The 1930 federal census of Nemacolin (Enumerator District 30-6) is publicly available online. I downloaded the 66 sheets with 50 lines per sheet – one line per person. That is a total of 3300 people – 549 houses and 580 families. Note that boarders did not count as a family, e.g., you might have three boarders in your family house, but it was counted as one family. Joseph Sertich had 34 boarders!
Questions asked were
• Name• Personal
a. Sex• Education
a. Attend school?
b. Read and write?
• Birth Place
a. Person
b. Father
c. Mother
• Language spoken at home
• Citizenship
a. Year immigration?
b. Naturalized?
c. Speak English?
• Occupation
• Industry
The enumerator was W. H. Glover who lived in town and was a stenographer in the mine office. He started the interviews on Wednesday, April 2nd and finished on April 25th. He started on Pershing Blvd at the Superintendent’s house, he then did the doctor, the engineer and the Company Store manager and proceeded down Pershing Blvd into town later starting on Diaz Ave at house #2. He finished Foch Circle on the 3rd ended and started in on East Wood Ave. On the 4th he started East Bliss Ave, went to Petain Ave and started West Wood Ave. and finished there on the 5th. Later on the fifth he started East Bliss Ave, went to West Bliss on the 5th, the 7th and the 8th. He started March Ave on the 8th, finished on the 9th and went to Hilltop Court on the 10th. It was Sheridan Ave on the 11th and 12th and started Grant Avenue on the 12th. On the 14th it was Township Road and he went back to Grant Avenue on the 16th and 17th, including Dewey on the 17th. He finished Grant Ave on the 18th as well as Sherman Ave. He did Roosevelt Ave on the 19th and finished Township Road on the 21st, 24th and 25th. All questions related to the status as it was on April 1, 1930.
The number of Nemacolin houses enumerated in the census was 459 with 2623 inhabitants - an average of 5.7 persons per house. Another 243 houses were enumerated outside Nemacolin - Jew Hill, Nemacolin Road and the adjoining farms with another 1200 inhabitants.
Nemacolin residents born outside of the USA numbered 527 in Nemacolin and an additional 144 outside of town. I count 205 naturalized citizens and 365 aliens in Nemacolin in 1930. The large number of aliens is notable as most were in the country long enough to be naturalized, i.e., declare intent to be a citizen and wait the required five years for the naturalization interview. There were 104 residents listed as "First Papers" i.e., having completed the "Declaration of Intent" to become a citizen. This group had one female. Females accounted for 168 of the aliens and may have simply ignored the process. This was common with many immigrants but was a grave mistake for some when during WW II enemy aliens were interned. It was not a requirement of the Declaration of Intent to be able to speak English. It was about establishing identity, where you were from, where and when you landed and your current circumstances. You often brought along someone from your community to speak in your behalf. The Naturalization interview required some ability to understood questions and answer and show a knowledge of basic American institutions and values.
There were 473 residents having a mother born in Czechoslovakia and all of these were Slovak with 16 of them speaking Russian (sic) which I'm betting is Rusyn (or as they say in PA - "Rooshin"). Polish born residents were 115 in number. They were born in Germany, Russia or Austria but most answered "Poland" as it had been reincarnated in 1918. Four residents spoke Kurdish and two spoke Vendish. Those residents unable to read and write numbered 130, mostly aliens, but not entirely. There were 40 residents that could not speak English - 5 of these were Naturalized Citizens and 1 with First Papers. First generation born in USA but with parents born outside USA numbered 792 in Nemacolin and another 176 in the surroundings. To get an estimate of the ethnic influence of 1930 Nemacolin I would add the 527 born outside of the USA to the 792 first generation for a total of 1319 - half of the town was from a foreign country of their parents were.
I transcribed these into Excel format and have placed the result on the nemacolin.net website.
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