The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the group moved to the United States, where representatives purchased land in Butler County, Pennsylvania. On February 15, 1805, the group of 400 followers formally organized the Harmony Society, placing all their goods in common. Under its founder and spiritual leader, Johann Georg Rapp. Members were known as Harmonites, or Rappites; the Society is best known for its worldly successes, most notably the establishment of three model communities, the first at Harmony, Pennsylvania. Johann Georg Rapp known as George Rapp, was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Rappites, or the Harmony Society. Born in Iptingen, Duchy of Württemberg, Rapp was a "bright but stubborn boy", deeply religious, his "strong personality" and religious convictions began to concern local church authorities when he refused to attend church services or take communion.

Rapp and his group of believers began meeting in Iptengen and emigrated to the United States, where they established three communities: Harmony, Butler County, Pennsylvania. Rapp became inspired by the philosophies of Jakob Böhme, Philipp Jakob Spener, Johann Heinrich Jung, Emanuel Swedenborg, among others, wrote Thoughts on the Destiny of Man, published in German in 1824 and in English a year in which he outlined his ideas and philosophy. Rapp lived out his remaining days in Economy, where he died on August 7, 1847, at the age of 89. By the mid-1780s, Rapp had begun preaching to the Separatists, his followers in Iptengen, who met and refused to attend church services or take communion; as their numbers increased, Rapp's group split with the Lutheran Church in 1785 and was banned from meeting. Despite warnings from local authorities, the group continued to meet and attract more followers. By 1798 Rapp and his group of followers had begun to distance themselves from mainstream society and intended to establish a new religious congregation of fellow believers.

In the Lomersheimer declaration, written in 1798, these religious Separatists presented their statement of faith, based on Christian principles, to the Wurttemberg legislature. Rapp's followers declared their desire to form a separate congregation who would meet in members' homes, free from Lutheran Church doctrines; the group supported the belief that baptism was not necessary until children could decide for themselves whether they wanted to become a Christian. They believed that confirmation for youth was not necessary and communion and confession would only be held a few times a year. Although the Separatists supported civil government, the group refused to make a physical oath in its support, "for according to the Gospel not oath is allowed him who gives evidence of a righteous life as an upright man." They refused to serve in the military or attend Lutheran schools, choosing instead to teach their children at home. This declaration of faith, along with some additions, guided the Harmony Society's religious beliefs after they had emigrated from Germany to the United States.

In the 1790s, Rapp's followers continued reaching as many as 10,000 to 12, 000 members. The increasing numbers, which included followers outside of Rapp's village, continued to concern the government, who feared they might become rebellious and dangerous to the state. Although no severe actions were taken to repress the Separatists, the group began to consider emigration to France or the United States. In 1803, when the government began to persecute Rapp's followers, he decided to move the entire group to the United States. Rapp and a small group of men traveled to America to find a new home. On May 1, 1804, the first group of emigrants departed for the United States; the initial move scattered the followers and reduced Rapp's original group of 12,000 to just a few followers. Johan Frederich Reichert, who agreed to become Rapp's adopted son and took the name of Frederick Reichert Rapp, reported in a letter dated February 25, 1804, that there were "at least 100 families or 500 persons ready to go" if they had to sacrifice their property.

In 1804, while Rapp and his associates remained in the United States looking for a place to settle, his followers sailed to America aboard several vessels and made their way to western Pennsylvania, where they waited until land had been selected for their new settlement. Rapp was able to secure a large tract of land in Pennsylvania and started his first commune, known as Harmonie or Harmony, in Butler County, where the Society existed from 1804 to 1815, it soon grew to a population of about 800, was profitable. Ten years the town was sold and the Harmonists moved westward to the Indiana Territory, where they established the town of Harmony, now called New Harmony and remained there from 1815 to 1825; the Indiana settlement was renamed New Harmony. Ten years after the move to Indiana the commune moved again, this time returning to western Pennsylvania, named their third and final town Economy; the Harmonists l

Marshall County Airport is a public airport located three miles south of the central business district of Moundsville, a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States. The airport is owned by the Marshall County Commission. Although most U. S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Marshall County Airport is assigned MPG by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA. Marshall County Airport covers an area of 96 acres which contains one runway designated 6/24 with a 3,302 x 60 ft asphalt surface. Situated in rugged mountain terrain, the airport site is a removed mountaintop with steep slopes to all sides. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 19,300 aircraft operations, an average of 52 per day: 97% general aviation, 3% military and <1% air taxi. Marshall County Airport at West Virginia Airport Directory Resources for this airport: FAA airport information for MPG AirNav airport information for MPG FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker SkyVector aeronautical chart for MPG

Acanthocardia echinata, the prickly cockle or European prickly cockle, is a species of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae. The genus Acanthocardia is present from the Upper Oligocene to the Recent; the prickly cockle was one of the many invertebrate species described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Cardium echinatum. The yellowish brown shell is up to 75 mm in diameter, is adorned by 18 to 22 spiny ridges, its margin is crenulate and inner surface is white, prominently grooved. The prickly cockle is found in the British Isles and northwestern Europe, it lives at depths of 3 m or more. Dead shells are washed up on the beach. Photos of Acanthocardia echinata on Sealife Collection