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107-591: The Johnstown Flood Museum is a history museum located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania , dedicated to the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The museum is housed in the former Cambria Public Library , which is part of the Downtown Johnstown Historic District . The Johnstown Flood Museum chronicles the events of the flood through exhibits and media. The museum shows the documentary, The Johnstown Flood in

214-501: A navigational canal that would allow deep keeled coastal ships to reach docks and pickup and transship coal down the Lehigh Canal (which White had full ownership of by 1818 ) to Easton, Pennsylvania . An employee of White's had figured out how to get "Rock Coal" to burn properly during the War of 1812 renewing serious interest in exploiting these relatively untapped coal resources within

321-423: A steel maker and fabricator. At its peak, steel provided Johnstowners with more than 13,000 full-time, well-paying jobs. However, increased domestic and foreign competition, coupled with Johnstown's relative distance from its primary iron ore source in the western Great Lakes , led to a steady decline in profitability. New capital investment waned. Johnstown's mountainous terrain, and the resulting poor layout for

428-486: A 36-mile (58 km) route that included 11 levels, 10 inclined planes fitted with stationary engines that could raise and lower boats and cargo, a 900-foot (270 m), viaduct over the Little Conemaugh River , and many bridges. Infrastructure included 153 drains and culverts . The railroad climbed 1,398 feet (426 m) from the eastern canal basin at Hollidaysburg and 1,171 feet (357 m) from

535-644: A Railroad to be constructed at the expense of the state and to be styled "The Pennsylvania Railroad" (Act of March 24, 1828, Pamph. Laws, p. 221) . Begun with Navigations construction along the Susquehanna and the West Fork of the Susquehanna with surveys for the best route over the barrier of the northern Allegheny Mountains , the system in time ran from Philadelphia on the Delaware estuary westwards across

642-405: A Spanish wind energy company, opened its first U.S. wind turbine blade manufacturing facility near here in 2006 which subsequently closed in 2014. Several wind turbines are sited on Babcock Ridge, the " Eastern Continental Divide ", along the eastern edge of Cambria and Somerset counties. Lockheed Martin relocated a facility from Greenville, South Carolina , to Johnstown in 2008. Höganäs AB,

749-551: A Swedish powdered metals manufacturer operates two plants in the region, one in the Moxham section of the city and also in nearby Hollsopple in Somerset County. Companies like Concurrent Technologies Corporation, DRS Laurel Technologies, ITSI Biosciences, Kongsberg Defense and more throughout the region are in business for themselves. Recent construction in the surrounding region, the downtown, and adjacent Kernville neighborhood—including

856-851: A canal by the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad at historic Wright's Ferry . Engineers faced complications at the northern end of the Eastern Division Canal, where it met the Juniata Division Canal and the Susquehanna Division Canal at Duncan's Island. Boats had to cross from one side of the Susquehanna River to the other between either the Susquehanna Division or the Juniata Division on the west side and

963-484: A change in elevation of 584 feet (178 m) over the full length of the canal, which opened in 1832. From the canal basin, westbound boats began their journey by being elevated about 10 feet (3 m) by a lock that brought them to the level of a wooden aqueduct on which they were towed 600 feet (183 m) to the south side of the Juniata. At North's Island, 18 miles (29 km) from the Susquehanna, they were towed by

1070-535: A five-year project that gouged, widened, deepened, and moved 9.2 miles (14.8 km) of river channel in the city, and encased the river banks in concrete and reinforced steel. In a campaign organized by the Chamber of Commerce, thousands of Johnstown's citizens wrote to friends and relatives across the country hoping to bring new business to the town. Professional ice hockey found a home in Johnstown, starting in 1941 with

1177-881: A halt under an 1812 embargo. Industrialists in Philadelphia pressed for some solution to their foundries' fuel needs and by year's end, legislation was on the books for improving the Schuylkill River into the Schuylkill Canal . But this project was underfunded, and other canals were completed first, including the Lehigh Canal in late 1820 and the Erie Canal in 1821. By mid-decade canal projects and some railroads were being proposed, organized, chartered, and built in Pennsylvania and other northeast seaboard states. In 1823, Pennsylvania industrialist Josiah White proposed creating

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1284-492: A leader in developing intercommunication systems among first responders , and is now a national model for ways to avoid the communications problems which faced many first responders during the September 11, 2001 attacks . Johnstown is located in southwestern Cambria County at 40°19′34″N 78°55′10″W  /  40.32611°N 78.91944°W  / 40.32611; -78.91944 (40.3260031, -78.9193066). According to

1391-793: A location in South Carolina . In April 2010 it was announced that the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL would call Johnstown home for 10 games during the regular season and for one of their preseason games. They returned once again for the 2011–12 season. After the 2011-2012 NAHL hockey season, the Alaska Avalanche relocated to Johnstown and became the Johnstown Tomahawks and have remained in Johnstown ever since. The city has history in amateur and professional baseball. Since 1944, Johnstown has been

