Mount Pleasant Historic District
Why it's listed
Mount Pleasant is a borough in southern Westmoreland County whose historic district follows Main Street and the side streets that run south from it. Brick buildings erected around 1812 along Main Street are among the earliest surviving in the area, and the town was incorporated in 1828. Commercial blocks from the 1870s to 1910 use red and yellow brick, corbeled cornices and sandstone lintels, and include the Citizens Savings and Trust Company, a Classical Revival bank of 1905. The Shupe Steam Grist Mill dates from about 1843 and still operates with its original steam machinery. Henry Clay Frick worked as a young man in his uncle Martin Overholt's general store on Main Street. The district is also valued for its churches, including Gothic and Romanesque brick buildings from the late 1860s to about 1910, and for the Penn Theater, a 1937 Art Deco building. Together these resources show the town's growth as a local commercial center tied to coal, coke and rail.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is significant for commerce as a locally important center serving surrounding agricultural areas, company towns, coal and coke industries and the railroad, and for architecture because of its range of styles from the early nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. It notes that Mount Pleasant grew along the Glades Road and the Somerset and Mount Pleasant Turnpike and was incorporated as a borough in 1828.
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 98000903, listed July 23, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly along Main, S. Church, Eagle, Walnut and College Sts., Mount Pleasant |
|---|---|
| County | Westmoreland County |
| Listed | July 23, 1998 |
| Reference number | 98000903 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c. 1812-1948 |
| Architect / builder | Bowers, Robert; Cooper, Andrew P.; Harmon, John R.; Jones and Walker; Simon, Louis |
| Architectural style | Georgian, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival; also Classical Revival, Art Deco, Romanesque and Gothic elements |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The Shupe Mill continues to operate with original steam machinery, and the Penn Theater has been converted to a wood working shop; most of the commercial district has few vacant storefronts. |
| Acreage | 65 |
| Coordinates | 40.14912, -79.54517 (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 98000903.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6922918
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.