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FLOOD_031109_001_STITCH.JPG: You're seeing a panoramic photograph taken from what would have been the far side of the South Fork Dam. In the shadows on the left is one side of the dam and you can see a platform on the opposite shore. The area between was, of course, where the dam itself disappeared to cause the flood. To the right of the dam, somewhere above where this picture was taken from, was Lake Conemaugh.
On the opposite shore, the long stretch of handrails are where the spillway was supposed to be but it wasn't because the country club had turned it into a fish pond. The barn-like structure on the far shore is actually the visitor center. However, during the flood it was the farm of Colonel Elias J Unger, the last president of the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club. The structure to the right of it was his house. On the morning of May 31 1889, he ran down to the dam from his house and his nightmare began.
FLOOD_031109_005_STITCH.JPG: This photo is taken from what would have been the bottom of Lake Conemaugh. The sidewalk in the middle of the opposite shore indicates where the spillway was. The club had stocked the lake with 1,000 black bass, transported from Lake Erie on a special railroad tank car at the cost of about $1 per fish. A wire mesh was attached to the spillway to keep the fish from escaping. When the flooding danger became obvious, Unger and his men found they couldn't unclog the mesh to let the water pass.
FLOOD_031109_011.JPG: Sign: May 31, 1889
The valley in front of you once cradled a scenic lake. Held back by an earthen dam just below here, Lake Conemaugh stretched more than two miles up the valley to your left. The lake was the heart of an exclusive resort where sailboats caught the mountain breezes, and anglers pursued trophy fish.
Everything changed on May 31, 1889. At 3:15pm, after record rainfall, the South Fork Dam gave way. In minutes, the lake was gone, and in less than an hour a devastating wall of churning water and debris hit the city of Johnstown 14 miles downstream. The death toll exceeded 2,200.
Johnstown Flood National Memorial, established by Congress in 1964, commemorates the tragic Johnstown Flood by preserving the remains of the South Fork Dam. Exhibits and programs in the Visitor Center describe the flood's origin and destructive power. A trail from the Visitor Center leads to viewpoints of the historic dam and lakebed. ...
The breaching of the dam here launched a deadly flood wave 30-60 feet high down the valley of the Little Conemaugh River to Johnstown. The wave travelled the 14 miles in about 45 minutes.
FLOOD_031109_032.JPG: A view of the South Fork Dam from the visitor center. You can see platforms on either side of the extant dam; the area in the middle is what gave way. The water traveled to the left, toward Johnstown.
FLOOD_031109_039.JPG: Colonel Elias J Unger's house. The barn, which is now a visitor center, is in the background.
FLOOD_031109_043.JPG: The Spillway
When properly designed and maintained, dams made of earth can hold back huge bodies of water. However, water must never be allowed to run over the top of an earth dam. Running water can rapidly erode an embankment, causing a dam to give way. It was this "overtopping" the doomed the South Fork Dam.
The dry, rocky channel in front of you was the dam's spillway. Designed to prevent overtopping, it should have allowed excess water to escape during floods. Why didn't it save the dam?
The spillway was not wide enough or deep enough to handle the flow which increased dramatically after the heavy rains.
The spillway was the only outlet. Pipes and valves originally installed at the base of the dam to release water had been removed.
Heavy metal screens had been fixed to the bottom of the spillway bridge to keep game fish from escaping. The screens impeded the water.
FLOOD_031109_048.JPG: You can see the Conemaugh River. This whole valley was under Lake Conemaugh until the flood destroyed the dam. The railroad tracks, obviously, were added afterward.
FLOOD_031109_050.JPG: The South Fork Dam.
You are now standing on what remains of the South Fork Dam. Completed in 1853, the dam was made chiefly of earth. Layers of clay one-foot-thick or less were built up one by one. Each layer was covered with a skim of water, or "puddled", to help it settle and harden. Five large outlet pipes were installed under the dam to discharge water safely. Slopes were faced with stone. The dam's only inadequacy was its spillway (behind you) which was too small.
