Johnstown PA October 2006

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, October 2006

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My maternal grandmother used to tell of being sent to Johnstown as a young girl, on the train, to help an aunt who lived through the 1889 flood. I don't remember many of the details, and I was too young to take a serious interest and ask questions at the time.

I Googled her family name and Johnstown, and came up with some leads that may be interesting to pursue.

Despite marginal weather, and possible snow in the forecast, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city with my camera and felt like I only scratched the surface in nearly two days of walking around. I definitely hope to return in warmer weather, after doing some more research and with a good map.

Edit on May 26, 2007: I've received many thoughtful and informative emails from Johnstown residents and expatriates, and where appropriate, I've annotated some of the photos with information they provided.

Coming into Johnstown from Indiana on Pennsylvania 56, there's a pretty good overlook.

Site visitor Paul wrote, "... when you entered from Indiana, PA, the first pics you have up is of the Conemaugh Gap. It is the second deepest natural gorge East of the Mississippi River."

It seemed to me that starting about at Indiana, drivers were much more aggressive than I had experienced earlier in my trip. Everyone drove like they thought the two pedals, accelerator and brake, were to be jammed hard to the floor every time they were used. Even on side streets, they go as fast as they can until something gets in their way. I will acknowledge that they unfailingly yeild to pedestrians in zebra walks.

Not long after leaving Indiana, my impression was confirmed by a yellow diamond-shaped DOT sign warning, "Beware Aggressive Drivers." Apparently there's no hope of reforming them, so they just warn the unwary to watch out.

As I entered Johnstown through the West End, my attention was immediately caught by the imposing landmark churches. Given that they're still in use and apparently well-maintained, it's evident that they're still important focal points for the Slavic community.

Abandoned and underutilized industrial grit is pervasive in Johnstown.

I had to have a photo of this van, just because it's a splash of color on a dreary, soggy day.

Saint Mary's Greek Catholic Church, I think. The form of the Cyrillic script is somewhat unfamiliar to me, though. Perhaps it's an archaic form of Russian or Ukrainian?

Site visitor Ed writes, "... It is Pod Carpatska Rus (Sub Carpathian Rus) or in Latin --- Ruthenian. It was a League of Nations protectorate (Ruthenia) administered by Czechoslovakia btwn. WWI and WWII. It was taken over by Stalin in 1939 and absorbed in to Ukraine and the Greek Catholic Church (today Byzantine Catholic) was taken into the Orthodox Church. They vehemently claim they are Rusyn/Rusin. They are what is called "Little Rus" --- not Russian or Ukrainian."

Site visitor Stan writes, "That picture from the church is Cyrillic, it's just the form of it used before the orthographic reforms of 1917. The weird b looking symbol after the large 'deh' (second to last word on the bottom there), is yat, which is simply modern Russian ye. The diaresis over the M at the end of the last word on the top is odd, but as far as I know is simply an old mark used before the reform. I thought at first it was Church Slavonic, but it wouldn't make sense for them to use only one letter, so it's just a diacritic."

The Johnstown Inclined Plane is a must-see attraction. Completed in 1891, it is the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane. On more than one occasion, it has served a vital function in flood rescue operations.

The two cars run in opposition to each other, one descending while the other ascends, to counterbalance the weight handled by the hoisting machinery.

The observation platform and visitors' center offer a comprehensive overview of the city.

The notch straight ahead is the path by which the 1889 floodwaters came roaring down upon the city, a wall of water 35 feet high, laden with trees, wrecked buildings and debris, moving at 40 miles per hour.

Johnstown's handsome Pennsylvania Railroad Station is now used by Amtrak. The main waiting room was locked, and looks as though it might be set up now for use as a reception hall or other private facility. The station was clean and in fairly good condition as small-city Amtrak facilities go. Amtrak's westbound Pennsylvanian was due in a few minutes when I was there, so I waited around until about a half hour after train time in hopes of getting a photo. After I gave up and walked back downtown, I heard a deep rumble that sounded like Amtrak Genesis locomotives. I couldn't see from where I was.

I haven't been able to determine who the architect was for this station. William L. Price and his firm, Price-McLanahan, created most of the PRR stations from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and in some respects this reminds me of Fort Wayne's 1914 PRR station.

There seemed to be quite a lot of freight traffic on the line.

The trouble started here, where torrential rains and a clogged spillway caused Lake Conemaugh to overtop a rock and earth-fill dam. The seventy-two foot high dam ruptured suddenly, releasing in minutes the entire contents of two and a half mile-long Lake Conemaugh into the Little Conemaugh River and sending it hurtling toward Johnstown sweeping trees, houses and bridges before it.

A previous dam built at this location provided feedwater for the Pennsylvania Canal. The canal lapsed into disuse after the completion of the railroad through Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona. The old dam failed some years later, and was poorly rebuilt to create a private hunting and fishing club for an enclave of Pennsylvania's wealthiest industrial moguls. The top was later lowered three feet to provide a carriage road. So far as anyone was able to determine, all the work was done without the involvement of any engineers with professional expertise in dam construction and upkeep.

The three following photos show the breach that caused the 1889 flood.

A boom attached to the original bridge across the spillway was intended to catch floating debris and protect the spillway from clogging. It's thought that under the sudden, extreme high-water conditions caused by torrential rains, the boom actually may have contributed to the clogging of the spillway, sending water over the top of the dam.

The spillway was cut through solid rock so that it wouldn't be subject to erosion.

Lake Conemaugh filled the valley up to near the tree line on the opposite side, and extended for two and a half miles from this point.

The National Flood Memorial, operated by the National Park Service, includes the home of the man who was president of the South Fork Hunting & Fishing Club.

A visit to the Memorial is a moving experience. The historic photographs and the very good professionally-produced film gave me a better comprehension than I had previously of the real horror of the events of that day.

The visitors' center is patterned after the barn that once accompanied the house but that collapsed years ago.

Back to downtown: these photos were taken on Saturday, and there wasn't much activity.

Site visitor Ed wrote on May 8, 2007, "Only bldg. standing in this area now. It has finally been decided to demolish it."

Still occupied, despite the fact that part of the roof has collapsed.

Note the date. It's a flood survivor.

Much of downtown's former retail, like the industries that supported it, is in pretty rough shape. On the other hand, there's some impressive new construction taking place and the town overall is pretty clean and orderly. For an old industrial city on hard times, there's very little tagging and vandalism evident downtown.

Historic Central Park

Alma Hall, another flood survivor

Saint John Gaulbert is the Cathedral for the Johnstown/Altoona Diocese.

Site visitor Ed wrote, "The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese has two cathedrals. The main cathedral is in Altoona and it dwarfs this one."

Site visitor Patrick says, "... visit that Szechuan Restaurant for dinner. Order the Shrimp and Chicken Hunan style. I'm telling you, it's on the buffet in Heaven!"

This wasn't always a Ford dealership.

'Bye from fascinating Johnstown! I really want to go back.