Our Mission and History

Our Mission

The mission of West Overton Village is sharing our history to cultivate personal connections and forge pathways to the future. We strive to uphold the values of accountability, collaboration, equity, scholarship, stewardship, and transparency. With thoughtful planning, the assistance of peer organizations, community neighbors, and friends, West Overton will continue to grow and thrive for generations to come.

Our Story

West Overton Village is a nonprofit historic site and museum that illustrates the rise of the American Industrial Revolution. The Overholts, a Mennonite family, transformed their farm into an industrial powerhouse over the course of the 19th century. West Overton supported a distilling complex that produced one of the country’s oldest and most renowned rye whiskey brands, along with a commercial coverlet factory, a gristmill, a coal mine with 110 coke ovens, and a community of agricultural and industrial workers. West Overton native Henry Clay Frick left his fortune to his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, who purchased the property in 1922 as a way to memorialize her father.

Today, West Overton Village preserves 19 historic buildings across 40 acres and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can tour the 1838 Overholt Homestead, the museum in the 1859 distillery building, and the educational distillery in which West Overton Village produces its own Monongahela rye whiskey for the first time since Prohibition. 
 

Our Work

West Overton Village achieves its mission by…

• Preserving and interpreting the buildings, landscapes, and stories of historic West Overton.
• Sharing the history of West Overton Village through guided tours of the historic site.
• Providing hands-on educational programs for families, schools, and groups.
• Maintaining a collection and archives associated with the history of West Overton Village.
• Curating exhibitions that tell stories of West Overton Village.
• Distilling whiskey in the tradition of the Overholts at our Educational Distillery.
• Supporting scholarly research by historians and students.
• Collaborating with local historical societies, nonprofits, and community organizations.