You could drive through the tiny town of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania (pop. 3,000) as you wind through the mountains on your way to Pottsville from Reading and you would never that it used to a major hub for shoe manufacturing. In the late 1800′s the steel, coal and manufacturing workers needed shoes and the town of Orwigsburg became the center for shoe manufacturing…perfectly centered between the coal region and the U.S. manufacturing epicenter in Allentown, Bethlehem and York. At the peak, Orwigsburg was the home of 11 shoe companies that
manufactured over 1.4 million shoes per year.
Flash forward 120 years and Kepner Scott Shoe Company is STILL based in Orwigsburg and is still manufacturing its goods in Pennsylvania. Their focus has changed, they now specialize in high quality, leather shoes for children. In the 1960′s, they saw a real market need for flexible children’s shoes.
Kepner Scott Shoe Company employees a few dozen Pennsylvanians and would really appreciate your business 
. If you visit their website, you’ll be able to browse the selection of shoes, but you’re better off searching for Amilio, Carpenter, Sandals by Carpenter and Self Starters branded shoes.
Thanks for posting this. These are the best children’s shoes.
we found a pair of self starters /scientific shoes that we think were my brother’s first shoes. he is now 61 years old… he was born in norristown, pa …glad to figure out this puzzle…
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I was excited when I found your article mentioning the importance of the shoe-making industry in Orwigsburg, PA, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recently, while at an auction, I obtained an envelope opener advertising “Rohrer & Co. — Maker of Goodyear Welts and Turns That Wear”.. The fun of finding an item like this is researching the origin, such as learning what a welt and turn is. Although I can find lot of Rohrers livinlg in the Orwigsburg area, I can’t find anyplace that mentions the Rohrer & Co. shoemakers. Any help you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks!