| "R.A.T.S." Support is here to inform and encourage the citizens living in the River Valley. We want to let everyone know, they now have a voice when it comes to the Restoration of their Riverfront Communities.. The way we communicate has changed with the creation of the internet. Information can be shared by way of Web Sites and E-Mail 365 days every year, 24 hours a day. |
Vandergrift, PA - Westmoreland County Founded in 1895 Vandergrift was the First successful planned industrial town, designed to be sold to its workers. George McMurtry, president of the Apollo Iron & Steel Co. in Apollo, Pa. needed to expand his successful galvanized steel operations. Beset with labor problems and unable to acquire additional land, he selected a 650-acre farm site a few miles downstream on the Kiskiminetas River, some forty miles east of Pittsburgh. He then approached the designer of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Frederick Law Olmsted, to design a town that would be "something better than the best". The result was Vandergrift, (named for Capt. J.J. Vandergrift,) a town with gently curving streets that follow the natural slope of the hills. Everything was made ready in advance: The steel mill was built. The streets were graded, utilities were installed (including water, natural gas, electric lines, and sewer lines). Streets and sidewalks were paved, trees were planted, and street lights were erected. Finally, free lots and half the cost of construction were offered to the churches. Then, when everything was in readiness, the building lots were offered for sale to the workers, so that they could build their own homes. ...In 1895, this was a unique idea in America, that a company would build a town entirely in advance, and only then turn over its control to the workers. Hmmm...What do you think would happen today? |
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| Riverfront Access Tourism Support |
| Frederick Law Olmstead One Man With A Big Dream |
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