Although well-engineered for its time, years of neglect and unsound alterations had made the dam unsafe. By 1889, the water control tower had burned down, and the iron outlet pipes had been removed, making it impossible to control the lake level. Earlier breaches in the dam had been improperly filled with stones, dirt, brush, and even manure. The dam had settled and sagged at the center, inviting a washout. In addition, fish screens had reduced the capacity of the spillway to handle overflow.
On May 31 1889, under the force of rising floodwaters, the dam gave way, creating the gaping hole in front of you. From here the flood wave thundered 14 miles downstream to Johnstown, killing more than 2,200. ...
Dimensions of South Fork Dam in 1853:
Length from end to end: 931 feet.
Width at base: 500 feet
Width at top: 40 feet
Height: 72 feet
FLOOD_031109_065.JPG: We're on the opposite shore looking back across where the dam had been
FLOOD_031109_081.JPG: From the brochure: The original dam, which was built by the State of Pennsylvania and completed in the 1850's, had a control mechanism consisting of a sluice gate with five very large cast iron pipes covered by a stone culvert extending 270 feet through the base of the dam. The foundation stones you see are all that remain of the culvert. A valve tower out in the lake regulated the flow of water out through the pipes. After a breach in 1862, the lake was completely drained, the valve tower burned down, and the cast iron pipes were sold. The property was purchased by the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club in 1879. The dam was reconstructed by them, but this vital control system was never replaced. The only way left to get rid of the excess water was the spillway -- and on the morning of May 31 1889, it was clogged.
The level of the lake continued to rise at an alarming rate. It was just a matter of time before the water would flow over the top, which would cause any earthen dam to break.
Colonel Unger sent John Parke to South Fork to send a telegraph message to warn the people of Johnstown. The roads were in terrible shape because of the storm but Mr Parke made the two mile ride in just ten minutes!
FLOOD_031109_088.JPG: Looking up from where the culvert pipes had been. Sign:
20,000,000 Tons of Water
In 1889, the watershed above this dam, covering 48 square miles, was hit with a phenomenal rainstorm. The night before the flood, a pail left outside near the dam collected eight inches of rainwater! Swelling streams poured into the lake, increasing its normal volume 33%.
When the dam failed, an estimated 20,000,000 tons of water pushed through the gap in front of you. During the 45 minutes or so it took for the lake to drain, the volume of escaping water roughly equaled the flow over Niagara Falls.
A 30-to-60-foot-high flood wave swept down the valley to your [left] toward Johnstown at speeds averaging 40 miles per hour. The churning water swept up earth, stones, trees, livestock, houses, and debris as it advanced, adding to its destructive power and horrifying appearance. Witnesses described a dark mist which hung over the wave, and an ominous sound like thunder.
Seconds after the dam gave way, the wave smashed two farmhouses just below here, erasing even their foundations.
Wikipedia Description: Johnstown Flood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Johnstown Flood disaster (or Great Flood of 1889 as it became known locally) occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the failure of the South Fork Dam situated 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall. The dam's failure unleashed a torrent of 20 million tons of water (18.1 million cubic meters/ 4.8 billion gallons). The flood killed over 2,200 people and produced US$17 million of damage. It was the first major disaster relief effort handled by the new American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton. Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries.
History:
Founded in 1793 by Swiss immigrant Joseph Johns, Johnstown began to prosper with the building of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in 1836 and the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Works in the 1850s. By 1889, Johnstown was a town of Welsh and German immigrants. With a population of 30,000, it was a growing industrial community known for the quality of its steel.
The high, steep hills of the narrow Conemaugh Valley and the Allegheny Mountains range to the east kept development close to the riverfront areas, and subjected the valley to large amounts of rain and snowfall. The area surrounding the town of Johnstown was prone to flooding due to its position at the confluence of the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh River, forming the Conemaugh River, and to the artificial narrowing of the riverbed for the purposes of development.
