Frontiersman re-enactor
with period tools, weapon
and clothing
THE SOCIETY
NEWS
All the latest information
on the Monroeville
Historical Society.
k
By Robert Elms
Checking the fresh churned butter
Pumpkin painting
MHS will host this year’s
Heritage Festival on September
23 at the historical homes on
McGinley Road.
Unable to compete with the huge
volume of crops and meat that
flooded eastern markets, western
with friendly
Pennsylvania’s farmers adjusted their Visiting
farm animals
farming patterns to focus on
supplying city dwellers and villages with
concerts and festivals were frequently held there.
milk, butter, maple sugar, hay, potatoes,
The Monroeville Historical Society (MHS)
truck crops, poultry, eggs, fresh meat and
has continued this tribute to the community’s
other products.
farming past through its annual “Heritage Day”
Monroeville’s farmers soon found that
festival. The Heritage Festival this year will be on
their surplus crops could be sold to “city
September 23, from 1 to 5 p.m., at the historical
folk” in the neighboring communities who
homes’ site on McGinley Road. At this year’s
were eager for fresh fruits and vegetables,
event, children will be able to interact with
and especially dairy products straight from
friendly farm animals from our local Victory
the farm. Truck farming became a valuable
Stables. Children or adults can make their own
source of income, as farmers loaded their
scarecrow the old-fashioned way starting from a
wagons (and later trucks) to travel to
pair of old pants and shirt, straw and a few of
Pitcairn, Turtle Creek and Wilmerding.
their own personal creative touches. Children
In the early 1900s the farmers of
can awaken their inner artist with pumpkin/rock
Monroeville, in order to show off their
painting. Historical farming tools and appliances
products to our neighbors, began
will be on display as you tour the McGinley
organizing the “Harvest Home” festival,
stone house, the McCully log house and the tool
held each fall in McMasters Grove — the
display shed. Local re-enactors will describe/
site of today’s Lowes Home Improvement
demonstrate everyday activities encountered
Center. In the 1880s, this centrally located
almost two centuries ago. There is no admission
wooded area, part of the McMasters’ farm,
charge. Nominal fees are charged for some crafts
served as the community’s picnic park.
to cover costs. Food will also be available.
Family picnics and community events like
Later, on September 27, the Monroeville
Historical Society will have a booth at the annual
The Harvest Home Picnic: A long-held tradition dating back to
“Celebrate Monroeville” Convention Center
Monroeville’s early farming days was the Harvest Home Festival held
event. The society will feature Monroeville’s
each fall. This photograph shows the annual gathering in McMasters
history through books, a slide show and pictures.
Grove in 1915. (Courtesy of the Monroeville Historical Society)
Additional information about the organization
will be available at the booth. Listings of current
and future MHS events are on the
monroevillehistorical.org web site.
M
onroeville was not always a busy
shopping and business district as
it is today. In fact, Louis Chandler
wrote in his book, “A History of Patton
Township (Monroeville and Pitcairn)
Pennsylvania,” the following information
about early Monroeville residential
activities.
For much of the 1800s Monroeville was
rural farmland. Farm families and neighbors
depended on one another to get things
done. They “changed works,” routinely
exchanged services, labor, and goods,
employed hired hands who lived with the
family, and sometimes loaned a child to
work for a neighbor or relative. Farmers kept
records of what they owed each other and
every so often they would “settle up” and
begin again. But as a rule, little cash changed
hands, even though work and goods were
reckoned in cash value equivalents.
In the early 1800s the Pennsylvania
Legislature helped fund the construction of
a network of better roads and canals to bring
agricultural products, like wheat and corn,
to market, but local markets continued to
account for most of Pennsylvania farm sales.
For more information about the
Monroeville Historical Society, visit
monroevillehistorical.org, e-mail
info@monroevillehistorical.org or call
412.856.1000 .
Monroeville | Fall 2017 | icmags.com 39