Existing comment:
"It looked as though the whole valley were under water."
The hillside above the spillway looks much the same as it did in 1889. It was the farm of Colonel Elias J. Unger, the last president of the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club. Mr. Unger had retired from the hotel business in Pittsburgh to the little farm above Lake Conemaugh. He awoke at 6am on May 31, 1889, but the nightmare was just beginning. He looked out the window and was startled by what he saw. He said later, "It looked as though the whole valley were under water." He put on his coat and ran down to the dam. |