1498-621: A member team of the ECHL , and played their home games in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena . The Chiefs' decision to relocate caused a flood of public interest in the sport of hockey. As many as four leagues were interested in having a team in the War Memorial. In the end the city landed a deal with another ECHL team, the Wheeling Nailers , who played parts of two seasons at the War Memorial. A full-time tenant arrived in 2012, when

1605-742: A minor-league baseball team, the Johnstown Johnnies , beginning in 1884. The last team to play as the Johnnies, as a part of the Frontier League , left the city in 2002. Johnstown also hosts the annual Sunnehanna Amateur golf tournament at its Sunnehanna Country Club. The invitational tournament hosts top amateur golfers from around the United States. Johnstown is home to the Flood City Water Polo team. Established in 2005 by Zachary Puhala,

1712-440: A new 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m ) Regional Technology Complex that will house a division of Northrop Grumman , among other tenants—signal the increasing dependence of Johnstown's economy on the U.S. government's defense budget. The high-tech defense industry is now the main non-health-care staple of the Johnstown economy, with the region pulling in well over $ 100M annually in federal government contracts, punctuated by one of

1819-643: A patchwork of canals and railroads until the Pennsylvania Railroad was built in the 1850s. Trans-Appalachian settlement had begun in earnest during the latter years of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Following the war, the British government made several agreements, primarily with the Iroquois , which resulted in official policies to curb the expansion of settlement in the colonial West (today's Midwest). This

1926-463: A region with a ready supply of iron, coal and limestone . Floods were almost a yearly event in the valley during the 1880s. On the afternoon of May 30, 1889, following a quiet Memorial Day ceremony and a parade, it began raining in the valley. The next day water filled the streets, and rumors began that a dam holding an artificial lake in the mountains to the northeast might give way. It did, and an estimated 20 million tons of water began spilling into

2033-603: A separate amending act, the state authorized the Delaware Canal, which was delayed for a few more years costing LC&N many dollars, until it was finally dug alongside, and generally in sight of the Delaware River between Easton down river to Bristol. When completed in 1832 by the state it also didn't work—having leaking issues and water supply problems like those that plagued the Union Canal and Schuylkill Navigation, and

2140-637: A two-square-mile (5.2 km ) reservoir. Dubbed Lake Conemaugh , it supplied water to the Western Division Canal. When canal traffic declined, the lake and dam were abandoned, then sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857; the railroad in turn sold them to private interests. They were purchased by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club in 1879, and a private resort was built surrounding the lake. On May 31, 1889, following heavy rains,

2247-409: A water powered continuous rope to the north side of the river across a slack water pool formed by a dam. From North's Island to Huntingdon, the river was dammed in three more places to feed water to the canal, and above Huntingdon, 14 more dams were needed to create 16 miles (26 km) of slack water navigation in the river to supplement 22 miles (35 km) of travel in segments of canal. In addition,

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2354-400: A year, raised $ 3 million for industrial development in the area. Bethlehem Steel, which was the major contributor to the fund, committed itself to bringing new steelmaking technologies to Johnstown because they were impressed by the city's own efforts to diversify. Extensive damage from the 1977 flood was heavy and there was talk of the company pulling out. Again, the city won a reprieve from

2461-484: Is held at the Point Stadium in downtown Johnstown. The Flood City Music Festival is held at Peoples Natural Gas Park. The Sunnehanna Amateur golf tournament is held once a year at Sunnehanna Country Club. Professional golfers have played in this tournament as amateurs such as Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer . Johnstown has been home to a long succession of minor league hockey franchises dating back to 1940. One of

2568-606: Is located at 401 Main Street. The mayor of Johnstown is Frank Janakovic, and the Deputy Mayor is Marie Mock. Colleges: Secondary education: Technology schools: Libraries: Johnstown's television market is part of the Johnstown/ Altoona / State College market. NBC affiliate WJAC-TV 6 (which also operates the market's CW affiliate through The CW Plus on its DT4 subchannel) and Fox affiliate WWCP-TV 8 are licensed in

2675-497: Is reported at 9%. Most of the jobs center around health care, defense, telemarketing and retail. A reduction in steel production also reduced coal mining in Pennsylvania, which was important to the Johnstown economy. In 1982, Johnstown's longest-serving mayor, Herbert Pfuhl Jr. , said that, as a result of the decline, city revenues had fallen approximately 35 percent. The Johnstown economy later recovered somewhat, largely due to industry around health care and high-tech defense, but

