Existing comment:
Historic Mineral Point Church Bell:
As preparations were taking place for the 125th Anniversary of the Johnstown Flood, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial unexpectedly was honored to receive the donation of the church bell of the Mineral Point United Methodist Church. The church closed on December 29, 2013, to merge with another congregation. The historic bell has quite a connection with the Johnstown Flood.
When the South Fork Dam failed, the waters of "Lake Conemaugh" coursed through South Fork, PA, and then were stopped momentarily at the Conemaugh Viaduct. When the viaduct collapsed, the water was unleashed once again with a renewed fury and then struck the town of Mineral Point. According to David McCullough, "the... water swept through in such a way that it left almost nothing to suggest that there had ever been such a place as Mineral Point." In 1890, Rev. Dr. David J. Beale, flood survivor and minister of Johnstown's First Presbyterian Church, published a book, Through the Johnstown Flood: By a Survivor. He wrote, "The pastor of the M.E. Church of that place [Mineral Point] informs me that when his church building was moved from its foundation, the bell began to toll and continued to strike a singular dirge until the edifice went to pieces." The bell was recovered in Woodvale, about eight miles west of Mineral Point. According to a 1946 newspaper article, it is said that this historic bell continued to toll as it flowed along with the rest of the flood wave on its collision course for Johnstown.
The bell was reinstalled in the rebuilt church in 1890. The bell also survived a 1945 fire. The bell is now part of the collection of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. On May 31, 2014, as part of the 125th Anniversary, the bell was run at 3:10pm, signifying the time when the South Fork Dam failed on Friday, May 31, 1889. Members of the Mineral Point church were on hand to assist with the ringing of the bell. |