’s first shot was fired at Washington nearby by a "French Indian."

The original Harmony, founded in late 1804 by German Lutheran Separatists, comprised some 9,000 acres spanning today's borough as well as major portions of what became Jackson and Lancaster townships. Their communal Harmony Society, which adopted celibacy while anticipating the imminent return of Christ, soon gained international renown and substantial wealth. The Harmonists departed in 1814 to create a new home in Indiana Territory, returning a decade later to establish Economy, now Ambridge, where it was dissolved in 1905. The resettlement of Harmony began in 1815, led by Mennonites from eastern Pennsylvania.

Harmony Museum visitors learn about these nationally significant aspects of area history, as well as of the region’s Native Americans and pioneer life, the boarding school attended by daughters of affluent southwest Pennsylvania families that operated 1817-1826, classic hunting and target rifles made by local master gunsmith Charles Flowers 1850-1897, oil and gas booms in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the practices of local physicians, and Harmony's award-winning historic preservation successes. Guided museum tours are available 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays.

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
3-15-2009
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BUY THE BOYER HOUSE

HARMONY, Pa. -- The anticipated sale near year-end of the cut stone house built in 1816 by John Boyer, first bishop of Harmony's 19th century Mennonite congregation, did not occur, so HH has listed the property for $119,900. We believe original chestnut floors are hidden by the carpeting. The original spring house is in the hillside just outside the back door. We've installed a high-efficiency forced air furnace and a hot water tank will be installed shortly. The property is zoned residential and in the Seneca Valley School District, with downtown Pittsburgh 35 minutes away. The house is serviced by a well but public water is available; it is on public sewerage. The full basement has a concrete floor, and the spacious attic could become additional living area. A preservation easement will protect the house facade and spring house. View the listing at www.northwood.com/759349 ; contact Pat Murray, 724-452-1400, or the HH office, 724-452-7341.

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HARMONY SOCIETY MUSIC & SONGS TO BE PERFORMED AT HARMONIEFEST

HARMONY, Pa. -- A concert of 19th century music will be performed by the 1830 Old Economy Orchestra and Old Economy Singers during Historic Harmony's 42nd Harmoniefest on Valentine's Day, Saturday, Feb. 14. The annual dinner and historical program fundraiser benefits Harmony Museum operations and is held in the museum's Stewart Hall at Main and Mercer streets.

Harmoniefest begins with a 6 p.m. reception. Dinner entree choices are crab fettucine in wine sauce, stuffed roasted pork tenderloin and, for vegetarians, fresh pasta with vegetables and cheese. Admission is $25 per person. Reservations are required, and must be received with advance payment by Friday, Feb. 6. Information and reservations can be obtained from the Harmony Museum office, phone 724-452-7341 or e-mail hmuseum@zoominternet.net.

The orchestra's professional musicians, playing instruments identical to those of the early 1800s, and the vocalists appear in authentic 19th century Harmonist costume. Volunteers, they perform period music that includes works written or commissioned by the communal Harmony Society of German Lutheran immigrants who settled Harmony in 1804 and Economy, now Ambridge, in 1824.

A portion of the program's proceeds will be donated by Historic Harmony, the volunteer historical society and preservation advocate that operates the museum, to the music program of Old Economy Village. The Ambridge historic site commemorates the Harmony Society's final home and is operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Historic Harmony will also recognize contributions to the preservation of area heritage, as well as its own volunteers for support of museum activities.

Special Heritage Commendation Awards will be presented to Joan Teichart, whose efforts to conserve area heritage have included preservation of Zelienople's 1805 Buhl House and the Strand Theater; Patrick J. Boylan, for assuring continuation of the historic Baldinger's Market by buying and relocating the business; and the Dietz Family, which also chose to assure Baldinger's continuation by encouraging Boylan's purchase rather than closing and liquidating the business.