2782-1015: The East Coast that has had massive growth in the health care industry. Major health care centers include Memorial Medical Center and Windber Medical Center, the Laurel Highlands Neuro-Rehabilitation Center, and the John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute, with its advances in treating wounded veterans, and the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center's focus on early diagnosis and advanced treatment. The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Pennsylvania Highlands Community College attract thousands of students to their contiguous campuses in Richland , 5 miles (8 km) east of Johnstown. Cambria-Rowe Business College, located in

2889-692: The Johnstown Blue Birds for one season and returning in 1950 with the Johnstown Jets . The Jets later hosted an exhibition game against Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens on November 20, 1951. Newcomers to the town heard little about the tragic past. Johnstown proclaimed itself "flood-free", a feeling reinforced when Johnstown was virtually the only riverside city in Pennsylvania not to flood during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The immediate post- World War II years marked Johnstown's peak as

2996-420: The Johnstown Tomahawks of the junior North American Hockey League began play. The recently established ART WORKS in Johnstown! houses artist studios in some of the area's architecturally significant but underused industrial buildings. The ART WORKS in Johnstown project is projected to be a non-profit LEED-certified green building. The Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center opened in 2001 with

3103-555: The Lower Lehigh Canal between 1818 and 1820. The works had made sufficient improvements by late 1820 to deliver 365 tons of anthracite coal to Easton — by 1825 the annual anthracite tonnage had climbed to over 28,000 short tons (25,000 t) per annum. White's ventures firmly established anthracite as a reliable inexpensive fuel and proved that once-treacherous inland Pennsylvania waterways could be engineered into profitable industrial shipping routes. A couple years later,

3210-580: The Moxham section of Johnstown, which offered concentrated career training and had continuously served Johnstown since 1891 closed in 2016 after loss of accreditation. The Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, a concert/theatrical venue at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, attracts high-quality performers. The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the recently formed Johnstown Symphony Chamber Players provide classical music. The Johnstown Concert Ballet, centered in

3317-660: The National Register of Historic Places are the Grand Army of the Republic Hall , Cambria Iron Company , Cambria Public Library Building , Bridge in Johnstown City , Nathan's Department Store , and Johnstown Inclined Railway . A settlement was established here in 1791 by Joseph Johns, in whose honor it was named, and the place was soon laid out as a town. Johnstown was formally platted as Conemaugh Old Town in 1800 by

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3424-526: The Northeast to the city of Johnstown since 1998. Well over 200,000 participants enjoyed the 2008 edition of Thunder in the Valley, and the event continues to grow in size. Significant efforts have been made to deal with deteriorating housing, brownfields , drug problems, and other issues as population leaves the city limits and concentrates in suburban boroughs and townships. The Johnstown Fire Department has become

3531-700: The Reading Railroad , then headed northwest across the Columbia Bridge over the Schuylkill River . Just after crossing the river, it traveled up the Belmont Plane, an inclined plane in the current location of West Fairmount Park , and continued west across the eastern part of the state to Columbia , where the Columbia Plane headed down to the Susquehanna River . At that point, the eastern division of

3638-578: The Schuylkill Navigation was lagging hope when backers took to quarreling over the best way to proceed. White distanced himself from that project and settled for an alternative route down the Lehigh and Delaware rivers. After surveying and deciding improving navigation on the Lehigh could be feasible, returned to lease the operations of the Lehigh Coal Mine Company and improve navigability on

3745-523: The Swiss German immigrant Joseph Johns (born Josef Schantz). The settlement was initially known as "Schantzstadt", but was soon anglicized to Johnstown. The community incorporated as Conemaugh borough January 12, 1831, but renamed Johnstown on April 14, 1834. From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal . Johnstown was at the head of

3852-621: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 6.111 square miles (15.83 km ), of which 5.913 square miles (15.31 km ) is land and 0.198 square miles (0.51 km ) is water. The Conemaugh River forms at Johnstown at the confluence of its tributaries, the Stonycreek River and the Little Conemaugh . Johnstown is divided into many neighborhoods, each with its own unique, ethnic feel. These include

3959-459: The navigations improving commerce on the Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers , though in 1824 both systems needed further development. But the same decision makers were also continually reading the copious press coverage about the progress, the works designs, and engineering feats accomplished or building as the Erie Canal progressed. Philadelphia's luminaries were vying with other coastal cities to become

4066-619: The 1950s gave birth to the Gee Bee chain of department stores. However, the St Patrick's Day flood of 1936 combined with the gnawing effects of the Great Depression left Johnstown struggling again. Seeking a permanent solution to the flooding problem, Johnstown's citizens wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt pleading for federal aid. In August 1938, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers launched

4173-403: The 2010 census, there were 9,917 households, of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.5% were headed by married couples living together, 17.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.7% were non-families. Of all households, 43.0% were made up of individuals, and 17.9% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

