Bicentennial House

History of the Bicentennial House

In 1824 George Rapp's Harmony Society purchased 3,000 acres in Beaver County, Pennsylvania along the Ohio River to create the town of Economy. Here in Economy, the Harmonist society became one of the most successful religious communal groups of the nineteenth century. The Society sought to create a utopia. Their financial success and self-sufficiency stirred the interest of economists and social reformers throughout the United States and Europe.

On September 5, 1824, George Rapp stated in a “…We now have six double houses, two finished, one in plaster stage, two weather boarded and the sixth half. Three single houses: One weatherboarded and two not covered yet nor weatherboarded”

This house, located at 284 13th Street, is one of those first six double houses the society built in Economy making it one of the oldest houses in Ambridge.

The Ambridge Historic District Economic Development Corp has recently acquired this house with the intention (for the purpose) of restoring it for the town's upcoming Bicentennial Celebration in 2024-25.