South Fork Dam and Lake Conemaugh:
High in the mountains, near the small town of South Fork, the South Fork Dam was originally built between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system to be used as a reservoir for the canal basin in Johnstown. It was abandoned by the commonwealth, sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and sold again to private interests.
Henry Clay Frick led a group of speculators including Benjamin Ruff to purchase the abandoned reservoir, modify it, and convert it into a private resort lake for the wealthy of Pittsburgh, many of whom were closely associated with Carnegie Steel. The changes included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, putting a fish screen in the spillway (that also trapped debris), and raising the lake's level. These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. They built cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and secretive mountain retreat. Membership grew to include over 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal, and railroad industrialists, among them Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, Philander Knox, John George Alexander Leishman, Duncan Clinch Phillips (father of the founder of The Phillips Collection), Louis Semple Clarke (founder of the Autocar Company), James McCord (owner of the oldest hattery west of the Allegheny Mountains), Benjamin Thaw ( Pittsburgh financier and brother of the infamous Harry K. Thaw), Calvin Wells (industrialist), Henry Sellers McKee (glass manufacturer and founder of Jeannette, Pennsylvania), John Caldwell, Jr. (George Westinghouse partner); James Hay Reed (founding partner, Knox & Reed, now Reed Smith LLP), Sylvester S. Marvin (founder of Nabisco), Maxwell K. Moorhead, Durbin Horne and C. B. Shea (both of Horne's Department Store, W. A. McIntosh (father of Burr McIntosh and Nancy McIntosh) and Robert Pitcairn.
Lake Conemaugh at the club's site was 450 feet (137 m) in elevation above Johnstown. The lake was about two miles (3 km) long, approximately one mile (1.6 km) wide, and 60 feet (18 m) deep near the dam. The lake had a perimeter of 7 miles (11 km) to hold 20 million tons of water. When the water was at its highest point in the spring, the lake covered over 400 acres (1.6 km˛).
The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. Between 1881 when the club was opened, and 1889, the dam frequently sprung leaks and was patched, mostly with mud and straw. Additionally a previous owner removed and sold for scrap the 3 cast iron discharge pipes that previously allowed a controlled release of water. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works downstream in Johnstown. Carnegie Steel's chief competitor, the Cambria Iron and Steel Company, at that time boasted the world's largest annual steel production. However, no major corrective action was taken, and the flawed dam held the waters of Lake Conemaugh back until the disaster of May 31, 1889.
The Great Flood of 1889:
On May 28, 1889, a storm formed over Nebraska and Kansas, moving east. When the storm struck the Johnstown-South Fork area two days later it was the worst downpour that had ever been recorded in that part of the country. The U.S. Army Signal Corps estimated that 6 to 10 inches (150 to 250 mm) of rain fell in 24 hours over the entire region. During the night small creeks became roaring torrents, ripping out trees and debris. Telegraph lines were downed and rail lines were washed away. Before daybreak the Conemaugh River that ran through Johnstown was about to burst its banks.
During the day, the situation worsened as water rose to as much as ten feet in the streets of Johnstown. Then, in the middle of the afternoon of May 31st, the South Fork Dam, 14 miles (23 km) upstream, burst, allowing the 20 million tons of Lake Conemaugh to cascade down the Little Conemaugh River. On its way downstream towards Johnstown, the crest picked up debris, such as trees, houses, and animals. Occasionally this debris formed a temporary dam at narrow parts of the canyon, which caused water to build up behind this dam before breaking through. Because of this, the force of the surge would gain strength periodically, resulting in a stronger force hitting Johnstown than otherwise would be expected. Just before hitting the main part of the city, the flood surge hit the Cambria Iron Works, taking with it railroad cars and barbed wire.