Harmony was founded in 1804 by pacifist German Lutheran Separatists, led by Johann George Rapp, who left the Stuttgart area to escape militarism and enjoy freedom of religion without state interference. They organized as the communal Harmony Society in February 1805, an event celebrated with an annual feast they called Harmoniefest. Their first American home, which eventually had a population of nearly 900, encompassed the town and much of what became Jackson and Lancaster townships. The celibate Harmonists, who believed Christ's return to be imminent, relocated to southwestern Indiana Territory in 1814. They returned 10 years later to settle Economy along the Ohio River only 22 miles from Harmony. The most successful communal group of 19th century America, which was dissolved in 1905, is commemorated at Ambridge by Old Economy Village, the historic site operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Historic Harmony’s version of Harmoniefest celebrates not just the foundings of Harmony and the Harmony Society, but all of more than 250 years of extraordinary area history that began with Native Americans. George Washington, then only 21, visited local Delaware Indians during his 1753 mission demanding the French withdraw from the region, sparking the French & Indian War. The war's first shot was fired at Washington a few miles from Harmony by a "French Indian."

Harmony and Old Economy Village are recognized as among western Pennsylvania’s most significant historic sites. Harmony's National Historic Landmark District comprises the town center and nearby Harmony Society cemetery. When "second founder" Abraham Ziegler bought the Harmony Society’s holdings in 1815, his and other Mennonite families led the area's resettlement. Other highlights of the area's history include troops camping at Harmony on their way to support Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet and protect Erie from British invasion during the War of 1812, songwriter Stephen Foster's brief residency as a youngster, production of fine classic Pennsylvania percussion longrifles by gunsmith Charles Flowers during the second half of the 19th century, and the area's involvement in Butler County's oil and gas booms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
1/25/09

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HARMONY MUSEUM FLEA MARKET

HARMONY, Pa. -- A flea market at Stewart Hall, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, benefits museum operations. Lunch will be available. Table rentals are $12 each or $20 for two. Vendors may set up during the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 6. Information and table reservations are available by phoning 724-452-5860.

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HARMONY MUSEUM PRESENTS ANNUAL GERMAN STYLE CHRISTMAS MARKET

HARMONY, Pa. -- Historic Harmony's WeihnachtMarkt (Christmas Market) during the Nov. 15-16 weekend promises a memorable holiday experience with unique shopping as well as entertainment and foods, all reflecting the historic community's German heritage. Self-guided museum tours are part of the event, with rooms decorated in early 19th century tradition.

The festive atmosphere of the market grounds is much like that of WeihnachtMarkts so popular throughout Germany, with many individual shops, a large entertainment tent, and food and refreshment stations. There's more shopping in the adjacent Stewart Hall, Butler County's two wineries will offer tastings and sales in the museum building's 199-year-old wine cellar, weavers will occupy a nearby log house museum annex and craft activities for children will be offered in another. The museum's Christmas market also launches the holiday season for its own gift shop as well as Harmony's other specialty shops.
Outstanding artisans from throughout the region, many demonstrating their crafts, offer quality goods as diverse as silver jewelry, tin ware, iron goods, treen (wood ware), folk Santas, hand-carved Santas, folk art, paintings and drawings, dolls, jewelry, pottery, Shaker wood boxes, cuckoo clocks, beeswax candles and ornaments, marbleized paper, birdhouses, quilts, woven goods, stained glass, art glass, furniture, ornaments, greeting cards, soaps, Christmas cookies and gingerbread. In addition, Little Germany of Berks County, Pa., a longtime WeihnachtMarkt participant, offers a large selection of authentic German items including toys, ornaments and lights, nutcrackers, smokers (carved wood figures in which incense is burned), steins, recorded music, cook books, foods and chocolates.

Children will encounter Father Christmas in the market village and can take part in craft activities at the Ziegler log house. The entire family will be entertained by German songs and dances of Pittsburgh's Teutonia Mannerchor and performances of dulcimer players, fiddlers and other musicians. A horse-drawn wagon is a fun ride through the heart of the historic district, and visitors are invited to join in singing Christmas carols when an outdoor Christmas tree is lighted early Saturday evening. A home made gingerbread house will be given away through a raffle.

