Harrisburg industrializes

by Gerald G. Eggert

In 1850, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was a community like many others in the U.S., employing most of its citizens in trade and commerce. Unlike its larger neighbors, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Harrisburg had not yet experienced firsthand the Industrial Revolution. Within a decade, however, Harrisburg boasted a cotton textile mill, two blast furnaces and several iron rolling mills, a railroad car manufactory, and a machinery plant. This burst of industrial activity naturally left its mark on the community, but within two generations most industry had left Harrisburg, and its economic base was shifting toward white-collar governmental administration and services. Harrisburg Industrializes looks at this critical episode in Harrisburg's history to discover how the coming of the factory system affected the life of the community. Eggert begins with the earliest years of Harrisburg, describing its transformation from a frontier town to a small commercial and artisanal community.^ He identifie