4280-578: The Allegheny River and terminate in Pittsburgh, while residents of the borough of Allegheny favored a north bank canal ending in the borough, across the river from Pittsburgh. Eventually, the canal was run along the physically more favorable north bank, but the state agreed to build the main terminal and turning basin in Pittsburgh and a secondary terminal and connecting canal, the Allegheny Outlet, in

4387-705: The Conemaugh River to form the Kiskiminetas River, recognizes the canal's economic contribution to Saltsburg . Download coordinates as: For more on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad , see William Hasell Wilson, The Columbia-Philadelphia Railroad and Its Successor (1896). A reprint of this booklet was issued in 1985. See also John C. Trautwine, Jr., The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad of 1834 , in Philadelphia History , Vol. 2, No. 7 (Philadelphia, PA: City History Soc. of Philadelphia, 1925). This

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4494-480: The Downtown Business District, Kernville, Hornerstown, Roxbury, Old Conemaugh Borough, Prospect, Woodvale, Minersville, Cambria City, Morrellville (West End), Oakhurst, Coopersdale, Walnut Grove, Moxham and the 8th Ward. Before 1900, the town of Windber, Pennsylvania , was a suburb of Johnstown, until its incorporation. The borough of Dale is an enclave located within the city of Johnstown, situated on

4601-468: The Eastern Division on the east side. They solved the problem by building a dam 1,998 feet (609 m) long and 8.5 feet (2.6 m) high between the lower end of Duncan's Island and the east bank of the Susquehanna. This formed a pool across which boats could be pulled from a wooden, two-tier towpath bridge at Clark's Ferry. Two Duncan's Island lift locks raised or lowered the boats traveling between

4708-533: The Historic Cambria City District, provides classical ballet performances and training to the area. The Pasquerilla Convention Center was recently constructed downtown, adjacent to the historic Cambria County War Memorial Arena at 326 Napoleon Street. Point Stadium , a baseball park where Babe Ruth once played, was razed and rebuilt. A zoning ordinance created an artist zone and a traditional neighborhood zone to encourage both artistic endeavors and

4815-447: The Johnstown–Somerset combined statistical area, which includes both Cambria and Somerset Counties. Johnstown was settled in 1770. The city has experienced three major floods in its history. The Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles (22.7 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains . At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through

4922-437: The Kiskiminetas and Conemaugh Rivers to Blairsville and then to the western end of the Allegheny Portage Railroad at Johnstown. East of Tunnelton, the route went through a canal tunnel of 817 feet (249 m) built to avoid a long loop of the Conemaugh River. The first fully loaded freight boat traveled from Johnstown to Pittsburgh in 1831; the route through Grant's Hill opened in 1832. Over its length of 104 miles (167 km),

5029-413: The Lehigh river. The first 60 miles of this planned canal project would follow the Delaware River from Easton to the Philadelphia suburb town of Bristol , and would later become the Delaware Canal . By 1818, White had obtained the legal permissions "to ruin himself" fixing up the Lehigh, founding the Lehigh Navigation Company and using a quasi-lock of his own design to construct what is now known as

5136-419: The Lehigh until the 1960s. While some problems were fixable, the Delaware Canal 's lock's design was always a costly economic problem until the Canal became the parkland and current haven for pleasure boats. White and Hazard made the offer in return for a break on tolls, and even included an offer to operate the system at cost—the state garnering all the tolls. This offer too was declined, and in 1827 in

5243-428: The Pennsylvanian interior. White had previously looking for a source of coal in 1815, finding the mines of the failing and unreliable Lehigh Coal Mine Company , which would eventually deliver more coal through the Lehigh Canal than all of the coal they had previously delivered to market since their founding in 1792. White expected to construct a canal system to ship the coal, but efforts to improve shipping capabilities on

5350-416: The Pittsburgh area, but would continue to be available in Johnstown until September 2019 as the market's default CW affiliate. Main Line of Public Works Later amendments substituted a new technology, railroads , in place of the planned but costly 82-mile (132 km) canal connecting the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the Susquehanna River . The route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh remained

5457-404: The Robert S. Waters Theater. Exhibits include the relief map that uses lights and sounds to display the path of the flood. Surrounding the map are artifacts from the flood. The museum also features a restored "Oklahoma house", a temporary structure used to house flood survivors. The Cambria Public Library building is a historic Carnegie library . It was built in 1890–1891, with funds provided by

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5564-417: The South Fork Dam failed, sending 20 million tons (18.2 million cubic meters) of water down the gorge toward Johnstown. More than 2,200 people were killed. The Tunnelview Historical Site shows where in 1830 a canal tunnel of 817 feet (249 m) was built through Bow Ridge to avoid a long bend on the Conemaugh River, 10 miles (16 km) west of Blairsville. Saltsburg Canal Park, where Loyalhanna Creek joins

