Dec 14, 2014 3 min read

Nemacolin was once considered a model community.

The village was founded in 1917 by Buckey Coal Co., a subsidiary of Youngstown Iron, Sheet and Tube Co. of Youngstown, Ohio, to provide housing for company employees at the company’s new mine, which would open in 1918, according to G. Wayne Smith’s “History of Greene County Pennsylvania.”

The village included more than 400 residences, each with indoor plumbing and electricity. It had a school, theater, company store, hospital and later a swimming pool and tennis courts.

“It was an attractive community, and Nemacolin was to be widely and rightfully heralded as one of the finest mining communities in the world,” Smith wrote.

Today, this former model town might be described by some as blighted, drug-laden and beyond repair. However, many haven’t given up on it.

The Cumberland Township supervisors last week agreed to designate the township’s 2014 Community Block Grant of $102,627 to continue the housing rehabilitation program in Nemacolin.

The township’s 2013 CDBG money, a similar amount, also had been earmarked for rehabilitating homes in the village.

One township resident who attended the meeting last week at which the decision was made spoke about how easy it used to be to sell a house in Nemacolin because people wanted to live there, and what a shame it is the village was gone so far downhill.

It wasn’t the first time Nemacolin was discussed at a supervisors meeting. And, it wasn’t the first time it also was mentioned that many people are now trying to turn the village around.

The township, Nemacolin Inc., Nemacolin Neighbors United, township police, the county and others have all taken part in working to improve the community.

It is encouraging to us to see the commitment the community and its residents have made to ensure this village does not become a boarded-up ghost town.

In the last year or two, community meetings have been held to create a vision for a revitalized community. Those meetings have been attended by residents who want to see the community grow and prosper.

Others who attended the gatherings include the county commissioners, supervisors, police and representatives of Greene County Human Services. An assessment completed by the county’s drug and alcohol program identified Nemacolin as one most in need of help to overcome a growing heroin problem.

From these meetings, Nemacolin Neighbors United was formed, not only to continue the conversation but to take actions to foster community spirit and community involvement.

In addition to earmarking the township’s CDBG money for housing rehabilitation in Nemacolin, the supervisors earlier hired a consultant to develop a community revitalization strategy for the village.

It was noted at last week’s meeting CDBG money can be used only on houses that are owner-occupied and whose occupants meet income eligibility guidelines.

The basic grant for each house is $20,000, which will allow the township to do only four or five homes with the 2014 allocation.

That may not seem like much, but as Marcia Sonneborn, the township’s CDBG administrator said, “You have to start somewhere.”

Sonneborn also commented on efforts to revitalize the community, assuring residents the problem was not being ignored. At the same time, she said, “It’s not going to happen overnight.”