The inhabitants of Johnstown were caught by surprise as the wall of water and debris bore down on the village, travelling at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and reaching a height of 60 feet (18 m) in places. Some, realizing the danger, tried to escape, but most people were hit by the surging floodwater. Many people were crushed by pieces of debris, and others became caught in barbed wire from the wire factory upstream. Those who sought safety in attics, or managed to stay aloft of the flood water on pieces of floating debris, waited hours for help to arrive.
At Johnstown, the Stone Bridge, which was a substantial arched structure, carried the Pennsylvania Railroad across the Conemaugh River. The debris that was carried by the flood formed a temporary dam, stopping further progress of the water. The flood surge bounced upstream along the Stoney Creek River. Eventually, gravity caused the surge to return to the dam, causing a second wave to hit the city, but from a different direction. Some people who had been washed downstream became trapped in an inferno as debris that had piled up against the Stone Bridge caught fire, killing 80 people. The fire at the Stone Bridge burned for three days. Afterwards, the pile of debris there covered 30 acres (120,000 m˛), and reached 70 feet (22metres) in height. The mass of debris took three months to remove, because of the masses of steel wire from the ironworks binding it. Dynamite was eventually used to clear it. As of 2007, the Stone Bridge is still standing, and is often portrayed as one of the images of the flood.
Aftermath:
The total death toll for the disaster was 2,209 dead. 99 entire families had died, including 396 children. 124 women and 198 men were left without their spouses, 98 children lost both parents. 777 victims (1 of every 3 bodies found) were never identified and rest in the Plot of the Unknown in Grandview Cemetery.
Working seven days and nights, workmen replaced the huge stone railroad viaduct that had all but disappeared in the flood.
It was the worst flood to hit the U.S. in the 19th century. 1,600 homes were destroyed, $17 million in property damage was done, and four square miles (10 km˛) of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed. Clean-up operations continued for years. Although Cambria Iron and Steel's facilities were heavily damaged, they returned to full production within a year and a half.
The Pennsylvania Railroad restored service to Pittsburgh, 55 miles (89 km) away, by June 2. Food, clothing, medicine and other provisions began arriving. Morticians came by railroad. Johnstown’s first call for help requested coffins and undertakers. Demolition expert "Dynamite Bill" Flinn and his 900-man crew cleared the wreckage at the Stone Bridge. They carted off debris, distributed food, and erected temporary housing. At its peak, the army of relief workers totaled about 7,000.
One of the first outsiders to arrive was Clara Barton (1821-1912), nurse and president of the American Red Cross. Barton arrived on June 5, 1889 to lead the group's first major disaster relief effort and didn't leave for over 5 months. She and many other volunteers worked tirelessly. Donations for the relief effort came from all over the United States and overseas. $3,742,818.78 was collected for the Johnstown relief effort from within the U.S. and 18 foreign countries, including Russia, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Australia and Germany.
Continued flooding:
Floods have continued to be a concern for Johnstown. A "500 year flood" was a massive event that hydrologists predicted had only a one-in-500 chance in happening in any given year. These predictions are based upon natural events, and do not take into account an upstream dam failure.
Johnstown experienced additional major flooding in subsequent years, especially in 1894, 1907 and 1924. The most significant flood of the first half of the 20th century was the St. Patrick's Day Flood of March 1936, which also reached Pittsburgh and became known as the Great Pittsburgh Flood of 1936.
More recently, on the night of July 19, 1977, a relentless storm reminiscent of 1889 bombarded the city and the rivers began to rise. By dawn, the city was under water that reached as high as eight feet (2.4 m). The seven counties disaster area suffered $200 million in property damage and 80 lost lives. Another 50,000 were rendered homeless as a result of the "500 year flood."
