Credit: Courtesy of Old Economy Village
It was in the Economy hotel, on the left, that Bernard Muller, going under the name of Count de Leon, the Lion of Judah, proclaimed himself to be the Messiah after he arrived in 1831. Leon's proclamation–and his promise of a holy community without celibacy– split the Harmonists. In 1832 Muller and about 250 followers left Economy to found a new community in Phillipsburg, PA, (present day Monaca) with the money they received from Father Rapp.
