Exploring Yellow Dog Village | PA’s Best Ghost Town!

Yellow Dog Village is Pennsylvania's Best Ghost Town.

If you’re looking for information about Yellow Dog Village, Pennsylvania’s best ghost town, you’re in the right place!

Yellow Dog Village closed in 2009 due to water contamination.
Yellow Dog Village closed in 2009 due to unsafe drinking water.

Yellow Dog Village is a former mining company town dating back to the early 1900s that now serves as a time capsule and tourist attraction in Armstrong County, PA.

Duplexes along the north side of Yellow Dog Village.
Duplexes along the north side of the village.

Unlike many so-called “ghost towns” that amount to little more than a sign and the remnants of a few foundations, Yellow Dog Village is a collection of 26 buildings and a park where people lived and played for nearly 100 years.

The scoreboard at the now-abandoned baseball field at Yellow Dog Village.
The scoreboard at the now-abandoned baseball field.

The History of Yellow Dog Village

Yellow Dog Village was built by the Pittsburgh Limestone Company for its workers in rural Armstrong County.

The Pittsburgh Limestone Company mine workers who lived in Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong Company.
The Pittsburgh Limestone Company mine workers who lived in the village.

Workers who resided in the village promised not to unionize or strike, and were labeled as “yellow dogs” by pro-union miners.

Pittsburgh Limestone Company built Yellow Dog Village for its workers between 1910 and 1930.
Pittsburgh Limestone Company built the village for its workers between 1910 and 1930.

But rather than chafe at the criticism from union miners, the workers who lived here embraced the insult, and called their home Yellow Dog Village in response.

An undated public domain image of Yellow Dog Village in its heyday.
An undated public domain image of the village in its heyday.

After the mines closed in the 1950s, the village was renamed Shadyside Village, and many of the miners found other work in the area and continued to reside here.

Yellow Dog Village was later renamed Shadyside Village after the limestone mines closed in the 1950s.
The village was later renamed Shadyside Village after the limestone mines closed in the 1950s.

Residents of Shadyside Village started getting sick in the early 2000s, and in 2009 residents were forced to leave after it was determined that the village’s water supply was contaminated with E. Coli bacteria.

The family room of a home at Yellow Dog Village.
The family room of a home.

The village sat abandoned for a few years, leading to the inevitable vandalism and environmental damage to set in.

Vines growing through a bathroom window at Yellow Dog Village.
Vines growing through a bathroom window.

In 2014 a former history teacher purchased the entire village, with the aim of turning it into a living history museum representing life in a company town 100 years ago.

Front porch of a duplex at Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong County Pennsylvania.
Front porch of a duplex in the former company town.

Those plans did not come to fruition, and the village changed hands yet again.

One of the single family homes on the south side of Yellow Dog Village.
One of the single family homes on the south side of the village.

The current owner, whom I had the pleasure of touring the village with in March 2023, has a slightly different vision for Yellow Dog Village.

The current owner of Yellow Dog Village.
The current owner of Yellow Dog Village.

The new plan is to rehabilitate some of the homes to turn them into vacation rentals, while preserving others and returning them to their early 1900s appearance.

A fire hydrant along a street at Yellow Dog Village.
A fire hydrant along a street at the village.

Of course renovations cost money, and to help generate some of those funds, Yellow Dog Village is now open for paid tours and photo excursions.

Time and moisture have not been kind to the paint inside the homes at Yellow Dog Village.
Time and moisture have not been kind to the paint inside the homes.

Appealing to both history buffs and “urban explorers”, I’ll provide you with a link to book your own tour of Yellow Dog Village at the end of this article.

An American flag on one of the front porches at Yellow Dog Village.
An American flag still flies from one of the front porches at the village.

What You’ll See at Yellow Dog Village

The 32-acre property lies along the eastern slope of Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River.

Satellite view of Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
Satellite view of Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong County.

At the top of the hill sits the former mine manager’s house, which is where the current owner has taken up residence.

The mine manager's home at the top of the hill at Yellow Dog Village.
The mine manager’s home at the top of the hill.

A former boarding house also sits near the top of the hill, just east of the mine manager’s house.

Front side of the boarding house at Yellow Dog Village.
Front side of the boarding house.

A small barn/stable stands on the southeastern corner of the property.

A small barn on the east side of Yellow Dog Village.
A small barn on the southeast side of the village.

Downhill from these three structure sit four rows of homes, a combination of duplexes and single-family homes.

Yellow Dog Village featured a mixture of duplexes and single family homes.
The village featured a mixture of duplexes and single family homes.

All but a few of the homes are open to visitors; those few that aren’t are closed because the roofs are too far gone to safely enter them.

One of the single family homes in Yellow Dog Village.
One of the single family homes in the village.

