Commodore

History

Commodore was founded in 1919 by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad. It was named in honor of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of that railroad. (Vanderbilt was known by the nickname or unofficial rank of Commodore due to his background as a riverboat owner.) The town was created as a "model town", with a higher caliber of worker housing than other coal mining communities. Houses were constructed of concrete block, not wood. Also, the houses had toilets and the community had a sewer system, which were unusual in comparison to neighboring mining communities. Streets were named after executives of the coal company: F.E. Herriman (President), John Fisher (Vice President), H.B. Douglas (Assistant to the President), A.J. Musser (General Manager), and H.J. Hinterleitner (General Superintendent). The town and its initial buildings were designed by Paul Gill, an engineer of the coal company. The community was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Commodore Historic District on August 26, 1994. The national Historic district has 94 contributing buildings.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Marion Center Area JR/SR HS
  High · Marion Center · 557 students · 13:1 ratio
• Purchase Line JSHS
  High · Commodore · 395 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Penns Manor Area JSHS
  High · Clymer · 391 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• Purchase Line El Sch
  Elementary · Commodore · 386 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• W.A. McCreery El Sch
  Elementary · Marion Center · 341 students · 10:1 ratio
• Penns Manor Area El Sch
  Elementary · Clymer · 332 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• Rayne El Sch
  Elementary · Home · 288 students · 12:1 ratio