Slickville was created in 1916-17 as a model coal town by the Cambria Steel Company and was named for company executive Edwin E. Slick. Until 1943, the five underground mines nearby produced around a half million tons of coal per year from the thick Pittsburgh seam, and the coal was shipped east by rail to fuel Cambria's steel mills in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Many of Slickville's red brick buildings were originally mining facilities, including the commissary near the Frank Pavlovich Pavilion and the power-house. The town also had well-built company houses along curved streets, a large red brick school, and a distinctive town sign atop its bony pile of mine tailings.