Lake View House

The Lake View House

NPS

Colonel Elias J. Unger, who served as manager and second president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, built this house in the mid-1880s. From here he had a commanding view of the club's lake and dam. Unger managed hotels along the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Seventh Avenue Hotel in Pittsburgh.

In the early morning hours of May 31, 1889 Unger noticed that the level of Lake Conemaugh had risen considerably during the night. He made a quick calculation and estimated that the dam was rising 4-6 inches per hour. This scene alarmed Unger and around 10:00 a.m. he ordered 10-20 Italian laborers to start digging a spillway on the west end of the dam and to try to heighten the top of the breast. Colonel Unger supervised the group of laborers in a desperate attempt to save the dam. Defeated by the waters, Unger trudged back up the hill to his house and collapsed from exhaustion.

At 3:15 PM the South Fork dam gave way spilling the entire contents of Lake Conemaugh into the valley leading to Johnstown. The result of the 20 million-ton lake's release was over 2,000 dead in the valley.

The aging Lake View House and property were added to Johnstown Flood National Memorial in 1981 to help preserve the historic scene. The house had been abandoned for more than a decade, but the National Park Service was able to save most of the house and return it to its 1889 appearance. Restoration work was completed in 1989, 100 years after the great flood. The house serves as administrative offices and is not open to the public.