Harmony School

Harmony School
5th St. and Duss Ave.
Daily Citizen supplement, August 10, 1929
Louis Vukovcan collection
courtesy of Jackie Vukovcan

Harmony School, which once stood on the northeast corner of 5th St. and Duss Ave., wasn't built by Ambridge; it was built by the school district where it was located in 1912--Harmony Township. At that time, Ambridge's eastern boundary in that part of the borough was Duss Ave.

The school originally had four rooms, expanded to eight rooms in 1915.

The Ambridge Golden Jubilee Program says that Ambridge took over Harmony School in 1916 "by order of the Beaver County Court, Ambridge paid the outstanding indebtedness." I haven't been able to find anything that explains why Ambridge was ordered to take over Harmony School and pay Harmony Township's debt. However, based on an October 18, 1916, article in The Daily Times, I suspect that the school takeover was connected to Ambridge's March 16, 1916, annexation of some Harmony Township property. The brief Daily Times article says that an auditor had been appointed to adjust the indebtedness of Harmony Township and Ambridge after the annexation. Based on the auditor's report, apportioned right down to the penny, Ambridge was to pay $7,473.31, and Harmony Township was to pay $8,440.05.

After Liberty School was built in 1917-1918 on adjoining property to the east of Harmony School, Ambridge appears, for at least a number of years, to have administered the two schools as one, with one principal overseeing both schools. The 1937 photo I posted on February 2, 2016, shows the faculty of both schools. My mom said she went to Harmony School for grades 1-3, and to Liberty School for the upper elementary grades.

At some point which I haven't found yet, Ambridge stopped using Harmony School as a public school. While it remained Ambridge school property, the building was used by St. Veronica High School from 1945 through 1965. In 1968, the school was razed and is now part of the property of the Ambridge Tower Apartments for seniors.