|
Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
|
|
| 1938
Drawing of Old Economy |
Map of Old Economy |
The Harmony
Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in
Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution the group moved to the
United States, where representatives purchased land in Butler County,
Pennsylvania where the first of three communities was established.
Known as Harmony, this settlement existed from 1804 to 1814, at which
point the group moved to a site on the Wabash River in Indiana where they
stayed from 1814 to 1825.
The third settlement, named Economy, was located on the north bank of the
Ohio River. Here they built a planned community and became more involved
in manufacturing. They built steam-operated cotton and woolen mills
using high-pressure Columbian engines built in Pittsburgh, from which the
exhaust steam was used to heat various factories and workshops.
Although the community left substantial records, there is very little
information about the steam heating system.
The society was formally dissolved in 1905.
References
1828 Travels
Through North America During the Years 1825 and 1826, by
Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, Volume II. Philadelphia: Carey,
Lea & Carey, 1828
Page 2:162-163: May 17, 1826. In the cotton and woolen factories,
all the machinery is set in motion by a high-pressure engine of seventy
horse-power, made in Pittsburgh.
The factories and workshops are warmed during winter by means of pipes
connected with the steam-engine.
1866 The
Harmony Society, at Economy, Penn'a., Founded by George Rapp, A.D.
1805: With an Appendix, by Aaron Williams
Page 65: Labor-saving machinery was introduced. Steam power was then
and is still employed wherever it is available. Not only their woolen and
cotton factories, their flouring mill, and saw mill, &c., were driven
by steam, but they still thresh and clean their grain by steam, grind and
press their apples and grapes by steam, and wash and wring their clothes
by steam. Their laundry establishment has always been an object of
interest, especially to lady visitors. The town is amply supplied with
water through wells, hydrants, and watering troughs, at convenient points.
A large reservoir receives the water of a stream that flows from the
hills, and when this source of supply becomes deficient, the ever
serviceable steam engine pumps water from a deep river-well.
Page 69: "Their factories and workshops are warmed during the winter
by means of pipes connected with the steam engine. All the workmen, and
especially the females, had very healthy complexions, and moved me deeply
by the warm-hearted friendliness with which they saluted the elder Rapp. I
was also much gratified to see vessels containing fresh sweet
scented-flowers, standing on all the machines. The neatness which
universally reigns, is in every respect worthy of praise."
1914 George Rapp and His Associates: (the Harmony Society), by John Samuel Duss
1926 Old Economy as I Knew it: Impressions of the Harmonites, Their Village and Its Surroundings, as Seen Almost a Half-century Ago, by Harrison Denning Mason
1937 The Harmony Society in Pennsylvania, Federal Writers' Project (Beaver County, Pa.)
1942 “The
Dawn of Economy’s Golden Day,” by John S. Duss, The Western
Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 25(1):37-46 (March 1942)
Page 42: Then he writes of the neat dwelling houses, the large and
active factories with their steam power and steam-heating pipes (an
innovation which Frederick introduced), and he notices especially how "the
bloom of health is on all the faces of the workers, especially on those of
the women."
1962 "'Nails
and Sundrie Medicines:' Town Planning and Public Health in the Harmony
Society, 1805-1840," by John William Larner, Jr.,The Western
Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, 45(2):115-138 (June 1962)
Page 136: The uniqueness and skill of the Harmonists are shown in
yet another area. The Society used steam engines in their mills and
factories, and the exhausted steam from these engines was channeled to
radiators. In this fashion the mills and factories were kept warm, and, in
addition, a number of barns, stables, and shops also enjoyed steam heat.,
1970 The Great House (George Rapp House) constructed 1826 and Frederick Rapp House constructed about 1828 at Old Economy, by Evelyn P. Matter
1972 George Rapp's Harmony Society, 1785-1847, Karl John Richard Arndt
1973 “Threshold
of the Golden Kingdom: The Village of Economy and Its Restoration,”
by Charles Morse Stotz, Winterthur Portfolio 8:144-145 (1973)
Page 144: For their larger industrial buildings, the Harmonists made
use of steam power to generate heat. The duke of Saxe-Weimar on his visit
in 1826 was greatly impressed by the fact that "factories and workshops
are warmed during the winter by means of pipes connected with the
steam-engines."
Page 318: The Feast Hall, with its huge clear span and its fireplace
flues following the roofline to the ridge chimney, is but one of the
structures described and illustrate
1975 A Documentary history of the Indiana decade of the Harmony Society, 1814-1824, by Karl John Richard Arndt
1982 Harmony
on the Wabash in transition 1824-1826, by Karl John Richard
Arndt
Page 556: Steam Engine Specification. Cost $2,900.
Completion by November 1, 1825. 24th of May 1825
Memorandum of agreement between Mark Stackhouse agent for the Columbian
Steam Engine Co. and Frederick Rapp.
Page 677. October 28, 1825. Frederick Rapp and Mark
Stackhouse: Contract for engines.
Two engines were ordered, one for the cotton and another for the wool
factory.
Pages 762-763: December 16, 1825. Engine for Cotton and Wool
factories tested, and they will soon be operating a Steam Mill.
1983 Guide to the microfilmed Harmony Society records, 1786-1951, in the Pennsylvania State Archives, compiled by Robert M. Dructor; edited by Roland M. Baumann
1984 Economy
on the Ohio, 1826-1834: The Harmony Society During the Period of Its
Greatest Power and Influence and Its Messianic Crisis George Rapp's
Third Harmony : a Documentary History, by Karl John Richard
Arndt
Page 172: August 30, 1827. W. Young in Philadelphia to
Frederick Rapp: Requests Steam Heat Information for His Factory
Page 359: August 31, 1838. Jacob Henrici to R. L. Baker: Current
Economy Business Problems.
Father Rapp has approved an extension of steam heat so there is an
increased demand for pipe
1999 "Western
Esotericism and The Harmony Society," by Arthur Versluis, Esoterica
1:20-47 (1999)
Page 27: They also constructed city drainage and steam heating
systems that were quite innovative, including a community washinghouse
heated by steam.
2008 Architecture,
Artifacts, and Arts in the Harmony Society of George Rapp: The
Material Culture of a Nineteenth-century American Utopian Community,
by Paul Douglas
Page 117: At Economy the Harmonists had one engine to run the cotton
and flour mills, one for the woolen mill, one for the silk mill, and one
for the laundry and the wine and apple presses.
2014 Divine
Economy: George Rapp, the Harmony Society and Jacksonian Democracy,
by James J. Tomney, Masters Thesis, Liberty University
Page 66: At Economy, Frederick Rapp excelled in architectural and
mechanical innovations. Fredrick designed the Economy granary with a
horse-drawn elevator and louver wall openings instead of windows. The
great dining hall contained an advanced steam heating system and outside
building walls were used as trellises for grape vines. Free-standing coal
stoves eliminated fireplace drafts and factory machinery was run by steam
power.
[Note: The footnote for the advanced steam heating in the
great dining hall doesn't support that statement, and that article also
states that the feast hall was heated with fireplaces.. The steam
heating system was added during a later renovation.]
© 2024 Morris A. Pierce
Si