5671-420: The United States' most important and influential port as the country's population expanded westward to the Ohio Country and Northwest Territory regions. The system would also not only open better access to the newly opened Southeastern Coal Region and the initial mines in the Panther Creek Valley but authorized an extension of the Lehigh Canal up to White Haven, and a railroad connecting that upper canal with

5778-439: The borough. Getting the main canal across the Allegheny River into Pittsburgh required an aqueduct of 1,140 feet (347 m), the longest on the Pennsylvania Main Line route. Linking to the Ohio River at Pittsburgh, the Western Division Canal also linked, through a tunnel of 810 feet (250 m) under Grant's Hill in Pittsburgh, with the Monongahela River . Subsequent Western Division Canal extensions went from Freeport up

5885-432: The canal and the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata Division, Canal Section was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. From 1834 until 1854, when the Pennsylvania Railroad Company finished a competing line, the Allegheny Portage Railroad made continuous boat traffic possible over the Allegheny Mountains between the Juniata and Western Division Canals. It followed

5992-455: The canal continued north along the river and then west. The Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad was incorporated in 1829 to build a branch continuing east on Noble Street and Willow Street to the Delaware River . This opened in 1834. The Belmont Plane ran from the Schuylkill River for 2,805 feet (855 m), rising 1 foot (0.3 m) per 15 feet (4.6 m) for a total rise of 187 feet (57 m). Steam-driven cables dragged

6099-402: The canal employed 68 locks, 16 river dams, and 16 aqueducts. From Freeport, a separate extension, the Kittanning Feeder, ran 14 miles (23 km) up the Allegheny River to Kittanning. The 1889 Johnstown Flood was caused by the failure of the South Fork Dam , part of the Main Line of Public Works. The dam across the Little Conemaugh River in the hills above Johnstown, Pennsylvania , created

6206-442: The canal's western branch, with canal boats having been transported over the mountains via the Allegheny Portage Railroad and refloated here, to continue the trip by water to Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley . Perhaps the most famous passenger who traveled via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842. By 1854, canal transport became redundant with the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad , which now spanned

6313-434: The cash prize, the arena won the opportunity to host the September 29, 2015, NHL pre-season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning . Per WJAC; in the year 2022, Johnstown has had 12 homicides as of August. Statistics have not been updated since 2018 — The chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in Johnstown are 1 in 184 where the average for Pennsylvania is 1 in 316.” The Johnstown City Hall

6420-433: The city was $ 23,785, and the median income for a family was $ 32,221. Male full-time workers had a median income of $ 31,026 versus $ 28,858 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 15,511. 34.2% of the population and 26.9% of families were below the poverty line . Of the total population, 55.0% of those under the age of 18 and 18.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The unemployment average

6527-458: The city was 80.0% White , 14.6% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.2% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.7% some other race , and 4.3% from two or more races . Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.1% of the population. In the three-year period ending in 2010, it was estimated that 22.3% of the population were of German , 15.8% Irish , 12.9% Italian , 7.7% Slovak , 6.7% English , 5.6% Polish , and 6.1% American ancestry. At

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6634-511: The city. Johnstown is also served by CBS affiliate WTAJ-TV 10 and ABC affiliate WATM-TV 23, both based in Altoona, and State College-based PBS member station WPSU-TV 3, licensed to Clearfield but based on the Pennsylvania State University campus. Several other low-power stations, including WHVL-LD 29 ( MyNetworkTV ) in State College, also transmit to Johnstown. WPKD-TV 19, the CW's affiliate in Pittsburgh licensed to Jeannette , began operations in Johnstown and later moved to serve

6741-463: The city. The Ku Klux Klan burned 12 crosses outside Johnstown in an attempt to intimidate Rosedale's Black population. Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot intervened to prevent Cauffiel from enforcing the edict. In the early 20th century, the population reached 67,000 people. The city's first commercial radio station, WJAC , began broadcasts in 1925. The downtown boasted at least five major department stores, including Glosser Brothers, which in

6848-409: The coal sources in the Wyoming Valley . All the eastern projects were to reliably provide clean-burning anthracite coal to eastern cities that had already consumed much of the eastern forests for heating fuel. The rail portions of the system were authorized in 1828 by an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly entitled An act relative to the Pennsylvania Canal, and to provide for the commencement of

6955-635: The companies expense — the project that would (in concept) become their version of the eventual Delaware Canal (alternatively the 'Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal') built by the states engineering managers a few years later. The route was nearly the same, but the Delaware Canal as the state built it had numerous engineering flaws, including locks both too short and unpaired (single & supporting only one way traffic) locks LC&N's experience and expertise would have mitigated. LC&N had started coal flowing to Philadelphia using short squared-off blocky barges it called coal arks , but in 1822-23

