Post-Civil War Transformation

Following the Civil War, Perry County, like much of the north and mid-west, experienced rapid economic growth, industrialization, and agricultural mechanization. In 1866 the first bank was organized in New Bloomfield, in 1869 the first water company was organized in Blain, in 1891 the first telephone line was strung between Newport and Loysville, and in 1898 Newport Square was lit by electricity. Well-paying industrial jobs drew farm laborers from the countryside to the county's river towns, while others moved to cities or to fertile western lands. The river towns prospered and modernized as businessmen organized banks, water companies, electricity generating plants, and telephone exchanges. Planing mills mass-produced "gingerbread" ornamentation for new homes and barns, and local merchants sold manufactured furniture and clothing. Families took excursions to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia or to Atlantic City. Cultural changes also reshaped the county as farmers organized granges to advocate for improved public services, returning veterans attended GAR events, and a third Great Awakening in American religion spurred construction of sizable Protestant churches for larger congregations. To care for children orphaned by the Civil War, the state funded a home in Andersonburg from 1865 to 1878, and the Lutheran church sponsored Tressler Orphans Home in Loysville from 1867 to 1962. After 1880, free local high schools replaced all subscription academies except New Bloomfield Academy, and Professor Silas Wright operated the Juniata Valley Normal School from 1867 to 1878 in hopes of gaining state support for training teachers.

Pennsylvania · United States