Path of the Flood

Bird's-eye view of the Conemaugh Valley from Nineveh to the lake, Johnstown, Pa.

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

 

The Conemaugh Valley

The Conemaugh Valley experienced unthinkable tragedy on May 31, 1889. When the South Fork Dam broke, the floodwaters traveled 14 miles to reach Johnstown, devastating other towns along the way. All of this happened in under one hour. People described the flood as a "roar like thunder." Many people couldn't see the floodwaters, but instead saw all the debris in front of it.

All the towns in the Conemaugh Valley that were affected by the flood are still in existence today.

 

 

Train station in South Fork.

Public Domain

South Fork

South Fork was the closest town to the South Fork Dam, or Lake Conemaugh, as it was called by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. In 1889, this coal mining town had approximately 1,500 residents. Many of the homes in South Fork were situated on a hillside back from the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. From the train station in South Fork, it was two miles by carriage road to the Club House and cottages. During the summer months, especially on the weekends, the train station was a busy place with Pittsburghers coming and going to the lake.

Around twenty homes in South Fork were destroyed in the flood, along with a bridge and planning mill. Geographically, much of South Fork is built on the hillside putting a large part of the town out of the direct path of water.

Telegraph operator Emma Ehrenfeld and train engineer H. M. Bennett were in the telegraph tower when Bennett saw people running and then saw the floodwaters coming down the valley. Emma Ehrenfeld said: "It just seemed like a mountain coming."

 

William Pickerill

Doug Bosley

Mineral Point

There were about 200 residents in the quiet town of Mineral Point. The thirty white frame houses in the town sat in a row and faced the river. The back yards stretched to the hills behind. Mineral Point had a sawmill and furniture factory.

About a mile above Mineral Point was the Conemaugh Viaduct. It was built by the state of Pennsylvania for the Main Line Canal and Allegheny Portage Railroad. It was 75 feet high and had a single arch measuring 80 feet. It saved a few miles of track at the oxbow in the Little Conemaugh River. In May 1889, it was the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

As most of the homes in Mineral Point were situated along the Little Conemaugh River and the water continued to rise throughout the day, some people had left their homes prior to the flood. Of the thirty-two homes in town, twenty-six were destroyed. The factory, mill and schoolhouse were gone. Sixteen people died. The clock in the Pennsylvania Railroad tower was stopped at 3:41 p.m. when the flood wave hit.

William Pickerill was the telegraph operator at the Mineral Point tower. In his Pennsylvania Railroad testimony he said, in part: "...I was sitting in the tower, and all at once, I heard a roar. I looked up the track, and I seen the trees and water coming. I jumped up and throwed the window up, and climbed out on a tin roof around our office and walked around on it, and I saw the drift wood coming around the curve, and the channel filling up..." He ran up on the hillside near the telegraph tower and survived.

 

Train wreckage in East Conemaugh.

Wreck of Pullman cars and engines at Conemaugh, Johnstown Flood, May 31st. Ernest Walter Histed, photographer.

East Conemaugh

East Conemaugh was Johnstown's marshaling yard for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Trains would get their extra engines, also known as helpers, at this location in preparation for the steep haul up the mountain. There were four main tracks in town, a sixteen stall roundhouse, and repair shops. The homes were situated back from the tracks.

The Day Express had two trains stopped in East Conemaugh and were waiting for further orders. Track washouts took place all through the valley and made travel impossible. Rail traffic could not go east from this point. The first section of the Day Express had seven cars, and the second section had six. There was also a mail train stopped in East Conemaugh carrying passengers from the play, "A Night Off."

Locomotive engineer John Hess heard the roar of the floodwaters and rode his train in reverse into East Conemaugh as a warning. Rev. J.A. Smith, pastor of the United Brethren Church in East Conemaugh describes the warning:

“Whilst looking from the upstairs window of our residence, on the Franklin side, having an elevated view of the river and town, watching the pile of drift borne upon the surging current, marking the gradual rise of the water on the riverbanks, the roar of the mighty torrent fell upon my startled ears, and, at once, the appalling situation of the people in the valley was apparent. At that moment, the shrike of a locomotive, that came rushing full speed into the yard, sounded forth the tocsin of alarm.”

Forty homes were destroyed. Twenty-two passengers were killed on the Day Express when the flood came through town. Locomotives weighing eighty tons were pushed up to a mile downstream.

 

Remains of the pedestrian bridge in Woodvale.

Public Domain

Woodvale

The town and the woolen mill were built by the Cambria Iron Company. Around 60,000 yards of material was made in the mill each month. The Gautier Iron Works produced barbed wire. A street railway ran along Maple Avenue in Woodvale to Johnstown. This allowed the company workers to live outside of town but have easy access to travel to their jobs. Maple Avenue was considered one of the nicest streets in the whole Conemaugh Valley. One man said that the white houses reminded him of a New England town.

Woodvale had no warning before the floodwaters reached town. Out of 1,000 people living in Woodvale, one third, or 314 people, died in the flood. Many of those people never had a chance to get out of their homes. Trees, tracks and telegraph lines were gone. More than 250 houses were destroyed. In a stable, 89 horses drowned. The only structure still standing in town was part of the woolen mill and a Pennsylvania Railroad pedestrian bridge. The Gautier works was destroyed by the water. By the time the flood passed through Woodvale, it was a "mud flat."

 

Debris piled up in front of the Stone Arch Bridge.

Public Domain

Johnstown

The population in Johnstown was approximately 10,000 people. The town's location is on a nearly level flood plain at the joining of two rivers, the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh. There was an opera house, hotel, several large office buildings that were 5 stories tall, to name a few. Most people besides those who owned larges homes, lived in 2 or 3 story frame houses. The town was lit by electric streetlights. The Cambria Iron Company was the big employer in town.

"Shortly before four, one leading citizen was asked how much higher he thought the water would rise in the valley if the dam let go. He answered "about two feet." The floodwaters reached Johnstown at 4:07 p.m. The flood took several different paths through town destroying much of the town in only ten minutes.

That evening around 6:00 p.m. the wreckage at the Pennsylvania Railroad's stone bridge caught fire.