7062-449: The company's top management, which had always regarded the Johnstown works with special affection because of its history and reputation. As the increasing amount of federal environmental regulations became more difficult to comply with and the issues with the aging manufacturing facilities grew more significant, and as steel companies began closing down plants all over the country, by 1982 it looked as if Johnstown had exhausted its appeals. By

7169-431: The dam pool and the other canals. The Juniata Division Canal was approved in segments starting in 1827 with a canal from near Duncan's Island in the Susquehanna River to Lewistown, 40 miles (64 km) upstream. Subsequently, the state agreed to extend the canal to Hollidaysburg and the eastern end of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, 127 miles (204 km) from the Susquehanna. A total of 86 locks were required to overcome

7276-577: The debris. Another major flood occurred in 1936. Despite a pledge by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to make the city flood free, and despite subsequent work to do so, another major flood occurred in 1977. Before becoming an independent town, Windber, Pennsylvania was considered a part of the city. The city is home to five national historic districts : the Downtown Johnstown Historic District , Cambria City Historic District , Minersville Historic District , Moxham Historic District , and Old Conemaugh Borough Historic District . Individual listings on

7383-517: The disaster. An infamous site of a major fire during the flood was the old stone Pennsylvania Railroad bridge located where the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh rivers join to form the Conemaugh River . The bridge still stands today. The Johnstown flood of 1889 established the American Red Cross as the pre-eminent emergency relief organization in the United States. Founder Clara Barton , then 67, came to Johnstown with 50 doctors and nurses and set up tent hospitals as well as temporary "hotels" for

7490-450: The early 1990s, Johnstown abandoned most of its steel production, although some limited fabrication work continues. In 2003, U.S. Census data showed that Johnstown was the least likely city in the United States to attract newcomers; however, what were previously relatively weak opportunities provided by the local manufacturing and service economies have more recently begun to burgeon, attracting outsiders. Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica ,

7597-416: The expulsion of all African-Americans and Mexicans in Johnstown who had lived in Johnstown for less than seven years. The edict was in response to a deadly shootout between Robert Young, a black man, and Johnstown police officers. African-Americans had settled in the Rosedale neighborhood during the Great Migration . Although Cauffiel's edict of expulsion was without legal force, some 500 African-Americans fled

7704-551: The great plain of southern Pennsylvania (goal of connecting the Susquehanna to New York City via canals) through Harrisburg and across the state to Pittsburgh and connected with other divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal . It consisted of the following principal sections, moving from east to west: The canals reduced travel time between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh from at least 23 days to just four. The Main Line of Public Works

7811-548: The historic Cambria City section of town, which boasts a variety of eastern European ethnic churches and social halls. This neighborhood hosted the National Folk Festival for three years in the early 1990s, which expanded into the Flood City Music Festival . Johnstown also hosts the annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally during the fourth week of June; the event has attracted motorcyclists from across

7918-472: The homeless, and stayed on for five months to coordinate relief efforts. The mills were back in operation within a month. The Cambria Works grew, and Johnstown became more prosperous than ever. The disaster had not destroyed the community but strengthened it. Later generations would draw on lessons learned in 1889. After the successful merger of six surrounding boroughs, Johnstown became a city on April 7, 1890. In 1923, Johnstown Mayor Joseph Cauffiel ordered

8025-493: The host city for the AAABA Baseball Tournament held each summer. Several Major League Baseball players have played on AAABA teams over the years, including Hall-of Famers Al Kaline and Reggie Jackson and former Major League managers Joe Torre and Bruce Bochy . The organization also has its own Hall of Fame instituted in its 50th anniversary year of 1994. In addition, the city has hosted several incarnations of

8132-458: The lack of a tow path canal for the sixty miles Easton-Philadelphia was very costly to LC&N, and the state's Delaware Canal attempt when opened in 1832 was five years later than promised and didn't work; the State had to hire Josiah White to repair its major deficiencies, then needed LC&N's expertise to operate it. LC&N ended up running both canals into the 1930s, and retained the rights to

8239-523: The legislature declined another offer by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&N) which had built the Lehigh Canal with private funds. LC&N was unquestionably one of the most innovative companies of the era, driving the mining, transportation and industrial development of Pennsylvania by example, implementation, and by funding quite a few projects, as well. This new proposal was to build— at

8346-569: The lower Susquehanna Valley to Upstate New York as far as Lake Erie . The U.S. was able to claim trans-Appalachian territories from the Ohio River to the lower Great Lakes , and west to Minnesota and Wisconsin . As the Revolutionary War wound down in the 1780s, many family groups moved west, establishing scattered settlements from below the Wyoming Valley across the near west into

8453-445: The mills' physical plant strung along 11 miles (18 km) of river bottom lands, compounded the problem. New regulations ordered by the EPA in the 1970s also hit Johnstown, with the aging Cambria plant (now Bethlehem Steel ) especially hard. However, with encouragement from the steel company, city leaders organized an association called Johnstown Area Regional Industries (JARI) and, within

