Coalport Historic District

Coalport's Main Street historic district is a compact commercial area in a valley of southern Clearfield County, beside Clearfield Creek. Its 53 resources, mostly built between the 1860s and the 1940s, include storefronts, residences, a bank and churches in styles ranging from Italianate to Romanesque Revival. The town grew after James Haines began selling lots in 1877 and was incorporated as a borough in 1883, following the arrival of the Pennsylvania & Northwestern Railroad. Coal mining, including early small family mines and larger operations from 1887, supported the population and its shops. Because the town was not developed by a coal company, its businesses and houses were laid out without a single plan, and local merchants served miners and farmers alike. The district is regarded as a well-preserved example of a small boomtown business center in the region, where several original wooden buildings survive.