Harmony Museum exhibits interpret the area's extraordinary history, which began with a Delaware Indian village visited by a young George Washington in 1753 and includes Harmony's 1804 founding by German Separatists, fine hunting rifles made by Charles Flowers from about 1850 through the 1890s, oil and gas booms, and physicians who have served the area during the past 200 years. Walking tours of Western Pennsylvania's first National Historic Landmark District are an opportunity to learn even more about 250 years of local history and landmark sites.

Traditional German foods and refreshments will be available, including soup, bratwurst and sauerbraten sandwiches, potato pancakes, German potato salad, home baked pie, the museum’s signature Harmony Society ginger cookies, home made root beer and mulled cider.

The market will be presented 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students and free for children younger than six. A special rate for large groups is available by advance arrangement. Admission includes all-day access to the market, museum, entertainment and wagon rides. The Landmark District walking tour, at 3 p.m. both days, is an additional $5 per person but free for youngsters 16 and under. All proceeds benefit nonprofit Historic Harmony and its eight Harmony Museum properties.

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 30 miles north of Pittsburgh’s Point and 30 miles south of I-80. Its recorded history began with Murdering Town, an Indian village visited by Virginia Maj. George Washington during his 1753 mission demanding the French leave the region, thus sparking the French & Indian War. Pacifist German Lutheran Separatists, fleeing European militarism and a state church they considered corrupt, settled Harmony in 1804 and organized as the communal Harmony Society. The Harmonists left for Indiana Territory in 1814. Resettlement was led by Mennonites from eastern Pennsylvania, also pacifists, whose congregation faded away at the beginning of the 20th century, although many of their descendants remain in the area.

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10/16/2008
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator
724-452-7341 or hmuseum@zoominternet.net
 

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ALAN & DOROTHY BALDINGER ESTATE FUNDRAISER AUCTION

The Alan & Dorothy Baldinger Estate Antiques Auction will be held as a fundraiser at the Harmony Museum Barn, Mercer St., Harmony, Pa 16037 on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. Preview day of sale at 9:00 a.m. Website has photos, www.jsdillauctions.com .

This will be an exciting auction of furnishings and objects from the Alan & Dorothy Baldinger Estate, as well as other sources. The auction also affords the HH the opportunity to accept donations of quality antiques and collectibles from members and friends, and to dispose of several unused and unneeded items from HH's "attic" -- NOT, of course, museum collection artifacts. Call Kathy Leuk at the office, 724-452-7341, to donate items to the sale.

J.S. Dill Auctions is donating its services for this benefit. See its web site for photos of some of the sale items, www.jsdillauctions.com . All proceeds benefit the Harmony Museum - auction being conducted as the result of the Baldinger Families' donation of quality heirlooms to the Museum. The Baldingers were an old-line banking family most locally-noted for their store ... Baldinger's Foods From All Nations, located on Route 19 South of Zelienople.

Note: a 10% Buyer's premium applies to all purchases. VISA/Mastercard and Discover will be accepted. Checks require two forms of ID. Auction conducted at the Harmony Museum Barn with off-street parking available. Removal encouraged on the day of sale. Auction services donated by Jack S. Dill, J.S. Dill Auctions, Inc. For more information, please call 724-452-5082.

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IMPORTANT BUSINESS MEETING FOR HARMONY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

Members and friends are urged to be at Stewart Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, for an historical presentation and important business meeting. Approval will be sought to sell the Bishop Boyer House, and a slate of officer and director candidates will be presented.

The departure of Boyer House tenants in early August presented HH with three options: rehabilitation ($20,000-$25,000) as a rental; restoration ($40,000-$50,000) as museum annex; protection with preservation easement and sale, generating funds to assure maintenance and restoration of of HH's other properties. The board determined the third option to be the best solution for HH, working with Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation to preserve the Boyer House with an easement while eliminating the many financial and other liabilities it represents for HH. This also supports the late Lillian Frankenstein's preservation objective in donating the house to HH in 2003, unfortunately without an endowment for maintenance and restoration.

Pursuant to HH's bylaws, the board recommends members approve the sale with an easement to be held in perpetuity by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF). In addition, the board recommends members assure similar protection for HH's other properties by assigning a preservation easement on each to PHLF. Full details will be presented at Sept. 9 meeting.

