{"nrhp_refnum":"94000520","name":"Smock Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Redstone Cemetery, Colonial Mine No. 1, Smock Hill, Colonial Mine No. 2 and Redstone Cr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Smock","county":"Fayette County","state":"PA","lat":39.99809452550005,"lon":-79.78435086591652,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-06-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Community Planning and Development","Industry"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 187-acre historic district in Franklin, Menallen and Redstone townships, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, comprising the Colonial Mine No. 1 and No. 2 extractive and archaeological resources and most of the former coal mining village of Smock. The district's housing was built between the 1880s and 1923 by several coal companies and private developers.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is a well-preserved example of an early coal town and beehive coke plant in the Lower Connellsville coke district, developed in an ad hoc way by many companies rather than a single operator. Its company housing is presented as an excellent example of vernacular company housing typical of Pennsylvania's bituminous coal fields. Its mine and coke-oven remains are considered to have potential to yield information on mining technology, facility layout and the daily lives of workers.","narrative":"Smock is a former coal mining village and beehive coke works in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, developed on farmland from the 1880s through 1923. Colonial Mines No. 1 and No. 2 were opened by the Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1884, and the mine's coke plant once held nearly 500 beehive ovens, of which about 150 survive. The village was built by several companies and private investors rather than a single operator, producing a mix of workers' and managers' houses, commercial and social buildings, and a water filtration complex, a slate dump and two cemeteries. The district's housing stock retains a high degree of integrity and is regarded as a strong example of vernacular company housing across Pennsylvania's bituminous coal fields. Its archaeological remains of the demolished mine buildings are valued for what they may reveal about mining technology, facility layout and the daily lives of miners and coke workers. Coal was mined at Smock until 1943, when the depleted seam forced closure.","period_of_significance":"1884-1943","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.455106-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/94000520.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000520/ccb728ae48-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000520/ccb728ae48-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smock_PA_Historic_District.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smock_PA_Historic_District.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992931","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smock_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7545742"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/fayette-county/smock-historic-district-94000520/"}