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George G. McMurtry, president of the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, circa 1906.
Credit: Courtesy of the Victorian Vandergrift Museum and Historical Society
Born in northern Ireland and orphaned during the Great Potato Famine, George Gibson McMurtry (1838-1915) emigrated to New York City and began his career in the steel business with the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. After serving as a Major in the Union Cavalry during the Civil War, he became president of Apollo Iron and Steel Company. In the 1890s, McMurty constructed Vandergrift, a model steel town where workers and their families could live in a healthy, wholesome, and pleasant environment.