In addition, the nominating committee will present candidates for HH officers, (president, vice president, recording secretary and treasurer) and the two other director terms that expire at year's end.

The public is also welcome for Violet Covert's "Reflections" program, in which she interprets Sally Hastings' journal about her pioneer family's journey in 1800 from Lancaster to Washington County. Covert's novel, "Reflections from a Grass Widow", was self published in April and can be purchased at the program. The novel is based on the Hastings family's experience, but Covert also included the complete text of Hasting's original journal, "A Tour to the West 1800", its first reprinting in more than 200 years. Hastings, who died in 1812, was 27 when she wrote the journal for her mother.

Covert spoke at the Harmony Museum in 2006 after publishing "Map of Butler County, 1858". That unique book connected an important map with county history and information on townships, school districts and historical sites to create a travel and research guide useful to the general public. This book is available for sale at the Harmony Museum Shop.

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FAMILY'S 1800 JOURNEY ACROSS STATE DISCUSSED AT HARMONY MUSEUM

HARMONY, Pa. -- The public is invited to a presentation at the Harmony Museum on Tuesday, Sept. 9, by Violet Covert in which she interprets the 1800 journal of Sally Hastings describing her pioneer family's journey from Lancaster across the Allegheny Mountains to settle in Washington County.

Admission is free. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in the museum's Stewart Hall, Main and Mercer streets in Harmony's National Historic Landmark District.

Covert's "Reflections from a Grass Widow" is a novel based on the Hastings family's experience. But she also included in the book the complete text of Hastings' journal, "A Tour to the West 1800" -- its first reprinting in more than 200 years. Hastings, who died in 1812, was 27 when she wrote the journal for her mother.

Self-published in April with Chicora's Mechling Bookbindery, the book can be purchased at the program.

Covert also spoke at the Harmony Museum in 2006 after publication of her "Map of Butler County, 1858." That unique book connected the important 150-year-old map with county history and information on townships, school districts and historical sites to create a county research and travel guide.
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DINE AS IN GERMANY AT HARMONY MUSEUM: MUCH SHORTER TRIP, AND VERY MODEST COST

HARMONY, Pa. -- Harmony is commonly compared with typical rural southwestern Germany villages. The comparison becomes even stronger when the Harmony Museum serves up one of its very popular German dinners, as it does again on Saturday, Aug. 16.

Excellent food reasonably priced is reason enough to be there. But also important these days -- an easy car hop burning little gasoline, an air conditioned respite from August's heat, plus other things for the family to do before or after dinner. No wonder seating at these occasional feasts always sells out quickly.

The menu this time: beef rouladen, assorted sausages, chicken cordon bleu, sauerkraut, spaetzle (German pasta), German potato salad, red cabbage, garden vegetables, cucumber and tomato basil salads, assorted breads and rolls, and homemade desserts. Iced tea and coffee are offered for those who don't bring their favorite German beverage.

Reservations are required for buffet seatings at 4:30 and 6:15 p.m., and can be obtained through the museum office by phoning 724-452-7341 or toll-free 888-821-4822. Cost is $15 per person, with proceeds benefiting museum operations.

Folks interested in regional history will want to tour Harmony's National Historic Landmark District and the museum (open 1-4 p.m.) to learn more about a truly rich heritage spanning 250 years: Delaware Indians, Murdering Town and George Washington, pacifist German Lutheran Separatists who founded Harmony in 1804 and formed 19th century America's most successful communal group, pacifist Mennonites who led area resettlement from 1815 after the Harmony Society moved away, fine percussion rifles made in Harmony 1850-1897 by ex-coal miner Charles Flowers, and much more. Families are also encouraged to visit Harmony's specialty shops while discovering why this picturesque town, honored for its ongoing historic preservation success, has been a cultural tourism destination for two centuries.

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles north of Pittsburgh’s Point.

