Nanty Glo is a borough in
Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...
. The population was 2,734 at the 2010 census.
The name comes from the
Welsh ''Nant Y Glo'', meaning "The Ravine (or "Brook") of Coal."
Geography
Nanty Glo is located in west-central Cambria County at (40.472096, −78.834777),
in the valley of the South Branch of
Blacklick Creek, a west-flowing tributary of the
Conemaugh River
The Conemaugh River is a long tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland, Indiana, and Cambria counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The name means 'Otter Creek', originating from the Unami-Lenape language word ''kwənəmuxkw'' ...
and part of the
Ohio River basin.
Ebensburg, the Cambria County seat, is to the east, and Johnstown is to the southwest.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the borough of Nanty Glo has a total area of , of which , or 0.06%, is water.
Demographics
![Lake heisley oct1505 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Lake_heisley_oct1505_4.jpg)
The
2010 census found the population of the town to be 2,734 people. The borough population growth from 2000 to 2010 was -10.5% (down from 3,054 people to 2,734 people). 21.3% of Nanty Glo borough residents were under 18 years of age. Census 2010 race data for Nanty Glo show a racial breakdown of 0.4% black, 0.1% Asian, and 0.9% Hispanic. There were 1,289 housing units in Nanty Glo borough, 91.0% of which were occupied.
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 3,054 people, 1,272 households, and 856 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,362 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 99.41%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.23%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.03%
Native American, 0.03% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.29% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.29% of the population. 15.3% were of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, 12.0%
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, 11.1%
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
, 9.9%
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, 9.0%
Slovak, 9.0%
American and 7.0%
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
ancestry according to
Census 2000
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
.
There were 1,272 households, out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were
married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95.
The population distribution by age was as follows: 21.4% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $25,500, and the median income for a family was $37,727. Males had a median income of $30,192 versus $20,302 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the borough was $14,184. About 11.3% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
*
John Brophy, labor leader
*
James Anthony "Ripper" Collins, major league baseball player
*
Charlie Metro, major league baseball player/manager
*
Boyd David "Buzz" Wagner, first flying ace of World War Two
* Levi Swanson, original founder
History
What is now Nanty Glo borough originated in the 1890s and was called "Glenglade." By 1896, the community was a
lumber camp
A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...
ran by Levi Swanson. It contained houses built on both sides of the southern branch of Blacklick Creek, which forms the border of Blacklick Township on the north side and Jackson Township on the south side.
A post office opened for Glenglade on November 21, 1894, with Merton A. Davis as the first postmaster. Three Davis brothers took turns as postmaster: Merton A., from 1894 until 1900; Montell, 1900 until 1911, and Everett C., 1911–1916. According to oral history, the town name was changed to "Nant-y-glo" during the term of Montell Davis, through the intervention of Levi Swanson. Glenglade became Nant-y-glo on February 20, 1901. Whether the Swansons' had the small town of the same name in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
in mind or just thought the melodic-sounding Welsh phrase fit the town is not known. The name of "Blacklick" for the creek that bisects the town and the adjacent township probably means much the same as "brook of coal", a lick being a common synonym for brook and the "black" referring to outcroppings of coal seams on the stream banks and bed.
By 1899 the huge coal deposits in the settlement had attracted additional settlers, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad installed a spur line through the community that year. Commercial mining was initiated in 1896 by Dr. James W. Dunwiddie of Pine Flats, Indiana County, who opened up what was then called Nanty Glo No. 1. Nanty Glo was described in the 1940
Pennsylvania guide as being "a valley coal town wrapped in a mist of sulphurous gas. Four large
bituminous coal mines support the town, which was founded in 1888 as a lumber camp. Rows of yellow shacks extend back from the central mine. Some, flanked by mine heaps, cling to the mountain sides."
Heisley Mine (1915) was by far the largest, most profitable, and longest-lived Nanty Glo mine. It was originally owned and operated by Coleman-Weaver Company as Heisley Mine No. 3 until 1922, when Coleman-Weaver dissolved and partner John Heisley Weaver, a
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
industrialist, acquired sole ownership. Colman-Weaver Company also originally owned the mines in
Revloc and Colver and launched the
Cambria and Indiana Railroad (C&I), which served most Cambria County mines through most of the 20th century. Weaver also owned the mines in
Heilwood, Indiana County, which was renamed from Possum Glory to Heilwood after Weaver's nickname, "Heil", from Heisley. Weaver died in 1934, and his company sold Heisley to Bethlehem Mines in 1948. Bethlehem renamed the mine Monroe Mine No. 131 and later renamed it Bethelehem Mine 31 and moved its main entrance from Nanty Glo to Jackson Township (Leidy Portal). The mine closed in the 1980s.
Other mines in what is now Nanty Glo and their starting dates included Lincoln (1900); Springfield, owned by the Peale, Peacock and Kerr Company (1907); Emma Coal Company (1909); and Webster, later owned by the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company, Ivory Hill, and the Warren Colliery. "House coal" mines on a much smaller scale (selling coal by the truckload directly to homeowners for house heating) included Lorraine, Bech, Johnson, Cornely, Dorsch, Yobbagy, and Ebandjieff.
