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A Walking of Historic Windber
This tour is a project funded by The Windber Landmarks Committee
Tour Development - Ann Lattinville, Adam Arvidson
The Company Town
The history of Windber is inextricably linked to the rise of the Berwind-White Coal Company and the exploitation of the bituminous coal fields of the area. As was typical of many coal companies, Berwind-White established a company town. Berwind-White, however, intended for Windber to be a model company town, one that would showcase a successful mining operation. This desire is exemplified in the neatly planned rows of housing and high-style, official buildings along 15th Street. The town of Windber, which derives its name from a transposition of the syllables of "Berwind", was also established as a headquarters for the company in order to oversee the operations in the area.
Windber is situated in the narrow valley of the Big Paint Creek about 10 miles southeast of Johnstown on the northern edge of Somerset County. The area around Windber contains the much sought after Kittanning groups of coal beds, including B (Lower Kittanning) and C (Upper Kittanning) seams. B-seam coal provided excellent steam, domestic and railroad fuel. After the incorporation of Berwind, White and Company in 1874, Edward J. Berwind (founder Charles F. Berwind’s brother) obtained contracts with various steamship companies out of New York. So successful became the company’s operations, that by 1886 the company reorganized in order to meet the increasing demands for their coal.
In 1893, Berwind-White instructed company superintendent James S. Cunningham to begin proceedings to purchase lands and mineral rights to areas containing "B-Seam" coal in the Big Paint Creek Valley. Cunningham began negotiations with David Shaffer, a prosperous farmer who owned the land on which Windber is now situated. By 1897, the company opened Mine 30, the first of a total of 13 Berwind-White owned mines in the Windber area. The last Berwind-White operated mine closed in 1962.
The grid pattern of the town was laid out on the former Shaffer farmstead by Heber Denman, assistant to James Cunningham. Windber’s layout was a conscious effort on the part of Berwind-White to maintain control over company operations. With its management and high ranking officials situated on the Hill, the company could maintain a symbolic supervision of the town. Miners housing is situated in the flood plane around the Hill.
1. Post Office and Wilmore Coal Company Offices -- 501 15th Street
Construction of this building was completed in 1914 as a post office and headquarters for the Wilmore Coal Company, a subsidiary of Berwind-White. Beginning in 1971, the building served as the Penn Woods Council Headquarters for the Boy Scouts for twenty years. Today, the building is home to the Windber Coal Heritage Center with state-of-the-art exhibits educating visitors about the coal mining and ethnic heritage of the town. [back to top]
2. Windber Hotel -- 502 15th Street
Formerly the Hotel Leister, the Windber Hotel was constructed c. 1897. In addition to the numerous boarding houses in the town, there were once as many as 11 hotels in Windber. The brick structure is ornamented with a cast iron cornice and parapet, as well as, the cast iron surrounding the windows that is decorated with flowers and foliage. [back to top]
3. Lochrie/Clement Building -- 506 15th Street
Directly adjacent to the Windber Hotel is the Clement Building, built c. 1902. The brick facade is embellished with corbelling and the cornice line is accented by a row of medallions. The current black tile facade was a later addition to the building. At one time the structure was known also as the Reno Building and a billiard hall operated from it. The sign above the main entrance still reads "Reno Building." [back to top]
4. Windber Electric Company Building -- 509 15th Street
The Windber Electric Company building was constructed in 1925 on the site of the Wilmore Hotel. The Wilmore Hotel was a wood frame building consisting of 40 rooms. Built in 1898 by S.J. Montz of Clearfield County, the building served as the social center for many of Windber’s community groups. The building is highly ornamented with brick pilasters topped with decorative sandstone capitals. A row of sandstone dentils highlights the cornice line and there is even iron grille work in the basement windows. [back to top]
5. Eureka Department Store -- Corner of Somerset and 15th Street
This commercial structure, the largest such structure in Windber, served historically as the borough’s commercial hub. The building was originally clad in red brick and had a hipped roof and Palladian style dormer windows. The original structure was built 1899. By 1904 a bank and post office was constructed just to the north of it. By 1916, the Eureka Store had expanded to include this structure as well as a large extension that was added to the back of the whole mass. Between 1916 and 1924, the building was remodeled to its current appearance in the English Tudor Style, with stucco and wood cladding replacing the brick. Berwind-White had satellite Eureka stores at various locations in the region; the first of the Eureka stores was located at Mine 30 in Paint Township. [back to top]
6. Windber Trust Building -- 1501 Somerset Avenue
Built in 1910, this Classical Revival Style now houses a branch of the U.S. National Bank, continuing its history as a financial institution. The building still retains a beautiful glass and copper awning, a striking feature of the corner-facing facade. [back to top]
7. Berwind-White Company Offices -- 1409 Somerset Avenue
Originally Berwind-White’s company offices for its western Pennsylvania mining operations, this three-story, buff colored brick building was constructed in 1909. The entrance is constructed of Ohio gray stone, while the pillars, foundations and trimmings are of native stone. The interiors were trimmed with oak and the building heated by steam. Designed in the Colonial Revival Style, this structure today houses the municipal offices for the borough of Windber. Originally, the main floor contained ten offices and telephone exchanges for long-distance and local calling, while the other floors contained offices and the company coal laboratory and drafting room. In the basement level, Berwind-White kept an arsenal supplied with billy clubs, tommy guns and Smith and Wesson .38 revolvers for the coal police. [back to top]
