Editing Windber, Pennsylvania

{{short description|Borough in Pennsylvania, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
 | official_name            = Windber, Pennsylvania
 | other_name               =
 | native_name              =
 | nickname                 =
 | settlement_type          = [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|Borough]]
 | motto                    =
 | image_skyline            = Borough building in Windber.jpg
 | imagesize                = 250px
 | image_caption            = Municipal building
 | image_flag               =
 | flag_size                =
 | image_seal               =
 | seal_size                =
 | image_shield             =
 | shield_size              =
 | image_blank_emblem       =
 | blank_emblem_size        =
<!-- Location ------------------>
 | subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
 | subdivision_name         = [[United States]]
 | subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
 | subdivision_name1        = [[Pennsylvania]]
 | subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Pennsylvania|County]]
 | subdivision_name2        = [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Somerset]]
 | government_footnotes     =
 | government_type          = Borough Council
 | leader_title             = Mayor
 | leader_name              = Mike Thomas
 | leader_title1            =
 | leader_name1             =
 | leader_title2            =
 | leader_name2             =
 | leader_title3            =
 | leader_name3             =
 | leader_title4            =
 | leader_name4             =
 | established_title        = Settled
 | established_date         = 1897
 | established_title1       = Incorporated
 | established_date1        = July 3, 1900
 | area_magnitude           =
 | unit_pref                = Imperial
 | area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_42.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 28, 2020}}</ref>
 | area_total_km2           = 5.12
 | area_land_km2            = 5.12
 | area_water_km2           = 0.00
 | area_total_sq_mi         = 1.98
 | area_land_sq_mi          = 1.98
 | area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
 | area_water_percent       =
 | population_as_of         = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
 | population_footnotes     = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021">{{cite web |title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020—2021 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=July 25, 2022}}</ref>
 | population_note          =
 | population_total         = 3930 {{decrease}}
 | population_density_km2   = 745.01
 | population_density_sq_mi = 1929.22
 | timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
 | utc_offset               = -5
 | timezone_DST             = EDT
 | utc_offset_DST           = -4
 | coordinates              = {{coord|40|14|07|N|78|49|51|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
 | elevation_footnotes      =
 | elevation_m              =
 | elevation_ft             =
 | postal_code_type         = [[Zip code]]
 | postal_code              = 15963
 | area_code                = [[Area code 814|814]]
 | website                  = [http://windber.com/ Windber Borough]
 | footnotes                =
 | pop_est_as_of            = 2021
 | pop_est_footnotes        = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
 | population_est           = 3893
 | blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
 | blank_info               = 42-85632
 | image_map                = File:Somerset County Pennsylvania Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Windber Highlighted.svg
 | map_caption              = Location of Windber in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
}}

'''Windber''' is a [[borough]] in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania]], United States, which is located approximately {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} south of [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]]. The population was 3,930 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]. A former manufacturing town, Windber is part of the [[Johnstown, PA MSA|Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

==History==
Windber was established in 1897 as a [[company town]] for nearby coal mines in the vicinity of Johnstown. The establishment was overseen by coal barons Charles and [[Edward Julius Berwind]], owners of the [[Berwind Corporation]]; the name "Windber" simply switches the order of the two syllables in the family name "Berwind".<ref>{{cite book|last=Espenshade|first=A. Howry|title=Pennsylvania Place Names|url=https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniaplac00espe/page/237/|year=1925|publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University|Pennsylvania State College]]|location=[[State College, Pennsylvania|State College, PA]]|page=237}}</ref> The Berwind-White Coal Mining Company imported workers from eastern and southern Europe and exploited ethnic divisions in the area (which had been settled by Germans and Irish in the 19th century).

On Good Friday 1922 during the [[UMW General coal strike (1922)|UMW General coal strike]], coal miners walked out of the mines in Windber and several nearby locations in Somerset County, attempting to force the mine owners to recognize their [[United Mine Workers]] union, as well as accurately weigh the coal they mined.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |author=Kanarek, Harold K. |year=1975 |title=The Pennsylvania Anthracite Strike of 1922 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20090945 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=207–225 }}</ref><ref name=":1" />
[[File:UMWA Strike Meeting, Bantley Place, Scalp Level, PA 1922.jpg|thumb|right|Mass meeting of more than 3,000 striking coal miners held near Windber, PA in September 1922]]
The company employed legal tactics (the United States Supreme Court decided two lawsuits) as well as strike-breakers, but the miners received considerable favorable national publicity and local support and held out until the end of the following summer.<ref name=":1">historic marker at http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2CF</ref><ref name=":0" /> However, the UMW successfully organized the mines during 1933, after the [[Great Depression]] led to the election of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

