Calumet-Norvelt | |
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Unincorporated community | |
Etymology: Calumet Coke Company (Calumet) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Norvelt) | |
Coordinates: 40°12′49″N 79°29′35″W / 40.21361°N 79.49306°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | Westmoreland |
Township | Mount Pleasant |
Founded | 1888 (Calumet) and 1934 (Norvelt) |
Area | |
• Total | 1.5 sq mi (4 km2) |
• Land | 1.5 sq mi (4 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 1,000 ft (300 m) |
Population (2000) | |
• Total | 1,682 |
• Density | 1,100/sq mi (430/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 15621 (Calumet) and 15674 (Norvelt) |
Area code | 724 |
Calumet-Norvelt was a census-designated place (CDP) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community was divided into the two separate communities of Calumet and Norvelt for the 2010 census. Although the US Census treats Calumet and Norvelt as a single community, they are in reality two very different communities, each reflecting a different chapter in how the Great Depression affected rural Pennsylvanians. Calumet was a typical "patch town", built by a single company to house its miners as cheaply as possible. The closing of the Calumet mine during the Great Depression caused enormous hardship in an era when unemployment compensation and welfare payments were non-existent. On the other hand, Norvelt was created during the depression by the US federal government as a model community, intended to increase the standard of living of laid-off coal miners.