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
7/27/08
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HARMONY MUSEUM'S 4TH ANNUAL "REGION-MADE" ANTIQUE GUN SHOW

HARMONY, Pa. -- The Harmony Museum presents its 4th annual antique firearms show and sale on Saturday, Aug. 9. As with previous shows, visitors will find an emphasis on 18th and 19th century guns and accoutrements made in the Western Pennsylvania-Eastern Ohio region.

The event's founding chair is Richard Rosenberger, an authority on antique firearms who co-authored "The Longrifles of Western Pennsylvania - Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties." Admission to the 9 a.m.-4 p.m. show is $5. Visitors are welcome to bring items from their own collections to learn more about them and obtain informal values from exhibitors. Lunch and refreshments will be available. The museum shop and Harmony’s other specialty shops are added attractions for gun show visitors.

Pennsylvania and Ohio collectors will exhibit mostly non-cartridge firearms made before 1898 in the museum's Stewart Hall in Harmony's National Historic Landmark District. Many were used to hunt game and for target competition, although some will have military histories linked to the French & Indian War, American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War and other conflicts. Many guns on display are rare and historically important, and those representing exceptional craftsmanship are also considered works of art in metal and wood.

Exhibits are expected to include more than a dozen custom-built percussion hunting or target longrifles made ca. 1850 to 1897 by Harmony gunsmith Charles Flowers. Previously unknown Flowers rifles have also turned up at each of the museum's past shows, owned by Butler County residents who brought the family heirlooms to be examined by show experts. Hourly Harmony Museum guided tours will be available 10 a.m.-4 p.m. for an additional fee, where visitors can see the museum's outstanding Ball Collection of Flowers longrifles.

Additional information about the antique firearms show and exhibitor registration can be obtained from the Harmony Museum office, 724-452-7341 or, toll-free, 888-821-4822.

Harmony, which has attracted cultural tourism for 200 years, is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles south of I-80. The area’s recorded history began with an Indian village visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission to the region that sparked the French & Indian War. Nearby, the war's first shot, fired from only about 40 feet away by a "French Indian," missed Washington. The communal Harmony Society of German Lutheran Separatists founded Harmony in 1804, but the Germans moved away in 1814 and the area was soon resettled by Mennonites. Harmony became the region's first National Historic Landmark District in 1974.

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CONTACT: Administrator Kathy Luek, 724-452-7341
7/20/2008
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HISTORIC HARMONY SPONSORS ALLEGHENY BRASS BAND CONCERT

HARMONY -- Historic Harmony, which operates the Harmony Museum, will sponsor the Allegheny Brass Band concert celebrating U.S. Independence at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 3.

Always the most popular of Harmony's free summer concerts, it will be performed in front of the Harmony Inn and conclude with Zambelli Fireworks, sponsored this year by the Inn, Kenny Ross Chevrolet-Buick and Swimming Pool Discounters.

The Allegheny Brass Band concert is the second of the 2008 series, originated in 1996 by Harmony Business Association and now co-presented by the borough. Several of Harmony's specialty shops, including the Museum Gift Shop, will be open during the concert.

Remaining concerts, all at 7:30 p.m.: July 17, Highway 18 (rockabilly); July 31, 706 Union (honkytonk/western swing); and Aug. 14, Kardaz (classic '50s-'60s-'70s).

Harmony is just off Pa. 68 near I-79 exits 87-88. Its recorded history began with an Indian village visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission to demand French withdrawal from the region, sparking the French & Indian War. Pacifist German Lutheran Separatists began to settle Harmony in 1804 and organized as what became the internationally famous communal Harmony Society. After they went to Indiana Territory in 1814, Harmony's resettlement was led by pacifist Mennonites whose congregation faded away as the 20th century began.
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6/26/2008
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator
724-452-7341 or hmuseum@zoominternet.net
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ANNUAL HARMONY MUSEUM HERB & GARDEN FAIR JUNE 14

HARMONY, Pa. -- The Harmony Museum’s annual Herb & Garden Fair, offering an opportunity to exchange as well as purchase plants, will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, at the museum's historic barn annex on Mercer Road just north of the Connoquenessing Creek. Admission is free.