8. Mine Superintendents House -- 602 15th Street
Built in 1902, this residence was home to R.S. Baylor, General Superintendent of Mines from 1900 to 1945. The house, like the neighboring Berwind Clubhouse, is Queen Anne Victorian with a turret and shingle siding. The two houses share a driveway and a sweeping hillside with historic landscaping that draws attention to both of the prominent structures. [back to top]
10. Shaffer House -- 601 15th Street
With the distinction of being the oldest house in Windber, the Shaffer Homestead is now home to the Windber Museum. The house was moved form its original location just down the hill on the site of the Berwind-White Company office building. Shaffer bought his farmstead land in 1864 from John Messerbaugh, which included almost all of the land which is now Windber Borough. Shaffer opened a mine himself which was located near the corners of what today is Cambria Avenue and 15th Streets. [back to top]
11. John Lochrie House -- 603 15th Street
Lochrie was one of the Windber area’s noted independent coal operators who went into business for himself in 1908, establishing the Rummel Coal Company. In 1916 he opened several mines in the Central City vicinity under the name of the Reitz Coal Company, of which he became President and General Manager. His home was built c.1905 and has a striking number of colored glass Queen Anne windows. [back to top]
12. St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church -- 801-803 Somerset Avenue
This church was founded by immigrants from Austro-Hungary and the current structure was built in 1927 by the Windber Lumber Company. Plans for this building were drawn by noted Johnstown architect Walter Myton after the congregation outgrew its brick-clad, wood frame structure built in 1901 as the first Byzantine Catholic Church in Somerset County. This Romanesque Revival Church’s prominent features include domed central and paired side towers, as well as, a cladding of mottled tapestry brick. [back to top]
13. American Russian Education Club -- 401 10th Street
The American Russian Education Society was incorporated in 1925 and was one of many clubs formed to help new immigrants with the transition to life in Windber. Other organizations included the Polish Falcons (1907), the Abruzzi Lodge (1913), and the American Polish Educational Association. This structure dates to 1927 and from it the club offered classes for Russian immigrants to learn about life and customs in the United States, as well as social and cultural activities. [back to top]
14. Eureka Coal Store No. 31 -- 305 10th Street
This 10th Street store, completed c. 1906, was designed and built in the same manner as many of the Eureka satellite stores. The satellite stores were constructed of red brick with corbelling and plastered walls. Prior to the construction of the store at 10th Street, there were about five houses operating as groceries below Graham Avenue. After the completion of the company store, however, competition forced many of these businesses to close. The Eureka stores each had an associated slaughterhouse, one of which is still standing, along with its stable, at Mine 42. [back to top]
15. Slovak Education Club -- 1306 Jackson Avenue
The Slovak Educational Club was incorporated as the St. John’s Branch 292, First Catholic Slovak Union . The building from which the club still operates in Jackson Avenue was built around 1915. Like the American Russian Education Club, the Slovak Education Club offered social activities in addition to programs that sought to perpetuate native languages and culture as well as to promote American Citizenship. Today the Slovak club houses a small museum of community history on its upper floor. [back to top]
16. Timko’s Pharmacy Building -- 1226 Graham Avenue
This buff-colored brick commercial building today houses Summit Office Supply. This building was constructed c. 1920 and combines retail space on the first floor with residential above, a mix common to turn-of-the-century downtown street scopes. Timko’s Pharmacy was opened in the building in 1929 by Mary Margaret Timko, one of the first women to graduate from the Jefferson School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia and become a registered pharmacist. Before opening her pharmacy, Timko taught classes in pharmacology to nurses in Philadelphia. [back to top]
17. Arcadia Theater -- 1414 Graham Avenue
Photo: Arcadia Theater |
This building is a striking example of early twentieth century Renaissance Revival architecture. The Arcadia Theater opened in 1921 and is Windber’s last remaining theater. The Arcadia was in operation to show movies until 1970 when it closed and was left vacant. The building suffered extensive damage from neglect but a rehabilitation project that began in 1996 has restored the Arcadia to its former glory. The project was undertaken by the Eureka Coal Heritage Foundation, the current owner of the building. [back to top]
Conclusion
In 1991 the Windber Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places and this walk encompasses much of it. The district includes most of the original Berwind-White planned grid, and encompasses land and buildings in both Cambria and Somerset Counties.
Windber was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the "history of industry, community planning and development, social history, ethnic heritage and architecture," as an example of both a typical western Pennsylvania coal mining community and as a unique example of a planned company town.
Windber is located off of Route 56, southeast of Johnstown. From the Pennsylvania Turnpike, take Route 219 north to 56 East and follow the signs to downtown Windber.
From Route 22, take Route 219 South to Route 56 East. From Johnstown, Follow 56 East.
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