What I Learned by Researching
the Harmony Brick Works

Written by an anthropology student at the University of Pittsburgh

When I began my college internship for the US Army Corps of Engineers, I didn’t know very much about professional archaeology and I certainly didn’t know anything about industrial archaeology.  When I stepped onto the Leetsdale archaeological site with my hard hat and goggles on, I saw a totally different view than what I’ve seen in my academic training.

Archaeology is very important for a lot of reasons.  It’s not just about having fun, even though it’s a blast!  It is helpful to developers who might potentially build on top of a vital piece of history.  We can save them a lot of money in the future.  Not finding the Leetsdale site in time could have been devastating.  It is helpful to the archaeologists who need to perform data analysis to track significant points in the archaeological record.  Most of all, it contributes to the human cultural condition.  It is imperative for generations to learn about the world’s past, so they can have a better understanding of the present and apply it to their future.  Without archaeologists, paleontologists, historians, and anyone else who deals with the past, people would just wander around only knowing half of their environment.  We would have no idea where our place is in the world how we got here.  That doesn’t do much for bettering the condition of the world.  In order to act on the future, we need to understand the past.

The discovery of the Harmony Brick Works is significant for several reasons.  First, it gives us insight into a crucial point of the industrial period, which shaped the companies and huge industries that run the world market today.  Second, it gives us a glimpse into a way of life that wasn’t nearly as advanced as our own.  Perhaps the lack of technology of that time served as a catalyst for many of the profound discoveries and developments we use now.  Each frame of technological advance serves as a precursor to an even more advanced, phenomenon of industry.  The more technology develops, the more tools we can create to develop even more technology.  It just feeds off of itself continuously. 

Just imagine what your life might be like without industry and technology.  Let go of your fast-paced computer-cushioned life for just a second and think.  Not too pretty, is it?  You wouldn’t be able to call your friend in California.  You would have to wash your clothes by hand and you would probably only have a few things to wear anyway (no comfy Gap jeans or sexy platform heels).  You would have to use an outhouse (if you were lucky).  You couldn’t hop in the car and run to the store really quick because you forgot the flour you need to put in your new-fangled bread machine.  And picture this: The house you live in would be made out of all wood, unless you had a lot of money, because bricks would be costly and time-consuming to make.  Men would have to mold bricks by hand and then let them sit out in the sun to dry.  First they would have to find the clay, then temper it and mold it and on and on.  Anyway, the point is that life would be a whole lot different without technological advances throughout history.  Even the improvements in the brick-making industry have had an impact on your life.

Although it took a long time for brick-making technology to really take off, people were slowly developing that type of technology on a small scale for a very long time.  What about the Great Wall of China?  It took two hundred years to build and it can be seen from the moon.  That was made of brick.  Many Native American tribes constructed their homes out of mud-brick (hey, technology had to start somewhere!).  Bricks were used to build streets before asphalt became common, and forts during the wars.  Bricks are used for many purposes today-- houses, buildings, fireplaces and chimneys, firewalls in offices and apartments (saving the lives of many), and retaining walls, just to name a few examples.

I know it seems funny to think how a small, unsuccessful brick plant in Leetsdale, PA, changed the world.  But it wasn’t just success that led to bigger and better technology; it was also the lack of technology and many misguided attempts that created a push for modern growth.  The Harmony Brick Works was a spoke on the industrial wheel, even if it wasn’t the most successful business.  It took a lot of trial and error to determine that down-draft kilns heat the bricks more evenly than up-draft kilns.  It probably took a lot of lost money to find out that running bricks through a drying tunnel saved time and allowed for more bricks to be made.  Maybe it took a whole lot of revolts and worker strikes and men getting fired nationwide to decide that labor unions might be beneficial to the average family of the twentieth century.  Those things didn’t happen only at the Harmony Brick Works.  It was happening all over the country.  You know that little cliché that every vote counts?  Well, it’s true.  Look at the last presidential election!  That little brick plant in Western Pennsylvania made a difference in technology.

Another important component of this archaeological study is the historical figures that were involved.  What a fascinating line-up!  I learned so much about the significant roles they played in our history and the contributions that they made to modern technology, economy, ways of thinking, and just everything that we do today.  Absolutely everything creates a reaction.  Without the Revolutionary War, there would never have been Depreciation certificates.  Without those certificates, John Richards (the first owner of the Leetsdale site), might not have owned the land or sold it to Robert Morris, a famous revolutionary political figure.  What about the Harmony Society, the religious sect who owned the brick works and ran it into the ground?  They made a very significant impact on the local economy.  They contributed the invaluable knowledge of marketing expertise to all kinds of people.  They really were quite successful for many years with many products and marketing strategies (brick-making just wasn’t their forté).  Their carefully recorded documents tell us a great deal about early twentieth century industry.  They also invite us to look at a different type of religion, which could compel us to take a closer look at the human psyche. 

So in conclusion, you can see that archaeologists have a significant role in our society, and a duty to reach the public and inform people about historical issues.  It is important to do research for the purpose of learning and teaching and understanding our places in the world.  The more we know, the more we can do.  So please, go use this knowledge and cause a reaction with it!

Page last updated on 03 December, 2004

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