Yellow Dog Village is an abandoned mining town located seven miles west of Kittanning, Pennsylvania. The village once served as home to workers at the Buffalo Creek Mine, but after the mine’s closing final resident moved out in around 2011.
Throughout Pennsylvania, small communities were built as company towns for workers at nearby factories and mines. The homes at Yellow Dog Village were built the 1910s and 1920s to provide housing for those that worked at the mine.
The term yellow dog actually refers to an agreement between a company and its workers that the workers will not join a union, thus the village became known as Yellow Dog Village. The mining company went bankrupt during the Great Depression, leading to the village being sold multiple times.
Even though the town was only inhabited by miners for a small stretch of its lifespan — the mining company sold the village to a church in 1959. The population steadily declined from the 1970s onward due to plumbing and sewage issues, a problem not uncommon in Pennsylvania’s tiny mining villages.
The village itself thrived for many decades, and it wasn’t until recent years that the village fell into disrepair and outright abandon. The final catalyst for the abandonment of Yellow Dog Village was the housing boom, which led to bad financial decisions, and ultimately the water being shut off at the property. Between 2010 and 2014, the Yellow Dog Village sat abandoned and was heavily vandalized.
In December 2014, Joe Meyer travelled across Pennsylvania and purchased the abandoned site with a dream of transforming Yellow Dog Village into a historical camp, where visitors can learn about the area’s history and also spend the night.
Joe Meyer started offering tours of the site, mostly for people interested in taking photos or shooting video in the 16 abandoned homes he allows visitors to enter. He had a yellowdogvillage.com website to allow visitors to make pre-travel appointments and ask questions about abandoned town. If you are interested to visit abandoned Yellow Dog Village in Pennsylvania, you may contact the owner by e-mail through the yellowdogvillage.com website.
The owner recently began construction plus renovations on the very first line, which would be nearest toward the entry. Plans include creating lodging within the homes where guests can stay and experience life in the 20th century.
