Existing comment:
"On old state maps it was the Western Reservoir."
The original dam was built by the state of Pennsylvania to create a reservoir for the western portion of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and completed in the 1850's [sic]. It had a control mechanism consisting of a sluice gate with five very large cast iron pipes that enter a stone culvert extending 270 feet through the base of the dam. The foundation stones that are still visible here are all that remain of the culvert. A valve tower out in the lake regulated the flow of the 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 moved.
After a series of owners, the property was purchased by the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club in 1879. When the dam was patched under their ownership, this vital control system was never replaced. The only means left to get rid of excess water from the lake was the spillway, and on the morning of May 31, 1889, it was jammed with debris from the storm.
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 of the dam, causing it to break. John Parke rode his horse to the town of South Fork to send a telegraph warning to Johnstown. The roads were in terrible shape because of the storm, but he made the two mile ride in just ten minutes. |