Formed where two ridge roads cross, Sigel was founded in 1828 to serve the lumber companies as they worked their way across northern Pennsylvania, clear-cutting the virgin timber. In the 1880s, there were two hotels and a blacksmith shop, and two stores owned by Henry Truman. His general store remains, serving the locals who work on strip mines and gas wells and in lumbering, as well as the hunters, anglers, and hikers enjoying the outdoors in the nearby state and national forests. The town is so small that its water is supplied by Brookville and its children are bussed there for school. But like nearly every small town in western Pennsylvania, there is a grange, a volunteer fire department, and a Methodist and a Presbyterian church. The former is the Gothic Revival Sigel United Methodist Church (c. 1900; 8666 PA 949), and the latter is Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church (c. 1900; 7320 PA 36).
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