A gathering place for the history, the people, and the pride of Mount Union — from the fire brick that built the world's furnaces to the front-porch stories that built our town.
Share Your StorySettled along the Juniata River in the shadow of Jacks Mountain, Mount Union grew from a small river settlement into an industrial powerhouse — then into the close-knit community it is today.
The settlement now known as Mount Union is established along the Juniata River in Huntingdon County, positioned at a natural crossroads of river, road, and eventually rail.
Mount Union is officially incorporated as a borough, setting the stage for decades of rapid growth as regional industry took hold.
Discovery and development of ganister rock deposits on nearby Jacks Mountain launches the silica brick (refractory) industry. The population nearly triples in a single decade — from 1,086 residents in 1900 to 3,338 by 1910 — as workers and families pour in.
After the St. Patrick's Day Flood destroys the mine-cart bridge to the quarries, out-of-work quarrymen are put to building the now-famous Thousand Steps up Jacks Mountain, rather than being laid off.
At its height, Mount Union is home to three major refractory plants and becomes known as the world's largest producer of silica brick, earning the town its enduring nickname: Bricktown USA.
The East Broad Top Railroad, the narrow-gauge line that helped move coal, brick, and goods through the valley, ends regular operations in the area.
The Mount Union Refractories Company complex and the broader Mount Union Historic District — encompassing dozens of homes, churches, and commercial buildings from the 1800s through the 1930s — are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Around 2,300 residents call Mount Union home. The brick plants are gone, but the identity they forged remains — carried on by the Historical Society, the Bricktown Museum, and families whose roots run generations deep.
The brick didn't just employ Mount Union — it built the town, brick by brick, and gave it a name known across the industry.
Beginning around 1899, Mount Union's mills processed ganister — a quartz-rich sandstone quarried from Jacks Mountain — into silica (refractory) brick prized for lining the furnaces of the steel, iron, glass, and railroad industries nationwide. At its peak, three plants employed roughly 2,000 people and turned out an estimated 500,000 bricks a day, making Mount Union the world's largest producer of refractory material of its kind.
Before 1936, quarrymen walked three miles to the base of Jacks Mountain and then scrambled up steep, dangerous inclines — some hitching risky rides on dump cars, a practice that cost at least two workers their lives. When the St. Patrick's Day Flood washed out the mine-cart bridge, the company put its idled workforce to building a stairway up the mountain instead of laying them off. The result: roughly 1,050 hand-built stone steps, climbed daily by six-day-a-week laborers headed to bust rock with sledgehammers. The Thousand Steps still stand today as part of the Standing Stone Trail — equal parts hiking landmark and monument to the people who built it.
Refractory brick was the headline industry, but Mount Union's economy also ran on tanneries, coal yards, an explosives plant, foundries, and the East Broad Top narrow-gauge railroad, which hauled goods through the valley until the mid-1950s.
Located at 300 W. Small Street, the Bricktown Museum keeps the story of the refractory era alive for residents and visitors alike — a natural next stop for anyone who wants to see (and touch) the history behind the name.
The Mount Union Area School District serves families across roughly 151 square miles of Huntingdon and Mifflin counties — and Trojan pride runs deep on the field, the court, and the band field alike.
Kistler Elementary (K-2), Shirley Township Elementary (3-5), Mount Union Area Junior High (6-8), and Mount Union Area Senior High (9-12), along with the Academy for Customized Learning and a partnership with the Huntingdon County Career & Technology Center.
Ten sports fill out the Trojan athletics calendar: football, soccer, baseball, and wrestling for the boys; basketball, volleyball, and softball for the girls; and co-ed cross-country, track and field, and bocce.
Mount Union's competitive marching band has performed in the New York City Veterans Day Parade and the Washington, D.C. Centennial Parade. Darkhorse Percussion, the county-wide indoor drumline once based here, has claimed six Atlantic Coast Championships.
