THE DAM AND LAKE

If you come to visit the Johnstown Flood National Memorial you will notice that the dam and lake are no longer here. But as you take the walkway to one of the overlooks you quickly appreciate the size of this structure.

The dam was originally built by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to be used as a reservoir for the canal basin in Johnstown. But as good ideas go the dam took so long to build that the canal system was made obsolete by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The railroad eventually bought the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and operated many sections of it for a number of years. While under the PRR’s ownership, the dam broke in 1862. But fortunately the lake was only half full and it was a dry summer.

The PRR sold this particular property to a congressman from Altoona (PA) named John Reilly. Reilly hoped (as many in the area did) that he would be able to sell it to a group interested in starting a resort. Interested buyers were so few that Reilly sold it to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club at a loss.

The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club started to repair the dam in 1879, and completed it in 1881. The club stocked the lake (which they called Lake Conemaugh) with one thousand black bass. The dam held for almost ten years, failing during one of the worst storms of the later nineteenth century.