Old Economy Village is an historic settlement that is located in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it lies on the banks of the Ohio River and is surrounded by downtown Ambridge.

Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg,[3] the Harmony Society moved to the United States between 1803 and 1804, initially purchasing 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Here, under the business acumen and efficient management of Frederick Rapp, society members enjoyed such prosperity that, by 1829, they dominated the trade and the markets of Pittsburgh and down the Ohio River.

Of 750 members, 250 became alienated through the influence of Bernhard Müller (self-styled Count de Leon), who, with forty followers (also at variance with the authorities in the old country), had come to Economy to affiliate with the society.

This secession of one-third of the society, consisting mostly of the young men and women who did not want to maintain the custom of celibacy, reportedly broke Frederick's heart.

The settlements were economically successful, producing many goods in a clothing factory, a sawmill, a tannery, and from their vineyards and distillery.

There being but few members left, the remaining land and assets were sold under the leadership of Duss's wife, and the society was formally dissolved in 1906.

[1] Johann Georg Rapp (November 1, 1757 – August 7, 1847) was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society.

In the Lomersheimer Declaration, written in 1798, Rapp's followers refused to serve in the military or attend Lutheran schools.

In 1803, when the government began to persecute Rapp's followers, he decided to move the entire group to the United States.

George Rapp lived out his remaining days in the town of Economy, Pennsylvania, until August 7, 1847, when he died at the age of 89.