Existing comment:
A Company Town
In 1889, Johnstown was the business hub of a cluster of smaller communities, each one economically dependent on the Cambria Iron Company, the valley's major industry. Together with its subsidiaries, Cambria Iron employed over 7,000 workers, most of whom lived in company-owned tenements, shopped at the company store and, when they were sick or injured, recuperated in the company hospital.
The Cambria Iron Company pioneered the technology that helped push America into a new age of steel. The company's products were used to build the nation's railroads, skyscrapers and bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883. |