8560-762: The more recent manifestations, the Johnstown Chiefs , were named for their Slap Shot counterparts. The team made their debut in January 1988 with the All-American Hockey League , joining the league midway through the season. After one season in the AAHL, the Chiefs became one of five teams to join the newly founded East Coast Hockey League (now ECHL). The team announced in February 2010 that they would be leaving Johnstown for

8667-515: The mouth of the Juniata River. The canal included 14 locks with an average lift of 7.5 feet (2.3 m). The state originally planned a canal of 24 miles (39 km) running between the Union Canal at Middletown to the Juniata. However, the plan changed in 1828, when the state opted to extend the Eastern Division 19 miles (31 km) further south to connect with the newly decided replacement of

8774-403: The old-fashioned "Mom and Pop" enterprises that had difficulty thriving under the previous code. The Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center offers many exhibitions, events, performances, and classes that celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the area. The Johnstown Chiefs ice hockey team played for 22 seasons, the longest period a franchise of the league stayed in one city. The Chiefs were

8881-604: The permanent exhibit "America: Through Immigrant Eyes", which tells the story of immigration to the area during the Industrial Revolution . In June 2009, the Heritage Discovery Center opened the Johnstown Children's Museum and premiered "The Mystery of Steel", a film detailing the history of steel in Johnstown. The Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center, ART WORKS, and the Heritage Discovery Center are located in

8988-470: The philanthropist Andrew Carnegie . It is one of 3,000 such libraries constructed between 1885 and 1919. Carnegie provided all funds toward the construction and maintenance of the library through 1930. It is a three-story brick building with a tile roof encased in dormers in the French Gothic revival style. It was damaged in the Johnstown flood of 1936 and ceased to function as a library in 1971. It

9095-427: The population. 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18, 4.9% were under 5 years of age, and 19.5% were 65 and older. As of the 2010 census , there were 20,978 people, 9,917 households, and 5,086 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,559.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,374.4/km ). There were 11,978 housing units at an average density of 2,030.2 per square mile (783.9/km ). The racial makeup of

9202-465: The premier defense trade shows in the U.S., the annual Showcase for Commerce. Johnstown remains a regional medical, educational, cultural, and communications center. As in many other locales, health care provides a significant percentage of the employment opportunities in the city. The region is located right in the middle of the "Health Belt", an area stretching from the Midwest to New England and down

9309-502: The railway cars to the top of Belmont Hill. The Plane was the site of a signal event in railroad history. On July 10, 1836, the Philadelphia -based Norris Locomotive Works drove a 4-2-0 locomotive up the Incline, making it the first steam locomotive to climb an ascending grade while pulling a load. The 14,400-pound (6,500 kg) engine, named George Washington , hauled a load of 19,200 pounds (8,709 kg), including 24 people riding on

9416-458: The retreating western frontiers and the lands of the old Ohio Country . In the early 1800s, the new farms established along the moving frontier west of the Appalachian mountains were being connected back to Atlantic seaboard cities by turnpikes, canals, and other transportation infrastructure works funded mostly by private funds or local governments. By the 1810s the population west of the mountains

9523-591: The route of present-day Montgomery Avenue in Lower Merion Township, was abandoned. The Columbia Bridge and line east to Broad and Vine Streets were sold to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad as part of its main line. The Reading acquired the Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad in 1870, giving it access to the Delaware River. The section of the old Pennsylvania Railroad running from Philadelphia west through Chester County and, by extension,

9630-602: The section from 52nd Street west to the main line at Rosemont . The state built the rest from 52nd Street east to downtown, but on a different alignment than the one originally planned; the new line, put into operation October 15, 1850, ended at the west end of the Market Street Bridge , from which the City Railroad continued east. The old line, which ran from the Schuylkill River up the Belmont Plane to Ardmore along

9737-538: The southeast side of the city between Hornerstown and Walnut Grove. As of the 2020 census , there were 18,411 people, 8,574 households, and 4,399 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,104.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,198.7/km ). There were 11,133 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 68.1% White , 20.9% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.4% Asian , 0.0% Pacific Islander , 1.2% from some other races and 9.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.2% of

9844-504: The state built three reservoirs on Juniata tributaries to keep the upper parts of the canal filled with water. A canal section of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) has been restored near Locust Campground, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Lewistown. At the western end of the canal, the Hollidaysburg Canal Basin Park has preserved two canal basins and a connecting lock; a museum at the park illustrates how canal boats transferred between

9951-502: The state needed to hire Josiah White to fix it before it became fully usable in 1834. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company would operate the Canal into the 1930s, and controlled its resources and those rights attained on the Lehigh until the 1960s when they reverted or conveyed back to the state. Hence the Canal system was envisioned and built at the urging of New Jersey and Pennsylvanian businessmen, especially Philadelphia's bearing witness to

