Eckley is an historic mining community established in the 19th century to house migrant coal workers. It has a few residents today but the houses are mostly abandoned. The village is maintained as a 'museum' by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Some of the buildings have been reconstructed or restored while others have slowly deteriorated over the years.

Ephrata Cloister is also an historic community maintained by the PA Historical and Museum Commission. Ephrata was established in the 1730s as a utopian religious community founded by the charismatic spiritual leader Conrad Beissel, born in Germany in 1691. Ephrata was an attempt to escape from the world so members of the group could work toward attaining paradise by regimented labor and meditation. Core members of the brotherhood were celibate, others were married couples known as householders who also followed Beissel's teachings. The Ephrata brotherhood operated a printing press and were also famous for their music and German calligraphic writing. The community gradually deteriorated after the death of Beissel in 1768. The last celibate member died in 1813, a few Householder members continued to live in Ephrata until 1934.