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Mount Union borough

Shirley Street, 1920s

Photograph not reproduced here. The image that goes with this story is held by huntingdoncountyhistory.com and its credit does not permit republication, so it is cited rather than copied. See the original.

Shirley Street in the 1920s, the town the State Museum of Pennsylvania calls the Silica Brick Capital of the World, in full stride. Three refractories ran at once, turning out between eighty and a hundred thousand bricks a day, seven days a week, and Welch's 1909 history had already claimed the largest silica brick plant in the world for the Harbison-Walker works at the west end of town. A main street to match.

Sources

  1. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, “Common Canvas: Pennsylvania’s New Deal Post Office Murals”, on Mount Union: “At one time three brick refractories operated in town producing 80,000 to 100,000 bricks a day, seven days a week. Mount Union was known as the ‘Silica Brick Capital of the World.’”
  2. Charles Howard Welch, History of Mount Union, Shirleysburg and Shirley Township (1909), p. 342: “Mount Union enjoys the distinction of having the largest silica brick plant in the world, that of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., which is situated at the west end of town.” A local history, so the claim is attributed to it rather than asserted.

Checked 2026-07-08 · Historic Mount Union collection

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Photographs from Mount Union borough

A ferry on the Juniata near Mount Union, as Myer Souders describes itA ferry on the Juniata near Mount Union, as Myer Souders describes itShared by Myer Souders
Perspective View of House Looking North. Gable End Not Visible in Photograph Was the Canal Side. - John Sharrar House, West Water Street near Division StreetPerspective View of House Looking North. Gable End Not Visible in Photograph Was the Canal Side. - John Sharrar House, West Water Street near Division StreetLibrary of Congress · pa2853.photos.038950p
View of Office Looking South. - General Refractories Company, Office, Market Street, Mount UnionView of Office Looking South. - General Refractories Company, Office, Market Street, Mount UnionLibrary of Congress · pa2851.photos.038947p
“The New P. R. R. Station”, as Charles Welch's history of Mount Union captioned it in 1909.“The New P. R. R. Station”, as Charles Welch's history of Mount Union captioned it in 1909.Welch, History of Mount Union, 1909 · stg08
General Interior View of Packing Shed, No. 1 Works - Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, Packing ShedGeneral Interior View of Packing Shed, No. 1 Works - Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, Packing ShedLibrary of Congress · pa2727.photos.134465p
View of Grefco Houses Looking South Along Water Street - Town of Mount UnionView of Grefco Houses Looking South Along Water Street - Town of Mount UnionLibrary of Congress · pa2822.photos.038890p

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