10058-513: The state. With the coming of the railroads, the city's growth improved. Johnstown became a stop on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was connected with the Baltimore & Ohio . The railroads provided large-scale development of the region's mineral wealth. Iron , coal , and steel quickly became central to the town of Johnstown. By 1860, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown

10165-626: The team takes its name from the history of floods in the area. FCWP is part of the American Water Polo Organization. On May 2, 2015, Johnstown was announced as the winner of the 2015 Kraft Hockeyville USA contest and was awarded $ 150,000 toward improvements of the Cambria County War Memorial Arena . The contest was sponsored through a partnership between Kraft Foods , the National Hockey League (NHL) , and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). In addition to

10272-502: The tender and one freight car, up the grade at 15 miles (24 km) per hour. So remarkable was this accomplishment that reports in engineering journals doubted its occurrence. Nine days later, the engine repeated the feat in a more formal trial with an even greater load. In 1850, the state bought the West Philadelphia Railroad, which had been incorporated in 1835 to bypass the Belmont Plane and failed after completing only

10379-516: The western basin at Johnstown. At its summit, the railroad reached an elevation of 2,322 feet (708 m) above sea level . In 1826, the state legislature authorized the first segment of the Western Division Canal, from Pittsburgh up the Allegheny River to its confluence with the Kiskiminetas River at Freeport . Pittsburgh residents favored a route that would follow the south bank of

10486-463: The western suburbs of Philadelphia, is still known as the Main Line . The Columbia Plane, which lowered railway cars down to the Eastern Division Canal along the Susquehanna River , was bypassed in 1840 by a new track alignment. The Pennsylvania Canal's Eastern Division, which opened in 1833, ran 43 miles (69 km) along the east side of the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Duncan's Island at

10593-440: The winding gorge that led to Johnstown some 14 miles (23 km) away. The destruction in Johnstown occurred in only about 10 minutes. What had been a thriving steel town with homes, churches, saloons, a library, a railroad station, electric street lights, a roller rink , and two opera houses was buried under mud and debris. Out of a population of approximately 30,000 at the time, at least 2,209 people are known to have perished in

10700-404: Was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.87. The age distribution was 21.7% under 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 41.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. For the period 2011–2013, the estimated median annual income for a household in

10807-459: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania , United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census . Located 57 miles (92 km) east of Pittsburgh , it is the principal city of the Johnstown metropolitan area and had 133,472 residents in 2020. It is also part of

10914-430: Was already re-doing the upper four locks on the Lehigh Canal to support a steam powered tug pulling boats over 120 feet (37 m) built to support two way traffic with full locks. By 1825 the volume of coal coming down the Lehigh & Delaware to Philadelphia was becoming huge and problematic — LC&N was rapidly over logging the forests feeding the Lehigh to build boats for the one way trip. The extra expenses of

11021-525: Was completed in 1834 and was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad on June 25, 1857, for $ 7,500,000. Within a year, the PRR replaced the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh route with an entirely rail-based system. The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad began in Philadelphia at Broad and Vine Streets, ran north on Broad and west on Pennsylvania Avenue, a segment later taken over and submerged and tunneled over by

11128-530: Was exploding. Regional transport hubs were established in Brownsville , Pittsburgh , Cincinnati , Buffalo , Detroit , and New Orleans (and later in the 1840s St. Louis , Chicago , and St. Joseph , Missouri would develop similarly). The markets of this burgeoning population were targeted by the business class of Philadelphia and New Jersey. The War of 1812 exacerbated a difficult energy crisis, and bituminous coal imports from Liverpool, England, ground to

11235-806: Was one of many British policies that created support for the American Revolution along the American frontier for those hoping to emigrate into the Ohio Country , and also for East Coast seaboard populations that were blooming in the pre-industrialization period. After the 1779 Sullivan Expedition broke the power of the Five Civilized Nations of the Iroquois towards the end of the American Revolutionary War , settlement became viable from

11342-429: Was reported to be the third-fastest shrinking city in the U.S. in 2017. Nonetheless, in 2018, Johnstown was ranked 169th among "The Best Small Places For Business And Careers" in the U.S., by Forbes . Major employers in the area include: Johnstown hosts a number of events each year. "Thunder in the Valley" is a motorcycle rally with weekend crowds ranging from 150,000 to 200,000. The AAABA amateur baseball tournament

11449-562: Was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants in Pittsburgh and Cleveland . Through the second half of the 19th century, Johnstown made much of the nation's barbed wire . Johnstown prospered from skyrocketing demand in the western United States for barbed wire. Twenty years after its founding, the Cambria Works was a huge enterprise sprawling over 60 acres (24 ha) in Johnstown and employing 7,000. It owned 40,000 acres (160 km ) of valuable mineral lands in

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