Vandergrift, Pennsylvania

Dutch (Van der Grift): topographic name from Middle Dutch grifte ‘man-made channel'

Vandergrift, Pennsylvania – before and after

July 1895, before construction of the town

May 1896

In the 1890s the Apollo Iron and Steel Company was in a dramatic round of industrial restructuring and labor tension, ending a bitterly contested labor dispute at its Apollo, Pennsylvania, steelworks by hiring replacement workers from the surrounding countryside. To avoid future unrest, the company sought tighter control over its workers, not only at the factory, but also in their homes. Drawing upon a philosophy of reform movements in Europe and the United States, the company's leader, George McMurtry, adopted what was later known as welfare capitalism, with the company going beyond paychecks to provide for the social needs of the workers, and providing a benign physical environment and good housing, to make for happier and more productive workers. Wanting a loyal workforce, McMurtry developed a town agenda that drew upon environmentalism as well as popular attitudes toward capital's treatment of labor.

In 1895, Apollo Iron and Steel built a new, integrated, non-unionized steelworks and hired the nation's preeminent landscape architectural firm, Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot, to design the model industrial town, to be named Vandergrift (for Capt. J.J. Vandergrift, a director of the steel company). The Olmsted firm translated this agenda into an urban design that included a novel combination of social reform, comprehensive infrastructure planning, and private homeownership principles. The rates of homeownership and cordial relationships between the steel company and Vandergrift residents fostered loyalty among McMurtry's skilled workers and led to McMurtry's greatest success. In 1901 he used Vandergrift's worker-residents to break the first major strike against the United States Steel Corporation.[4]

St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church and the Vandergrift Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (5.34%) is water.

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 5,455 people, 2,414 households, and 1,489 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,389.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,694.9/km²). There were 2,772 housing units at an average density of 2,230.8 per square mile (861.3/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.43% White, .45% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population.

There were 2,414 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $26,935, and the median income for a family was $35,984. Males had a median income of $29,781 versus $20,829 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,285. About 12.0% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.9% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Vandergrift borough is the owner of Davis Field, the former football home of the Cavaliers, Kiski Area School District's football team. A baseball field and football practice field also lie between Davis Field and Kennedy Memorial Park, which sits at the corner of Jackson and Walnut Streets. The fields serve local little league and midget football play.

The Westmoreland County Transit Authority provides service to Vandergrift directly via the Route 15 bus. It runs Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm between New Kensington and Avonmore. It stops at McMutury Towers, Jackson/Longfellow Avenues, and Grant/Sumner Avenues six times a day. About 2 miles from downtown Vandergrift, the Route 14F bus, from New Kensington to Pittsburgh, and the Route 12 bus, from New Kensington to Greensburg, both stop in the Allegheny Plaza parking lot below Save-A-Lot. Visit the WCTA website for details on schedules, fares, and service alerts.

• Jaira Burns (born 1997), American singer-songwriter
• Angelo Donghia (1935–1985), American interior designer
• Anthony E. Gallo (born 1939), American playwright
• Steve Jastrzembski (1939–2009), American football player
• Mendes Napoli (born 1951), American businessman and talent agent
• Lou Palatella (born 1933), American football player
• William Perry (born 1927), American mathematician, engineer, businessman, politician, and former United States Secretary of Defense
• David Roselle (born 1939), American mathematician and academic administrator who served as the ninth President of the University of Kentucky and the 25th President of the University of Delaware.
• James Veneris (1922–2004), American soldier captured by the Chinese during the Korean War, and refused to return to the United States afterwards

• East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Vandergrift.

• Borough of Vandergrift