The story of West Overton Village begins with Henry Overholt, his wife and twelve children emigrating from Bucks County, PA to the Jacobs Creek area of Westmoreland County, PA (West Overton Village) in April, 1800. They settled with other Mennonites who were in the area.
The first business conducted at the village was distilling rye whiskey in a very small distillery built from logs. By 1803, Henry owned 260 acres along what is now Route 819 between the communities of Scottdale and Mount Pleasant.
Henry’s son, Abraham, was a master weaver who then became an elder in the Mennonite church. He also began the commercial distilling operation at West Overton which included Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey. As the industry continued to develop, the village became completely self-sufficient and there was zero waste as part of the distilling industry.
When you visit West Overton, you will have the opportunity to step into the Distillery, built in 1859, in which Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey was produced.
You will have the opportunity to visit the historic Abraham Overholt Homestead, built in 1838, and step into the very rooms in which Abraham and Mariah Overholt spent their time; you will see the accounting desk used by Abraham along with the preservation efforts made by Helen Clay Frick upon her purchase of the site in 1922.
You can see how the village represents the transformation of American culture from an agrarian society with the production of the coverlets manufactured at West Overton and the Distilling operation to the Industrial society with the excavation of coal and ultimately the production of coke, a necessary ingredient for steel. You will also step into the Spring House that served as the birthplace of Henry Clay Frick in 1849.
