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History · Scalp Level

Scalp Level dates to 1835, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 121 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1900.

1835founded
1on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Scalp Level’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Scalp Level began

When was Scalp Level founded?

1835

Scalp Level dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 450 in 19002020 census: 744191 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓

What stands out about Scalp Level’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Berwind-White Mine 40 Historic District takes in 121 historic buildings.Old housesHalf of Scalp Level’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,950 in 1940; 744 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1889–1988.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 121 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
121
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Berwind-White Mine 40 Historic District
Berwind-White Mine 40 Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Utilitarian Industrial Buildings1
Vernacular Worker Housing1
Berwind-White Mine 40 Historic DistrictUtilitarian Industrial Buildings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Scalp Level came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scalp Level.

Read it all →

According to tradition, the town site was so named after a local property owner ordered his farmhands to "scalp them bushes level".

The Windber Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Scalp Level, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,950

Peaked at 1,950 in 1940; 744 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scalp Level’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Scalp Level, 1835 to 1988

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835
    FoundingScalp Level is established
  3. 1851Post officeThe Scalp Level post office opens
  4. 1889In the archiveScalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa
  5. 1899In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Scalp Level, Somerset And Cambria County, Pennsylvania. L…
  6. 20th century
  7. 1914Post officeThe Scalp Level post office closes
  8. 1916Born hereAlexander Ratiu is born here
  9. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,950
  10. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1988In the archiveVIEW OF EUREKA NO. 40 HOUSING - Town of Eureka No. 40, Eureka No. 40
By decade

Scalp Level, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s3 items
Scalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa1889Scalp Level, Cambria Co., PaScalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa1889Scalp Level, Cambria Co., PaSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Scalp Level, Somerset And Cambria County, Pennsylvania. LOC sanborn07950 0011899Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Scalp Level, Somerset…Map
1900s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
VIEW OF EUREKA NO. 40 HOUSING - Town of Eureka No. 40, Eureka No. 401988VIEW OF EUREKA NO. 40 HOUSING - Town of Eureka No. 40…
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown8 to date
Town of Eureka No. 40, Eureka No. 40Date?Town of Eureka No. 40, Eureka No. 40Eureka No. 40, Powerhouse, West side of State Route 160Date?Eureka No. 40, Powerhouse, West side of State Route 1…Eureka No. 40, East of State Route 56, north of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, East of State Route 56, north of Littl…Eureka No. 40, Fan House, East of State Route 56, north of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, Fan House, East of State Route 56, nor…Eureka No. 40, Wash House, East of State Route 56, North of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, Wash House, East of State Route 56, No…Eureka No. 40, Motor Barn, East of State Route 56, North of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, Motor Barn, East of State Route 56, No…Eureka No. 40, Sand House & Tank, East of State Route 56, North of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, Sand House & Tank, East of State Route…Eureka No. 40, Tipple & Cleaning Plant, East of State Route 56, north of Little Paint CreekDate?Eureka No. 40, Tipple & Cleaning Plant, East of State…
Today2 recent
A distant view, from a mountain overlook, of Scalp Level Mine No. 40, deep in the hillside forest near the settlement o…2019A distant view, from a mountain overlook, of Scalp Le…Somerset north of Orange in2015Somerset north of Orange in
On the map

Scalp Level on the map, 1953 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scalp Level. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Scalp Level on the 1953 USGS mapScalp Level on the 1964 USGS mapScalp Level on the 1981 USGS map1953Pittsburgh sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Scalp Level.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Scalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa
Retake this viewScalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa, 1889

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Scalp Level’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Scalp Level had its own post office from 1851 to 1914.

Scalp Level
1851–1914
18501940today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Scalp Level
FoustSaint Mary Byzantine CatholicSaints Cyril and Methodius II Catholic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Scalp Level’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scalp Level’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo8 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewScalp Level, Cambria Co., Pa: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Richland TownshipIts storyC+PaintIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Scalp Level’s history

What year was Scalp Level founded?

In 1835, according to Wikidata. Scalp Level’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1900 counted 450 people here.

What is on the National Register in Scalp Level?

One place: the Berwind-White Mine 40 Historic District (listed 1992).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.