• A view of the South and North abutments of the South Fork Dam. The Visitor Center, Unger House, and Spring House are visible in the background. As is visible, a spur railroad line connects coal trains with the main line of the railroad.

    Johnstown Flood

    National Memorial Pennsylvania

Natural Features & Ecosystems

Once the site of a 450-acre lake, Johnstown Flood National Memorial is now an empty lakebed bordered by rolling hills, farmlands and towns. Woodlands, wet meadows, managed fields, and the South Fork of the Little Conemaugh River make up the landscape today. As a memorial the pastoral setting is appropriate, but stands in contrast to the tumultuous nature of what the landscape must have been that fateful day in 1889 when the dam burst.

Did You Know?

Johnstown Dam

The Dam was originally built by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a reservoir for the canal basin in Johnstown. It took from 1838-1853 to construct and fill, yet the canal system was obsolete by 1854.