OLD ECONOMY

AMBRIDGE, PENNSYLVANIA

WEDDING AND GARDENS, OCTOBER 13, 2007

(At the bottom are some pictures here in the spring of 2005)

LOVE LIES BLEEDING

COCK'S COMBS AND RED SALVIA

DAHLIAS ON THE PICKETS

PART OF THE BACK OF THE HISTORIC BUILDINGS

(SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR HISTORY OF THE PLACE)

PATH BETWEEN THE CHAIRS FOR THE BRIDE TO WALK

LILY PAD CIRCLE AROUND STONE GAZEBO

LATE AFTERNOON SUNLIGHT ON THE LILY PADS

CARL IS THERE IN THE MIDDLE IN THE BLACK SUIT WITH HIS BACK TURNED

OLD GRAPES

A GRAPE ARBOR

FLOWERS WARM AGAINST THE OLD STONE WALL

GRAPE VINES ALONG THE OLD STONE BUILDINGS

I RETURNED TO THE MAIN GARDEN AFTER TAKING THE PICTURES ABOVE

AND FOUND CARL ON A SMALL PATH SO THAT IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS

STANDING IN THE MIDST OF THE FLOWERS AS HE CHECKED OVER THE VOWS.

CARL AND JOE, THE GROOM

THE PICKET FENCE, WITH DAHLIAS ON ONE SIDE AND ZINNIAS ON THE

OTHER SEPARATES THE FLOWER AND VEGETABLE GARDENS.

I LIKED THIS...THE PEARS ABOVE THE PEOPLE...

SUNLIGHT THROUGH GRAPE LEAVES

STEPHEN FROM STROLLING VIOLINS...

JEANETTE (BRIDE'S MOTHER) WALKED IN BY HER SON...SHE AND I BECAME

FRIENDS OVER THE YEAR WE SPENT ON THIS WEDDING.

CARL ARRIVING AT HIS SPOT

LOVELY BRIDESMAID IN GORGEOUS BLUE

CHRIS AND KELLY...THE BOUQUETS WERE BLUE DELPHINIUMS,

GOLDENROD, AND ORANGE ROSES...LOVED THE COLOR COMBO FOR

THIS TIME OF YEAR.

VIEW OF THE CEREMONY FROM MY SEAT BESIDE THE FLOWERS

THE BRIDESMAID'S BOUQUETS WERE LEFT HERE DURING THE GREETING LINE

AFTER THE CEREMONY AND I LIKED THE LOOK OF THEM IN THE RUSTIC

SETTING.

STEPHEN AND CARL AT THE RECEPTION

STEPHEN WOULD COME TO EACH TABLE AND ASK FOR REQUESTS.

HE ASKED JEANETTE FIRST AND I COULD HARDLY BELIEVE IT WHEN

SHE SAID "THE EMPEROR WALTZ", WHICH IS ONE OF MY GREAT FAVORITES.

HE'S PLAYING IT HERE AS I TOOK THE PICTURE.  GOOD JEANETTE!!!

BACK TO JO'S OTHER PLACE

Spring pictures here below text...

STORY OF OLD ECONOMY:

About 800 farmers and craftsmen emigrated from Iptingen, Germany in 1804 following

George Rapp as their leader. They settled 18 miles north of Old Economy in Butler

County in Harmony, PA. The Harmonists were a religious communal society who believed

that Christ would be returning soon. They tried to live by the pattern of the First Century

church and held everything in common, working together for the good of the Society and

receiving what they needed to live. But despite being renown for their piety, they were also

very well-known for their industrial prosperity. They not only adopted the new technologies

of their day, but adapted them and even created them, among other things having perfected

the technologies of silk manufacturing.

In 1814 the community moved to a new settlement on the Wabash River in Indiana, which is

known today as New Harmony. Because I've lived in both Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, I've

visited all three locations in which they settled. They began with 7,000 acres in this new place,

but by 1817 had 30,000. There were swamps in the area and during the first two years there,

many of the settlers fell ill with malaria, 120 of them dying. They drained the swamps and

continued building their community.

But New Harmony was too far from the eastern markets where they sold their goods, so in

1824 it was sold and they moved to the site in the pictures above, 10 miles up the Ohio from

Pittsburgh. They built shops for blacksmiths, tanners, hatters, wagon makers, linen weavers,

cabinet makers, tin smiths, potters and had a communal kitchen, and centralized steam laundry

and a centralized dairy. Because the Society was celibate for the most part, it started to dwindle

in size over the years and a schism of opinion led to the departure of many others. In 1905 the

Society was dissolved. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the six central acres in

1916 and today it contains 17 restored historic structures and the garden, built between 1824

and 1830, as well as 16,000 original artifacts.

THESE WERE TAKEN IN MAY OF 2005 JUST BEFORE ANOTHER WEDDING:

These hedges have been removed alongside the path the bride walks up.

Statue watching Carl

This wedding ended up in the barn due to rain, and I took this from my seat,

interested in the old plank floor and especially the missing piece.