Calumet-Norvelt, Pennsylvania

Calumet-Norvelt
Unincorporated community
Norvelt Post Office and Norvelt Union Church Mount Pleasant Road
Norvelt Post Office and Norvelt Union Church
Mount Pleasant Road
Etymology: Calumet Coke Company (Calumet) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Norvelt)
Calumet-Norvelt is located in Pennsylvania
Calumet-Norvelt
Calumet-Norvelt
Location of Calumet-Norvelt in Pennsylvania
Calumet-Norvelt is located in the United States
Calumet-Norvelt
Calumet-Norvelt
Calumet-Norvelt (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°12′49″N 79°29′35″W / 40.21361°N 79.49306°W / 40.21361; -79.49306
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyWestmoreland
TownshipMount Pleasant
Founded1888 (Calumet) and 1934 (Norvelt)
Area
 • Total1.5 sq mi (4 km2)
 • Land1.5 sq mi (4 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation
1,000 ft (300 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total1,682
 • Density1,100/sq mi (430/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
15621 (Calumet) and 15674 (Norvelt)
Area code724

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.