Schools
Formal education came to Nanty Glo about 1898 with a school opening on what was then the Jackson side of the settlement. Later, a school was opened on the Blacklick or northerly side of the creek. Over the years, there were numerous one-room school houses, and in 1918 a fourth-class school district was established. The first four-year high school class was graduated in 1925. In 1957 the school district merged with that of nearby
Vintondale, and in 1967 Blacklick Township became part of a triple jointure to form the present Blacklick Valley School District. The Blacklick Valley Junior-Senior High School (grades seven through 12) is at 555 Birch Street, Nanty Glo. The Blacklick Valley Elementary Center (pre-kindergarten through grade six) is at 1000 W. Railroad, Nanty Glo.
Nanty Glo's churches, hotels, theaters, industries, media, fire company, and public library
The first house of worship in Nanty Glo was the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
, now
United Methodist
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
, established in 1901. Other places of worship in the community, past and present, include St. Mary's
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
(1902), First
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
(1913), St. Nicholas
Byzantine Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
(1919), Church of God (1920), Christian & Missionary Alliance and Holy Ascension
Ukrainian Orthodox
The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first C ...
(1921),
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germ ...
(1922) and
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, Lenexa within Johnson Cou ...
(1935). In the 1920s, a Kingdom Hall of
Jehovah's Witnesses, a Finnish
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
Church, and a Jewish
synagogue were started, all three of which no longer exist.
Over the years, Nanty Glo had several hotels, including the Home, St. James, Commercial, and Jackson. At one time Nanty Glo had three movie houses, two of which have been destroyed by fires. The third, the Liberty, is now being remodeled as the Blacklick Valley's historical museum.
In addition to coal mining, Nanty Glo had at various times a chemical works, soft drink bottling plant, plastic factory, and a dress manufacturing firm. All of these industries, along with all of the underground mines, have ceased operation.
Nanty Glo was incorporated as a borough in 1918, taking in parts of Blacklick Township and Jackson Township. After the city of Johnstown, Nanty Glo was the largest municipality in Cambria County, with a population of over 5,000, for most of the 20th century.
Nanty Glo ''Journal''
Two newspapers have served the borough during its history. In late 1920 or early 1921, a small publication called the Nanty Glo ''Bulletin'' was published. That paper was purchased by Herman Sedloff, a Russian emigre working as a typesetter in New York who moved to Nanty Glo specifically to establish a labor-oriented weekly newspaper. He published the first edition of the Nanty Glo ''Journal'' on May 5, 1921, and continued as its publisher until his retirement in the 1960s. The ''Journal'' continues to serve under new ownership.
Fire department
In 1913, the Nanty Glo Volunteer Fire Company was chartered. That same year, a hand-drawn hose cart with of hose was purchased by the town's governing body, and the fire company remains strong to the present time, having an enrollment now of over 100 members. A ladies' auxiliary to the fire company was organized in 1927 by 44 women of the community.
Nanty Glo Public Library
It was launched in 1980. After outgrowing several earlier locations, it now occupies a spacious former store building at 942 Roberts Street.
Historical society
The Nant-Y-Glo Tri-Area Museum and Historical Society was established in May, 2000, to serve Nanty Glo Borough, Blacklick Township, Jackson Township, and Vintondale. The former Liberty Theater building has been acquired and is now being refurbished to display historical artifacts of the Blacklick Valley. In 2012 the Society acquired the former Nanty Glo News (previously, Hawksworth Hardware) Building and refurbished it as the Liberty Cafe, a nonprofit enterprise supporting the Historical Society. Jim Toth is the project manager and treasurer.
Points of interest
Just one mile north of
U.S. Highway 22, Nanty Glo is the major entry point to the
Ghost Town Trail, a biking and walking trail that traverses much of Cambria County and adjacent
Indiana County along former railroad beds. Free parking is available next to the trail entrances on both sides of the Fire Hall in the town center.
The Liberty Museum is nearing completion at the former Liberty Theater at the intersection of Shoemaker and Roberts streets.
Cultural references
![Springfield mine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Springfield_mine.jpg)
Both ''Time'' and ''Life'' magazines did stories on Nanty Glo as their prime exhibit for their coverage of President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's taking control of the nation's coal mines after mine workers defied a congressional law by going on strike at the height of World War Two. The May 10, 1943, edition of ''Life'' features a photo essay by
Alfred Eisenstaedt
Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for ''Life'' magazine af ...
of miners' everyday lives in Nanty Glo.
The
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
has an extensive collection of photographs taken in a public works program of the mines and miners in Nanty Glo and nearby mining towns, taken during the
Great Depression. The figure of Levi Swanson is heavily praised, as he was the original founder.
Related outlying communities
Students attend public schools in Nanty Glo from Belsano, Cardiff/Nettleton, Twin Rocks, Vintondale, and rural Blacklick Township. Nanty Glo also serves as a major marketplace for Jackson and parts of Cambria Township.
International links
Nanty Glo has close links with its twinned sister town of
Nantyglo
Nantyglo () is a village in the ancient parish of Aberystruth and county of Monmouth situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Blaina and Brynmawr in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent.
Governance
An electoral ward in the same n ...
in Wales.
References
{{authority control
Populated places established in the 1890s
Boroughs in Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Welsh-American culture in Pennsylvania
Coal towns in Pennsylvania
1918 establishments in Pennsylvania