Woodvale Historic District
Also known as: See Also:East Broad Top Railroad
Why it's listed
Woodvale is a coal company town on the east side of Broad Top Mountain, with most of its buildings in Wood Township, Huntingdon County. The Rockhill Iron and Coal Company opened the nearby Rockhill No. 6 mine in 1890 and built the town to house its miners, which is why the village was laid out in a grid of streets with rows of similar semi-detached workers' houses on long narrow lots. The houses were built of wood frame and plank, and the company owned most of them until it began selling them in 1948. Fulton Street, developed around 1913, has a dense row of nineteen identical semi-detached hipped-roof dwellings and seven small cottages. The district also includes a machine shop, a power house that supplied electricity to Robertsdale and Woodvale, two churches and the Russian Social Hall. The nomination regards the town as a typical example of a southwestern Pennsylvania coal patch and as a record of Eastern European immigrant life in the mining industry.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is significant in the areas of industry, architecture, community development and ethnic heritage. It was built by the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company to house miners at its Rockhill No. 6 mine, and it is presented as a typical southwestern Pennsylvania coal patch town with a concentration of company-built dwellings. Its churches, social hall and neighborhoods reflect the Eastern European immigrant workforce.
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 92000942, listed July 24, 1992. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Ash, High, North, Fulton and Broad Sts., Wood, Wells and Broad Top Townships, Woodvale |
|---|---|
| County | Huntingdon County |
| Listed | July 24, 1992 |
| Reference number | 92000942 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1890-1942 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular; company town |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | European, Architecture, Industry, Community Planning and Development |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The machine shop and mule barn are described as currently abandoned and in disrepair; the furniture factory occupies the former power house; the company store burned in 1937 and the two schools were demolished. |
| Acreage | 96 |
| Coordinates | 40.16757, -78.13767 (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 92000942.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8033501
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.