Johnstown Flood National Memorial

OK, I am a couple days late with this.  I completely forgot to write my blog entry on Sunday, then Mom and I went to dinner with my nephew Dan and his friend Nick, and then it was too late.  Apologies to all those that are impatiently waiting.  Here it is.

So if you go back and reread the blog on the Portage Railroad and the Flight 93 Memorial, you can get caught up on the rest of the weekend.  But this entry is for Johnstown, PA, the Flood Museum, the Incline and the National Memorial.

After visiting the Portage Railroad, and the Horseshoe curve, Lori P, Buddy and I found our way to Johnstown.  We were staying at the Holiday Inn in downtown, so we could walk around the town and flood zone without having to worry about finding parking.  We checked into the hotel and everything seemed normal.  Got into our room, changed for dinner and upon exiting the elevator for dinner walked into a Priest Convention.  Yes you heard me, a Priest Convention.  Apparently, this was the weekend of the Eastern Orthodox Conclave (they elected a new Bishop), and the lobby was full on Holy men in black robes.  Now Lori and I are known for causing havoc and mayhem when we travel, but who told Johnstown to be prepared?

Our dinner was wonderful, and, since we do nothing cheap, a little pricey.  We had entertainment also,  for there was a small pianist by the bar playing.  We planned out our journey for the next day, including a walk to a little breakfast place that is frequented by every local union in Johnstown.  By the time we had our meals, the place was packed with a line out the door waiting to get in and get served.  The food was AWESOME.  The Johnstown Coney Island is a big hit with the locals.  I recommend trying it.

After breakfast we walked around the town.  Did the walking tour that most in the Johnstown Visitors center recommend.  It is well worth it.  You get to see several buildings that survived the 1889 flood, the Town Hall has markers representing the three major floods, and then there is Morley's Dog.  This is a great story.  I first, I thought this was an actual dog, but it was a cast-iron dog, that the flood ripped off its anchor.  After the water's cleared, the dog was found and returned to where the Morley's house once stood.

An old house (just though it was cool)

Add for Feeder Canal

Methodist Church that saved several buildings

The flood waters split upon hitting the church

Survival sign

Bell for the 1977 Flood

Alma Hall, saved by the church, housed many survivors that night

Alma Hall

Newspaper office

Lori P and the Flood Museum

Morley's Dog

The story of Morley's Dog

High Water Mark 22' 1889

High water mark 17', 1936

High Water Mark 8'6",1977

Survival Sign on Cambria Iron Works Office

Cambria Iron Works

Flood Museum

Oklahoma House was the temporary housing for the flood victims

The Stone Bridge

The Stone Bridge Story

The point were the two rivers meet

Eternal Flame for the victims

In walking around Johnstown, you can also see the Cambria Iron Works original office (it survived the flood), where the river's met and the hillside (where the incline is located) where the water crashed into and then rolled back into the town.  The stone bridge is by far the most solemn part of the town.  This is the location where several people who were swept up by the flood waters, did not drown, but were burned to death when the debris caught fire and burned all night long.

What the Dam looked like

Part of a rail

Flood Water

Debris collage

The Monument

Yes a Dyer died during the Flood

Twisted Steel

Where the Dam was

Downtown Johnstown

We toured the Flood Museum in town, then headed out to the National Park.  Where we met Ranger Marge.  She was awesome.  The Visitor Center sits on what would have been the edge of Lake Conemaugh.  A short distance from the visitor center was the Caretakers house.  Situated in a position that the caretaker could keep an eye on the earth dam that held the lake back.

Caretaker's House

Victor surviving the flood

The Stone Bridge after the flood

History lesson time:  The dam was originally built by the State of Pennsylvania as a supply lake for the Canal that was being built between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  This lake was to be part of the Portage Railroad, feeding the water in the Canal where the boats reentered.  It fell into disrepair after the State stopped using the Portage Railroad, upon the introduction of the Pennsylvania Railroad Line.  In 1879, the lake, dam and the surrounding land was purchased by the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club.  Several famous people belonged to this club including Steel magnet Andrew Carnegie and his President of Operations Henry Frick.  The Club kept the lake stocked with fish, but in order to sail their pleasure craft, they plugged up the discharge pipes to increase the size of the lake.

  A Perfect Storm gathered on the night of May 29, 1889, and after a couple days of hard rain, not only were the Little Conemaugh River and the Stoneycreek River flooding, but the South Fork Dam was slowing giving way.  It all happened about 3:15 PM on the afternoon of May 31, the dam finally suffered a catastrophic failure and simply fell away, releasing the millions of gallons of water in the lake.  Within 45 minutes over 2200 people were dead or dying and several towns were wiped off the map.  This was the first real test for Claira Barton and her American Red Cross.  The arrived within a couple days and stayed for almost a year, providing temporary housing, medical help, spiritual guidance, and proving the power of American generosity.  End History Lesson.  For a really good read on this story, David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood is awesome.

While at the Visitor Center there is an Academy Award Winning film on the flood, a tour (highly recommend) over to the clubhouse for the Club.  Marge was awesome, we liked her right away because she got us quickly.  Those touched in the head recognize those touched in the head.  She took us over the Clubhouse, pointed out several of the cabins for the Club that are still standing and used by either the Park Service or owned privately.  Then we got to walk out on the dam.

Entrance to the Park

This used to be a lake

The Dam

The other side of the Dam

Lake Conemaugh

House with a tree

Lake Conemaugh

Ranger Marge

Clubhouse

Fireplace in Clubhouse

Model of Clubhouse

Spillway

A Cabin (owned by the NPS)

The Dam

After the tour, we headed back to town for a late lunch and to ride up the incline.  If you are in Johnstown, take the incline.  It is so cool.  You can take your car, or ride up without one.  While up on top, we ate at the City Bar and Grille, but unfortunately it is no longer open.  It has been replaced by Asiago's Tuscan Italian Restaurant.  The views are worth it, I promise you.

UP the incline we go

a car coming down

The incline

From our car looking down

From the Restaurant

The little conemaugh river

The Incline is a historic place

Johnstown

The Stone Bridge

The Flood Memorial

Unknown victims

Unknown victims

After eating, we found the cemetery.  Yes, I said cemetery, we are not weird I promise, we just like touring cemeteries.  After driving around, finding the unknowns plot and the memorial angel, we headed back to the restaurant to discover men in uniform.  There were several members of the 82nd Airborne staying at the hotel, and they had commandeered the lobby.  We a had a couple drinks, then headed up to the room for baseball and bed.  What a great day, and tiring.

I have added the links to all the places that I feel are worth checking out, so please feel free to copy and paste.
http://www.coneyislandjohnstownpa.com/
http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/oklahoma.html
http://www.inclinedplane.org/
http://asiagostuscanitalian.com/
http://www.nps.gov/jofl/index.htm

Next week I will tell you a little about my trip to Baltimore.  Yes, sometimes I go alone, well with Buddy, but he does not talk much.  Fort McHenry, the Inner Harbor and Fell's Point are all on deck.  Until next week please be safe and remember to have safe travels, enjoy life and get you bucket list checked off.