The Vintage Electric Streetcar Company, popularly called the "trolley graveyard", is located in Windber. The private scrapyard houses a number of [[PCC streetcar]]s and other transit equipment from systems like the [[MBTA Green Line]], which are sold for reuse or scrapped for parts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/untagged/2015/09/06/why-are-old-green-line-trolleys-wasting-away-in-rural-pennsylvania |title=Why are old Green Line trolleys wasting away in rural Pennsylvania? |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=September 6, 2015 |first=Amanda |last=Hoover |access-date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>

The [[Windber Historic District]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1991.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

==Geography==
Windber is located at {{Coord|40|14|7|N|78|49|51|W|type:city}} (40.235161, -78.830864).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the borough has a total area of {{convert|2.1|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=right
|1910= 8013
|1920= 9462
|1930= 9205
|1940= 9057
|1950= 8010
|1960= 6994
|1970= 6332
|1980= 5585
|1990= 4756
|2000= 4395
|2010= 4138
|2020= 3930
|estyear=2021
|estimate=3893
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
|footnote=Sources:<ref name="USDecennialCensus">{{cite web|title=Census of Population and Housing|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref><ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref><ref name=CensusPopEst>{{cite web|title=Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012.html|work=Population Estimates|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 4,395 people, 2,019 households, and 1,185 families residing in the borough.

The [[population density]] was {{convert|2,118.8|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people&nbsp;|people}}. There were 2,177 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1,049.5|/mi2|/km2}}.

The racial makeup of the borough was 99.29% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.07% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.09% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.02% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.16% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.36% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.57% of the population.

There were 2,019 households, out of which 25.1% had children under the age of eighteen living with them; 43.3% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.6% had someone living alone who was sixty-five years of age or older.

The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of eighteen, 6.7% from eighteen to twenty-four, 25.3% from twenty-five to forty-four, 22.1% from forty-five to sixty-four, and 24.6% who were sixty-five years of age or older. The median age was forty-three years.

For every one hundred females, there were 85.4 males. For every one hundred females who were aged eighteen or older, there were 81.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $23,261, and the median income for a family was $31,860. Males had a median income of $24,861 compared with that of $18,886 for females.

The [[per capita income]] for the borough was $15,078.

Roughly 11.9% of families and 11.1% of the population were living below the [[poverty line]], including 13.5% of those who were under the age of eighteen and 8.8% of those who were aged sixty-five or older.
{{clear left}}

==Education==
Windber is served by the [[Windber Area School District]].

==Entertainment==
The nearby [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania#Landmarks|Silver Drive-In]] first opened in 1962.<ref name="four">(12 June 2009). [http://tribune-democrat.com/features/x519194516/Reel-success-County-Amusement-noting-60-years-in-movie-business Reel success - County Amusement noting 60 years in movie business], ''[[The Tribune-Democrat]]''</ref> While other such facilities in the area have closed over the course of years, the Silver survived through public outcry over proposals to close and demolish it, making a comeback in 2005.<ref name="one">(12 December 2008). [http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x519180344/Silver-screen-saved Silver screen saved], ''[[The Tribune-Democrat]]''</ref><ref name="two">(11 August 2006). [http://tribune-democrat.com/events/x519129916/Artists-touch-adds-character-s-to-drive-in Artist's touch adds character (s) to drive-in], ''[[The Tribune-Democrat]]''</ref><ref name="three">(7 September 2008). [http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x519172764/Silver-Drive-In-owner-mulls-rezoning-sale?keyword=topstory Silver Drive-In owner mulls rezoning, sale], ''[[The Tribune-Democrat]]''</ref>  It is now the only [[drive-in theater]] in the [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]] region.

== Notable people ==
* [[Jim Bonfanti]], drummer for the [[Raspberries (band)|Raspberries]]
* [[Bill Elko]], professional football player, nephew of Frank Kush<ref name="si">{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1983/08/22/618992/at-last-some-d-for-san-diego|title=At Last, Some D For San Diego – Sports Illustrated Vault|website=SI.com|access-date=December 10, 2020}}</ref>
* [[Alan Freed]], radio disc jockey who coined the term "Rock and Roll"
* [[Dave Geisel]], retired MLB player
* [[Mark A. Heckler]], President of [[Valparaiso University]]
* [[Gene Heeter]], professional football player
* [[Rebekah Jones]], geographer, data scientist, and activist
* [[Frank Kostro]], retired MLB player
* [[Frank Kush]], football coach
* [[Johnny Weissmuller]], Olympic swimmer and Hollywood star
* [[J. Irving Whalley]], United States congressman

==See also==
{{portal|Pennsylvania}}
* [[List of boroughs in Pennsylvania]]
* [[List of geographic names derived from anagrams and ananyms]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Windber, Pennsylvania}}
* [http://www.windber.com Borough website]
* [http://www.windberschools.org Windber Area School District]
* {{HAER |survey=PA-322 |id=pa3048 |title=Town of Windber}}

{{Somerset County, Pennsylvania}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Boroughs in Somerset County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1897]]
[[Category:Company towns in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Berwind Corporation]]