Gardeners may trade potted plants as specialty vendors offer roses and other ornamentals, herbs and garden art. Seminars will take place throughout the day.

Plant donors and exchangers who bring plants to the event receive exchange vouchers. Museum volunteers recommend that plants be potted well ahead of time to assure they have a fresh, vigorous appearance when displayed at the fair.

A homemade lunch will be available, including quiches and basil tomato salad seasoned with herbs from the museum's garden. Visitors may also want to walk Harmony's 3/4-mile trail along the Connoquenessing, linking the 1805 barn with the museum's 1825 Harmony Mennonite meetinghouse, to look for birds and other wildlife.

Visitors are also encouraged to enjoy a few-blocks walk into Harmony's shopping and museum area. Back yard garden plantings at the museum's Wagner House annex on Mercer Street, in Harmony's National Historic Landmark District, include herbs as well as rare and unusual roses. A large arbor supports productive grape vines imported more than 150 years ago from Germany. The Museum Gift Shop there, and Harmony’s other specialty shops, also welcome browsers seeking the unusual and hard-to-find.

Guided tours of three Harmony Museum buildings, including a mid-1800s log house, are available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is charged.

Harmony is one of the region’s most significant historic places. In the mid-1700s it was the site of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Murdering Town, visited by young Virginia Maj. George Washington during his 1753 mission to demand French withdrawal from the region, sparking the French & Indian War. A "French Indian" fired the war’s first shot at Washington nearby -- and missed.

The Harmony founded in 1804 by pacifist German Lutheran Separatists spanned some 7,000 acres of what is now Harmony Borough and Jackson and Lancaster townships. Their Harmony Society became 19th century America’s most successful communal group. A heritage tourism site for 200 years and Western Pennsylvania's first National Historic Landmark District, Harmony reflects an architectural character much like that of the southwest Germany hometowns of its founders.

In 1814 the Harmonists moved to Indiana Territory, and Mennonite Abraham Ziegler bought the society’s town and surrounding land. The Harmony Society returned in 1824 to settle 22 miles southwest of Harmony, and disbanded in 1905. Its final home is commemorated at Old Economy Village in Ambridge.

During the second half of the 19th century, Harmony’s Charles Flowers made fine hunting and target rifles, now collected as works of art as well as firearms. Oil and gas booms benefited the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Harmony Museum exhibits present these and other elements of the area’s remarkably rich history. It is open 1-4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. Harmony is at I-79 exits 87 and 88, about 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh, 10 miles north of Pennsylvania Turnpike exit 28, and 30 miles south of I-80.
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CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
5/19/08
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KNOECHEL RETURNS TO HARMONY MUSEUM WITH POPULAR QUILT IN A DAY PROGRAM

HARMONY, Pa. -- Zelienople native Patricia Knoechel brings her annual Quilt in a Day program to the Harmony Museum's Stewart Hall at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 27.

This year's two-hour presentation is "Victory Quilts and Eleanor Burns' Signature Patterns." It will be based on the newest publications by Knoechel and her sister, Quilt in a Day founder and internationally popular television quilter Eleanor Burns, who now reside in California. Quilts will be displayed, and Quilt in a Day books and supplies may be purchased.

Admission is $6, will all proceeds benefiting museum operations. Reservations and advance ticket purchases are recommended because Knoechel's Harmony Museum appearances always fill Stewart Hall. Reservations may be made through the museum office at 724-452-7341 or toll-free 888-821-4822, or by e-mail at hmuseum@zoominternet.net. Tickets may be purchased at the Museum Shop in the museum's Wagner House annex, 222 Mercer Street.

The Museum is open for guided tours following the program.

Harmony, the region's first National Historic Landmark District, is among Western Pennsylvania’s most significant historic places. In the mid-1700s it was the site of the Leni Lenape (Delaware) Murdering Town visited by George Washington during his 1753 mission seeking French withdrawal from the region, sparking the French & Indian War. A "French Indian" fired the war’s first shot at Washington nearby. Pacifist German Lutheran Separatists founded Harmony in 1804, their Harmony Society becoming 19th century America’s most successful communal group. Mennonite Abraham Ziegler bought the society's town and surrounding land in 1815.