Blame:
In the years following the disaster, many people blamed the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club for the tragedy. The club had bought and repaired the dam to turn the area into a vacation retreat in the mountains. However, they were accused of failing to properly maintain the dam, so that it was unable to contain the additional water of the unusually heavy rainfall. Despite the accusations and evidence, they were successfully defended by the firm of Knox and Reed (now Reed Smith LLP), both partners of which (Philander Knox and James Hay Reed) were Club members. The Club was never held legally responsible for the disaster. Though a suit was filed, the court held the dam break to have been an Act of God, and granted the survivors no legal compensation.
Individual members of the club did contribute substantially to the relief efforts. Along with about half of the club members, Henry Clay Frick donated thousands of dollars to the relief effort in Johnstown. After the flood, Andrew Carnegie, one of the club's better known members, built the town a new library. In modern times, this former library is owned by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, and houses The Flood Museum. Remnants of the dam are preserved as part of Johnstown Flood National Memorial, established in 1964.
The "Johnstown Flood" Tax:
As a result of the damage from the 1936 flood, the Pennsylvania General Assembly imposed an emergency tax on all alcohol sold in the Commonwealth. The "temporary" 10% tax was initially intended to help pay for clean up, recovery, and assistance to flood victims. The tax was never repealed and in 1963 the tax was raised to 15% and again in 1968 to 18% (not including the statewide 6% sales tax). The nearly $200 million collected annually no longer goes to flood victims, however, instead going into the general fund for discretionary use by lawmakers.
The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue states that, "All liquors sold by the LCB are subject to this tax which is computed on the actual price paid by the consumer including mark-up, handling charge and federal tax. The first sale of liquor also is subject to the sales and use tax at the time of purchase."
In Literature and Music:
Dark fantasy author Caitlín R. Kiernan made the Johnstown Flood the central focus of her 1994 short story, "To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889)," which appears in her collection, Tales of Pain and Wonder. In the story, the flood serves as a catalyst for revenge in what is essentially a ghost story.
Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman" from the Nebraska album (1982) references the event. The narrator of the song and his brother take turns "dancing with Maria, as the band played 'Night of the Johnstown Flood.'"
Catherine Marshall wrote a historical fiction novel Julie about a teenage girl in a small Pennsylvania town below an earthen dam not properly maintained by the Hunting and Fishing Club. Although set in the 1930s instead of 1889, this is a much researched account of the Johnstown Flood.
Brian Booker's short story A Drowning Accident, published by the literary periodical One Story (Issue #57, May 30th 2005) was largely based on and influenced by the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
Murray Leinster had his two time travellers unable to convince the Johnstown population of the coming disaster in his 1966 novel 'The Time Tunnel'.
The Johnstown Flood is mentioned in Rudyard Kipling's book Captains Courageous as the disaster that wiped out Pennsylvania Pratt's family causing his mind to give out. He briefly returns to reality, becoming his former self and recalling the disaster when a steamship runs down another fishing boat.
Pulitzer prize-winning historian David McCullough devotes an entire volume to the disaster in his book titled, "The Johnstown Flood".
Michael Dudek, a Johnstown resident and author, references the Johnstown Flood in his book "The Fairytale of the Morley Dog". The book is a fantasy about the Morley Dog (famous to Johnstown residents) and his adventures. In the book the dog is claimed to be seen saving children from the flood waters.
The foreseen flood figured prominently in the plot of Paul Mark Tag's novel Prophecy.
Marden A. Dahlstedt, a young readers' author, wrote one girl's account of the flood in her 1972 book, "The Terrible Wave".
The flood was also the subject of William McGonagall's poem The Pennsylvania Disaster.
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Johnstown Flood National Memorial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johnstown Flood National Memorial commemorates the 2,209 people who died in the Johnstown Flood of 1889, caused by a break in the South Fork Dam. Clara Barton successfully led the American Red Cross in its first disaster relief effort. The memorial is located at 733 Lake Road near South Fork, Pennsylvania about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Johnstown. The memorial preserves the remains of the dam and portions of the former Lake Conemaugh bed.
The United States Congress authorized the national memorial on August 31, 1964.
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