Where was this old landmark? This local place was once very different from what you see today. Do you know where in our area this photo was taken? At the time this photo was taken much of Butler and Lawrence Counties looked like this. Do you know what made Pennsylvania crude oil better than oil from other areas and why it was so much in demand? Do you know why there were so many derricks so close to each other?   Visit our Area Memories again on the 20th of the month for the answer ..read more

From the President Greetings.  Lots of good news to report. Historic Harmony made our year-end matching grant. Thanks to all who contributed and to the anonymous donor who put us the initial grant money. It was an incredible show of support. Thanks to all that generosity, and successful Christmas Market and Silvester, we finished the year with a surplus. This will allow us to make some needed repairs and add new programming in 2022. One bit of that programming is a special exhibit coming to Stewart Hall April 2 to 16. Historic artifact collector Ken Hoover has agreed to display some of ..read more

Answer Where was this old landmark? Baldingers Store Baldingers was first built in 1933 as a fruit stand/farm market by Allen and Dorothy Dietz Baldinger.  The paved area in the front in the first picture is old Route 19. In the 1940s a deli and sandwich shop were added featuring hams and other meats as well as breads and cheeses.  In 1952 Route 19 was rebuilt, widened and moved to its present location. During this time the store was closed and when it reopened it was expanded to include many imported food items, teas and trinkets as well as the candies it became renowned for. It w ..read more

Answer Where was this old landmark? This photo was taken from what is now Route 528 at the edge of Evans City Borough. Although there are no oil derricks there now, there was a time when they were in almost every backyard and the air was full of the thumping rhythm of hit and miss engines bringing “Black Gold” to the surface. The reason for so many wells, so close together is the nature of Pennsylvania crude oil. It is also the reason for the high demand for Pennsylvania crude. Pennsylvania crude oil was and is referred to as “sweet” oil. It is paraffin based and low in sulphur and other co ..read more

From the President Greetings.  We had a successful, Harmoniefest Meeting and Awards Dinner, with rave reviews about the meal by Harmony’s own Chopped Catering, and the presentation by Tom Nesbitt on Butler County’s first log cabin. Attendance was great at 60 people, and 1 historic vehicle–a 1941 Bantum “Jeep”. The dinner also debuted GWen Lutz’s new booklet on native plants and introduced species and their uses. Gwen’s book and other garden merchandise is now available at the Museum Shop. Thanks to the hard work of Frank Luek and a number of other volunteers, the Visitors Cabin will soo ..read more

Fleams or Phlebetomes (Bleeding Knives) These multi-bladed medical instruments are known as a fleams or phlebetomes, named after the Greek words, “Phlebos,” for blood vessel and, “tome,” meaning to cut. They are used for bloodletting, a practice that dates back into antiquity but is rarely used today. This kind of instrument in particular was more often reserved for veterinary use, but the use of fleams on people was not unheard of either. This instrument would be used by placing it over the vein and then struck with a fleam stick, a short wooden club. This would result in rapid penetration ..read more

Harmony Bridge This span enabled travel and trade between Pittsburgh and points north for many years. It had a sturdy foundation made from very large cut stones and was constructed of iron. These practical and sturdy bridges were built from the 1850s through 1930 when steel became readily available. The style is referred to as a truss bridge. The iron trusses are constructed to support the weight in the center of the span by transferring it to the ends of the support structure and then down to the foundation. It was replaced in the early 2000s with a beam style bridge, constructed with sturd ..read more

Charles Flowers Rifles Charles Flowers Rifles: Rather than just post a couple pictures, we thought it would be better to let you watch a video of one of our curators, Rick Rosenberger, show you upclose some of our Charles Flowers rifles that we have here at the Harmony Museum.  Click here to watch the video ..read more

Where was this old landmark? This local place was once very different from what you see today. Do you know where in our area this photo was taken? At the time this photo was taken much of Butler and Lawrence Counties looked like this. Do you know what made Pennsylvania crude oil better than oil from other areas and why it was so much in demand? Do you know why there were so many derricks so close to each other?   Visit our Area Memories again on the 20th of the month for the answer ..read more

From the President Greetings.  There are a number of changes coming to the Harmony Museum in 2020.  The biggest one is that Kathy Luek has decided to retire as our administrator this summer, after 20+ years of keeping the museum up and running. Her thoughtfulness, thoroughness, dedication, and encyclopedic knowledge of all things Harmony will be impossible to replace…but we will try.  I’m working to get a job description down on paper so we can start the recruitment process.  We want to have the new administrator hired by early summer so that person can work with Kathy f ..read more