Search

At the turn of the 20th century, Sharon's very existence was threatened by the collapse of the local iron industry as the town's economy and population began to decline. However, the popularity of automobile transportation and Sharon's accessible distance from New York attracted a class of wealthy visitors who fell in love with the rolling hills and quiet valleys. This new weekend population purchased land and built stately country homes, reigniting interest in the area. Steady growth in construction provided much-needed work, and commerce began to thrive again. Early businesses expanded, and new operations opened. Local residents could shop at stores run by the Gillette brothers and A.R. Woodward, fill their tanks at Herman Middlebrook's gas station, and have their health care needs attended to by doctors at the state-of-the-art Sharon Hospital, built in 1916. Eastern Europeans became the town's newest residents, taking advantage of the affordable, cleared land to fuel a large number of highly successful farms. Sharon's residents thrived as they reshaped their town, welcoming newcomers and nurturing a community of inclusion that lasts to the present day.

Located in the northwest corner of Schoharie County, Sharon was established in 1797 after Palatine German and Dutch families had settled in the area, replacing the Iroquois in the 18th century. Set in rolling hills with magnificent vistas over the Mohawk Valley, the area's mineral springs drew native people and Europeans to bathe in the health-promoting waters. The spa era of grand hotels and wealthy guests gave way to a slow but steady decline around 1900; however, from the early 1990s, the town has enjoyed a renaissance with the arrival of creative artists and entrepreneurs, including The Fabulous Beekman Boys, whose reality television series showcased Sharon, linking past to present. The couple lives in the mansion of prominent early resident William Beekman, the first judge of Schoharie County and the owner of the first mercantile.

"The Magic City: The Mills, Men, & Homes of a Company Town Forged in Steel," captures birth and growth of the city of Farrell, Pennsylvania with an in-depth look at the development of South Sharon as a company town, the birth of the steel industry, the men responsible for its success, and the grand mansions of steel barons and modest homes of millworkers during this transformational era. Skeptics watched and waited during the first years of the 20th century for the decline and sudden death of the little "boomtown" of South Sharon, now the city of Farrell, Pennsylvania. So quickly had it appeared amid the Shenango Valley's established communities of Sharon and Sharpsville that many called the new steel-making settlement "The Magic City" and fully expected it to disappear with equal rapidity. Overcrowded boarding houses, the influx of immigrant laborers for the steel mills, and the ensuing building boom all led to speculation that although a bonanza had been struck, it would be of only temporary importance to the Valley. They underestimated the strength of steel and of the men who made it. But not all that glitters is gold. With the influx of immigrant workers, a rise in crime through the Italian Black Hand Society gave South Sharon the notoriety of being the Society's headquarters. In 1919, the Great Steel Strike due to unfair wages erupted in the region, chaos and rioting left four dead. Uncover the rich history of one of the region's largest employers, the Sharon Steel Corporation, the men responsible for its success, and the homes of steel kings and average workers who all played a critical role in the development of South Sharon into an important steel town in Western Pennsylvania.

Countering traditional narratives that place men at the centre of political thinking and history, this text tells the life story of Florence Hope Luscomb, a political activist who's life spanned nearly all of the 20th century.