Commodore Historic District

Commodore is a coal company town in Green Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, planned and built in 1919-20 by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad, to supply coal for the railroad's locomotives. Company engineer Paul Gill laid out the town, which was named for Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. Most of the houses are uniform, two-bay buildings of buff concrete block made on site, with eighteen brick houses for mine foremen and a few larger houses for bosses. The former company store, bank, doctor's office, school and machine shop also survive. The town had water and sewage systems, electricity and indoor plumbing, which were uncommon in coal patches of the period. Most mine buildings are gone, but the street pattern, housing and setting remain largely intact. The district is significant for its industrial history, its company-town planning and its unusual concrete block architecture, which sets it apart from other coal communities in the region.