Norvelt and Penn-Craft, Pennsylvania, Subsistence-Homestead Communities of the 1930s (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Norvelt and Penn-Craft, Pennsylvania, Subsistence-Homestead Communities of the 1930sThe coal region of Westmoreland and Fayette counties in western Pennsylvania is located on the hilly terrain of the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains. The coal bed underneath the surface is complemented by a topsoil rich in lime and suitable for farming. Superceding an agricultural tradition begun in colonial times, the coal-mining industry developed in the late nineteenth century. Americans who had lived in Pennsylvania for generations were joined by more recent immigrants from Eastern Europe to extract bituminous coal needed to fuel America's industries. Farmland gave way to coal mines and coke ovens, and towns with regular rows of two-story frame dwellings were constructed by coal companies to house the growing work force.When the coal industry faltered in the 1920s, western Pennsylvania-particularly Westmoreland and Fayette counties-was hard hit. As broad-reaching relief efforts, the New Deal-era communities of Norvelt and penn-craft were planned to provide a new way of life. Built as subsistence homesteads, the communities were designed to give each family a few acres of land to farm for their own consumption. Cooperative farms and industries were developed to provide employment. Physically, the new towns stood in stark contrast to the company towns. Using curvilinear streets, multiple house plans, and historic building traditions, Norvelt and penn-craft are conspicuous in the landscape as carefully planned communities.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.