Even the homes that are open require caution while you explore them (and yes – you have so sign a waiver before touring them).

A blue guitar inside one of the homes at Yellow Dog Village.
A blue guitar inside one of the homes.

Because many of the last residents of Yellow Dog Village left in a hurry once it was discovered that the water was contaminated, you’ll find a variety of personal effects inside the homes.

Many of the items left behind by former residents of Yellow Dog Village date back to the 1980s and 90s.
Many of the residents left behind their personal effects when the village was abandoned.

Some of the homes were abandoned in the 1980s, with former residents leaving behind murals of the era.

A Poison mural on a bedroom wall at Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong County Pennsylvania.
A Poison mural on a bedroom wall.

While other homes are virtual time capsules of the early 2000s.

A child's bedroom at Yellow Dog Village.
A child’s bedroom from the early 2000s.

The equivalent of electronic dinosaurs are present throughout the village.

A "vintage" television at a home in Yellow Dog Village.
A “vintage” television at a home in the village.

The basements of several homes contain the original pantries from when the homes were first built.

A basement pantry in one of the homes at Yellow Dog Village in Armstrong County Pennsylvania.
A basement pantry in one of the homes.

Outside you’ll find crumbling streets, moss-covered roofs, and vegetation growing wild.

Looking down one of the streets at Yellow Dog Village.
Looking down one of the streets in the vllage.

At the bottom of the hill next to Buffalo Creek, you’ll find the remains of the village park.

Entrance to the former park adjacent to Yellow Dog Village.
Entrance to the former park.

A playground and a baseball field are now being slowly reabsorbed by the Earth.

The former playground at Yellow Dog Village.
The former village playground.

No matter where you go, the ghosts of Yellow Dog Village’s past never seem to be far away.

Many residents left Yellow Dog Village so hastily that they abandoned numerous personal items.
Reminders of the village’s prior residents are everywhere.

Touring Yellow Dog Village

As mentioned previously, paid tours of Yellow Dog Village are now available several times a month, with the proceeds being used to help repair some of the homes.

Yellow Dog Village is situated on the slope of a hill overlooking Buffalo Creek in Armstrong County.
Village tours are offered several times a month.

You can check out the tour schedule and book a visit on the Yellow Dog Village Facebook page.

An abandoned organ inside one of the homes at Yellow Dog Village.
An abandoned organ inside one of the homes.

The price to tour Yellow Dog Village is $30 per person, and as mentioned you DO have to sign a waiver and it is EXPLORE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

A "Life Saver" decal on a bedroom window at Yellow Dog Village.
A “Life Saver” decal on a bedroom window.

But when it comes to historical significance and sheer wow factor, Yellow Dog Village may be the most complete ghost town in Pennsylvania!

Chickens roam freely at Yellow Dog Village in 2023.
Chickens roam freely at Yellow Dog Village in 2023.

Related Attractions

Concrete City is another Pennsylvania ghost town, once considered to be a “community of the future” due to its unique concrete construction.

The 4 duplexes on the northern edge of Concrete City.
Four duplexes on the northern edge of Concrete City.

The Rise and Fall of Centralia | PA’s Toxic Ghost Town details the calamitous events that saw a once-thriving coal-country community into descend into near-total abandonment.

A collage of photos taken in Centralia, known as Pennsylvania's toxic ghost town because of an underground coal mine fire that has been burning under the town since 1962.
Scenes from Centralia.

33 Abandoned Places in PA You Can Legally Explore is your guide to some of Pennsylvania’s best abandoned prisons, tunnels, highways, and factories.

Sideling Hill Tunnel on the Abandoned PA Turnpike in September 2020.
Sideling Hill Tunnel on the Abandoned PA Turnpike.

Nearby Attractions

5 Must-See Attractions in Butler County is your guide to some of the best things to see and do in Armstrong County’s neighbor to the west.

This collage features four distinct images from Butler County, Pennsylvania: Top left: A tranquil lakeside scene with a picnic bench under the shade of green trees, overlooking calm waters with hills in the distance. Top right: A whimsical outdoor sculpture resembling a classic UFO, placed on a lawn in front of a row of local businesses including the Grand Avenue Salon and China House. Bottom left: An angular, futuristic-looking building with metallic panels, suggesting an avant-garde architectural style, under a cloudy sky. Bottom right: An intricately carved white statue of a deity flanked by two large, ornate dragon sculptures, displayed in a museum or gallery with informative placards. Each photo represents a unique aspect of the cultural and aesthetic diversity found in Butler County, from natural beauty and public art to innovative architecture and artistic exhibits.
Scenes from Butler County, PA.

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Rusty Glessner
Rusty Glessner is a professional photographer, lifelong Pennsylvanian, and a frequently-cited authority on PA's best travel destinations.