 Norvelt, originally named Westmoreland Homesteads, was created April 13, 1934, as one of a series of “subsistence homesteads” under the National Industrial Recovery Act.These communities were intended to allow rural inhabitants to have an improved quality of living, while largely growing their own food.It was hoped that these new communities would raise the standard of living for unemployed coal miners from nearby Calumet and similar "patch towns" in the area.