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Mount Union borough

The Dust

General Interior View of Packing Shed, No. 1 Works - Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, Packing Shed
General Interior View of Packing Shed, No. 1 Works - Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, Packing ShedLibrary of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record. No known copyright restrictions. pa2727.photos.134465p

This is the inside of the packing shed at the No. 1 works. Every one of those posts is doing a job, and the floor runs on past the end of the photograph.

It is also worth being honest about what the work cost. Silica yards were harder on a man than fire clay yards, because the air carried a far heavier load of silica dust, and silica dust causes silicosis. The men in crushing, in grinding and in shipping breathed the worst of it. Pennsylvania's own Bureau of Industrial Hygiene published a study of silicosis in the silica brick industry in 1941, so this was known.

Thousands of brickyard workers across this region got it. By the time it was formally accepted in the late 1960s as a product of the working conditions, the companies had become offices in far away cities, and a man or his widow had to find a doctor who would certify it and a lawyer who would carry the dust claim.

We should not tell the story of this town without that part in it.

Sources

  1. HABS PA-5973 p.21 (silicosis, exposure by work area)
  2. HABS PA-5973 p.39 (dust claims, recognition in the late 1960s)
  3. Fulton et al., A Study of Silicosis in the Silica Brick Industry, PA Dept of Health, 1941
  4. LOC caption pa2727.photos.134465p

Checked 2026-09-13 · 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
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
Close View of Vermont Farmhouse-Style Home with Original Porch Roof and Siding, No. 43 Poplar Street. - Town of Kistler, Kistler, Mifflin County, PAClose View of Vermont Farmhouse-Style Home with Original Porch Roof and Siding, No. 43 Poplar Street. - Town of Kistler, Kistler, Mifflin County, PALibrary of Congress · pa2824.photos.038913p

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