A working directory of Mount Union — restaurants, banks, churches, schools, the library, the post office, and the service organizations that hold the town together. Built from public listings; corrections and additions always welcome.
| Name | Address | Phone | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Post Office – Mount Union | 35 W Market St, Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-2566 | Retail: Mon–Fri 9–1 & 2–4, Sat 9–12. Lobby: Mon–Fri 7–4:30, Sat 7–12 |
| Mount Union Borough Office | Mount Union, PA 17066 | — | See mountunionpa.net for council, permits & utilities |
| Name | Address | Phone | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Union Area School District (Administration) | 10 W Market St, Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-2692 | Kistler, Shirley Township, Jr. High & Sr. High — see School & Athletics above |
| Mount Union Community Library | 11 W Market St (Rear), Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-4572 | Volunteer-run since 1913 — see mucl.net |
| Name | Address | Phone | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community State Bank | 111 E Shirley St, Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-8680 | Lobby & drive-thru; 24hr ATM |
| MCS Bank | 23 E Shirley St, Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-4395 | Mon–Thu 9–4:30, Fri 9–6, Sat 9–12 |
| Name | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| St. Luke Lutheran Church (ELCA) | Market & Jefferson St, Mount Union, PA | (814) 542-8250 |
| First United Methodist Church | 15 W Shirley St, Mount Union, PA | — |
| St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church | 205 W Market St, Mount Union, PA | — |
| Mount Union Christian & Missionary Alliance Church | 217 S Washington St, Mount Union, PA | (814) 542-4996 |
| Mt Union Wesleyan Church | Mount Union, PA | — |
| Mount Union First Assembly of God | Mount Union, PA | — |
| Name | Address |
|---|---|
| Bello's Cafe, Family Restaurant, Bar & Ice Cream | 116 N. Division Street |
| Bricktown Kickn' Chicken Carry Out | 14 N. Jefferson Street |
| Checker's Grill | 323 N. Jefferson Street |
| The Koffee Kitchen | 122 W. Pennsylvania Avenue |
| Name | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| American Legion Post 107 | 135 E Pennsylvania Ave, Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-2232 |
| Mount Union Area Historical Society | 822 W Water St, Mount Union, PA 17066 | See Facebook |
| American Legion Country Club (golf course) | Mount Union, PA 17066 | (814) 542-4343 |
| PA Lions Beacon Lodge Camp | Mount Union, PA | See Landmarks above |
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| Bleyer Industries | Manufacturing (Plastics) |
| Containment Solutions | Manufacturing (Tanks) |
| Bonney Forge | Manufacturing (Steel Valves & Fittings) |
From a stairway up a mountain to a summer camp that changed lives, Mount Union's landmarks tell the town's story as clearly as any history book.
Two miles west of town in Jacks Narrows, this hand-built stone stairway is now a beloved (and challenging) hiking destination — and a direct link to the quarrymen who built it.
Founded by Carl Shoemaker for visually impaired campers, Beacon Lodge marked its 75th anniversary in 2023 and has grown to serve people with a wide range of disabilities — with many former campers returning as volunteers and staff.
For nearly four decades, tens of thousands of visitors — at times 50,000 to 100,000 — came to Mount Union each summer for one of the country's largest Christian music festivals, before it concluded in 2023.
Dozens of homes, churches (St. Luke's Lutheran, St. Catherine of Siena, First Methodist), the Shapiro Theater, the old Penn Central National Bank, the post office, and the 1818 John Shaver House make up a downtown that still wears its history proudly.
Two quieter landmarks woven into the historic district — a community cemetery founded in 1872 and the town's former Victoria Park, both touchstones for local memory.
The Mount Union Area Historical Society, the Community Library, the Ministerium, and the Mount Union Area Partnership all work to preserve and celebrate the town's story — natural partners for this project.
This is the heart of the site. Every brick made here, every porch, every ballfield has a story attached to it — these are the ones we've collected so far.
Working the brick plant, growing up on Division Street, a Trojans championship season, a Creation Festival memory — whatever it is, this spot is waiting for it.
Every submission gets its own brick on this wall, with your name (or "Anonymous," if you prefer) and, if you'd like, a photo alongside it.
Short or long, funny or bittersweet — if it's part of Mount Union's story, it belongs here.
Know someone with a great story but no computer? Help them send it in — every voice counts toward the full picture of this town.
A visual record of Mount Union across the decades — from the brickyards to today's Main Street. Each frame below is a placeholder, waiting for the real photograph.
This site is only as rich as what the town puts into it. If you have a story, a photo, a business to add, or a correction to make, here's how to get it in: