Hi, welcome to our town. We encourage you to visit our local museum, the Windber Area Museum, at 15th. St. in Windber. It is the first home that was ever constructed, in 1864, on the Shaffer farm land. It is now the heart of Windber. The old farm house is kept as closely as possible to the days of long ago when the dirt buggy roads led to the only home that could be seen by a lamp light in the widow. It is situated between the historic areas of Scalp Level & Rummel with nothing but the vast woodlands between. As the Berwind White Coal Company came into town, about 1897, they bought up the Shaffer farm land and established the town, now known as Windber. Now the German farmers, called the Pennsylvania Dutch, were neighbors to miners who came from all countries. Soon the town was called the Metropolis of Somerset County, Pa. Wonderful stores, bakeries, a brewery, fancy items not sold in the area ever before, became the highlight of a Saturday night on the town where the Band Stand was the center for the musicians in town. When World War I and World War II were fought the boys of the Windber area were among the first to answer the president’s call for help. Today we have stories of their brave acts of courage that must be preserved. We have the wonderful blending of the different religions, Catholics and Protestants, their special foods, and customs. We are attempting to save the history of these people who paved the way for us today. The miners struggled with the coal companies, their lives were difficult. We are trying to keep the stories about the families who became great friends so that today the families are intermarried and have a wonderful history of their ancestors. We hope to keep that history alive for many generations yet to come.

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