Whitsett Historic District
Why it's listed
Whitsett is a company-built bituminous coal mining community on the Youghiogheny River in northern Perry Township, Fayette County, about a mile north of Perryopolis. Most of its houses were built between 1891 and 1917 by the Pittsburgh Coal Company and its predecessors, and the district includes managers' and workers' duplexes laid out in uniform rows, mine entrance remains, a tipple foundation, a slate dump, and beehive coke ovens. The town was planned on an orthogonal grid, and its surviving plan and house stock are regarded as a typical example of a mining community of the period. Its residents included Eastern European immigrants, many recruited by company agents, and African American miners who came from the south. In 1925 the company adopted an open shop policy that gave African American miners access to skilled mine jobs for the first time. Banning No. 2 mine closed in 1944, and the community is now primarily residential.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is a well-preserved example of a company-owned coal mining town, with a planned orthogonal layout and a stock of standardized miners' houses built in phases between 1891 and 1918. It also cites the community's history of ethnically and racially diverse labor, including Eastern European immigrants and African American miners, and the Pittsburgh Coal Company's 1925 open shop policy that opened skilled mine jobs to African American miners.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 95000883, listed July 21, 1995. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by the Youghiogheny R., the former Elwell Branch of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR tracks and Elwell Run, Whitsett |
|---|---|
| County | Fayette County |
| Listed | July 21, 1995 |
| Reference number | 95000883 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1891-1944 |
| Architectural style | NO STYLE |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry, European, Black, Community Planning and Development |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Residential community; Banning No. 2 mine ceased operations in 1944 and most mine buildings are remnants, with some converted to dwellings. |
| Acreage | 79 |
| Coordinates | 40.10813, -79.75610 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 95000883.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7996792
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.