Museum exhibits present these and other elements of the area's extraordinary history, and the architectural character of the town remains largely reminiscent of a village in Germany.

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh, 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and 30 miles south of I-80.

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5/8/2008
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341

NOTE: Knoechel is pronounced nay-gehl
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"THE INVISIBLE SEX" AUTHOR TO SPEAK, SIGN BOOKS AT HARMONY MUSEUM PROGRAM

HARMONY, Pa. -- James M. Adovasio, founding director of Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute at Erie's Mercyhurst College and co-author of the book The Invisible Sex, will speak at the Harmony Museum's Stewart Hall on Saturday evening, May 3.

Admission is free for Adovasio's illustrated presentation, which begins at 7 p.m. He will discuss his newest book that unveils the important but previously ignored roles and contributions of women as the human race developed throughout the Stone Age. He will also sign copies of The Invisible Sex, published by Smithsonian Books, which will be available for purchase ($29 including tax). A wine and cheese reception follows the program.

Shaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, the public's typical image of human activity in the Paleolithic period is of fur-clad men attacking mammoths while women remain in hiding. More recent research -- by Adovasio, Invisible Sex co-author and University of Illinois anthropology professor Olga Soffer and others -- demonstrates a much different reality.

Adovasio and Soffer, among the world's leading experts on perishable artifacts such as basketry, cordage and weaving, present an exciting new look at prehistory in The Invisible Sex. They argue that women had a central role in development of language and social life, and invented such critical materials as clothing necessary to life in cold climates, rope for rafts that enabled water travel, and nets for communal hunting. The authors also note that it is unlikely anyone ever hunted mammoths, and that "Lucy," the hominid whose 3.3 million year old fossilized remains were found in 1974 in Ethiopia and whose name was suggested by a Beatles song, could well have been a man. The vision they present about women in prehistory offers provocative implications for gender assumptions in modern life.

BookLoon.com reviewer Alex Telander describes The Invisible Sex as "an amazing read that charts our ancestry from times when apes were the most evolved animal around, to some 4,000 to 6,000 years ago when humanity settled down and began farming. What makes this book different is that the authors [address] the known history of each period and then reveal evidence that shows women having a much larger role than was previously believed. Incorporating up-to-date information and discoveries on our ancestry, The Invisible Sex is a great, easy to read book for anthropology or archaeology addicts, and for anyone who wants to know what really was going on with our species in the last two million years."

According to Adovasio, "a variety of stereotypes have persisted on the role of women in the [prehistoric] past" largely because of "the inability of investigators to entertain alternative explanations as well as a fundamental failure to recognize and appropriately evaluate evidence contradictory to these stereotypes. This myopia was compounded by the domination of Paleoanthropology by males until relatively recently...If mentioned at all, women, as well as the old and young of both sexes, are characterized solely as minor players."

Adovasio is also provost, senior counselor to the president and dean of the Zurn School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Mercyhurst College and a former commissioner of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. His first international acclaim came during the 1970s when he began the archaeological exploration of Meadowcroft Rockshelter near Avella, southwest of Pittsburgh, site of North America's earliest proven human habitation that dates from ca. 14,000 B.C. Significant among Adovasio's ongoing fieldwork are the multidisciplinary investigations of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter as well as of sites at Mezhirich, Ukraine; Dolni Vestonice/Pavlov, Czech Republic, and Caesarea, Israel. He has published extensively and is a frequent presenter at national and international meetings.

He drew a capacity audience to the Harmony Museum in 2003 when he spoke about origins of the hemisphere’s earliest inhabitants following publication of The First Americans - In Pursuit of Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery. It was written with former Natural History editor and former Smithsonian science editor Jake Page, the third co-author of The Invisible Sex.

Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh. Its recorded history began with Murdering Town, a Delaware Indian village visited by Virginia Maj. George Washington during his 1753 mission demanding the French leave the region, sparking the French & Indian War. Pacifist German Lutheran Separatists, fleeing European militarism and a state church they considered corrupt, settled Harmony in 1804 and organized as what became the internationally famous communal -- and celibate -- Harmony Society. They went to Indiana Territory in 1814 and returned to Beaver County in 1824 to found Economy, now Ambridge, where its last members dissolved the society in 1905. Harmony's resettlement began in 1815, led by pacifist Mennonites whose congregation also faded away at the dawn of the 20th century.

Harmony Museum exhibits interpret the area's extraordinary array of history, from the Indians, Washington and the Harmony Society, to maker of fine percussion hunting and target rifles Charles Flowers and oil and gas booms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its Wagner House annex houses exhibits on local railroads and physicians.

LIMITED NUMBER OF SIGNED COPIES OF THE INVISIBLE SEX NOW AVAILABLE!

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4/13/2008
CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator
724-452-7341 or hmuseum@zoominternet.net
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19TH CENTURY HARMONIST CLOTHING TO BE SHOWN AT HARMONIEFEST

HARMONY, Pa. -- Examples of attire worn by communal Harmony Society members when they immigrated from southwest Germany to settle Harmony in the early 1800s will be modeled at the 41st annual Harmoniefest on Saturday, Feb. 16. The dinner and historical program, a fundraiser to benefit the Harmony Museum, is held in the museum's Stewart Hall at Main and Mercer streets.

Admission is $25 per person. Reservations are required, and must be received by Friday, Feb. 8.

Curator Sarah Buffington of Old Economy Village in Ambridge will narrate the fashion show. Historic Harmony, the volunteer historical society and preservation advocate that operates the nine-property Harmony Museum, will contribute part of the evening's proceeds to a program providing authentic costumes for Old Economy docent-interpreters. Commemorating the communal Harmony Society's third and final home, Old Economy Village is operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Historic Harmony will also present two Heritage Awards for outstanding restoration projects, and recognize volunteers who contributed the most hours to museum activities last year. This year's Heritage Awards will honor James and Elizabeth Kelleher for restoring the facade of their ca. 1890 home on East New Castle Street in Zelienople, and Belynda Slaugenhaupt and Suzanne Spohn for restoring the 1862 Stauffer farmstead barn at their home on Camp Run Road in Lancaster Township.

Harmony was founded late in 1804 by German Lutheran Separatists. led by Johann George Rapp. They left the Stuttgart area to escape militarism and conduct their religious affairs free of state interference. They organized formally as the Harmony Society in February 1805, an event celebrated with an annual February feast they called Harmoniefest. Their first American home, called Harmonie, which eventually had a population of nearly 900, encompassed the town and 7,000 acres of what became Jackson and Lancaster townships. The celibate Harmonists, who anticipated the imminent return of Christ, moved to southwestern Indiana in 1814, returning in 1824 to found Economie, now Ambridge in Beaver County, only 22 miles from their original home. The Harmony Society, which became 19th century America's most successful communal group, was dissolved there in 1905 by its last survivors.

Although Historic Harmony’s Harmoniefest does mark the founding anniversaries of Harmony and the Harmony Society, it celebrates two and a half centuries of extraordinary history. The area's recorded history began with young British Virginia Maj. George Washington's visit with local Delaware Indians during his 1753 mission to the region seeking withdrawal of a growing French occupation, thus sparking the French & Indian War. Nearby, the war's first shot was fired at Washington by a "French Indian."

Harmony is one of western Pennsylvania’s most significant historic sites. The Harmony National Historic Landmark District comprises 10 old-town blocks as well as the Harmony Society cemetery in adjacent Jackson Township. When "second founder" Abraham Ziegler bought the Harmony Society’s holdings in 1815, his and other Mennonite families began resettling the area. The Mennonite congregation, also pacifist, faded away as the Harmony Society met a similar end.

Harmoniefest begins with a 6 p.m. reception. Dinner entree choices are stuffed pork chop, chicken scaloppini and vegetarian lasagna. Information and reservations can be obtained from the Harmony Museum office, 724-452-7341, toll-free 888-821-4822, or hmuseum@zoominternet.net.
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CONTACT: Kathy Luek, Administrator, 724-452-7341
1/27/08
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