Fixer Upper in Vandergrift, PA Under $35K

311 Longfellow St, Vandergrift, PA, 15690                     $34,900

Fixer Upper in Vandergrift, PA Under $35K

OHU50K NOTES

Influenced by a philosophy of reform movements in Europe and the United States, Apollo Iron and Steel Company formed a policy that provided workers with good housing and a sound urban environment. The company believed that the policy would make workers more loyal and productive, so they built a brand new, integrated, non-unionized steelworks. Additionally, they contracted America’s  preeminent landscape architectural firm, Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot, to design the model industrial town. They named it Vandergrift after Capt. J.J. Vandergrift, a director of the steel company.

If you look at the Google Map street view, you will see many of the homes of the labor force. The wood frame homes were built for general laborers, while our featured brick home was built for a superintendent or manager. Note the tiled fireplaces, pocket doors, and Palladian window. It is unlikely those details would be found in the other homes on the block.

By the 1940s and ’50s Elizabeth Armstrong lived here.  She was quite an accomplished woman.