Last updated: March 2, 2024
Place
"It just seemed like a mountain coming." Wayside
NPS
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Description of Wayside: The wayside is 36 x 24 inches and is surrounded by black metal. It has a black rectangular base with two rectangular pillars supporting the panel. The wayside along the Walk Through the Ruins trail.
Wayside Layout: At the top of the wayside is a thin black banner with white text. To the left is "Johnstown Flood National Memorial." To the right is "National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior." Next to the text is the National Park Service arrowhead. The title of the wayside is below the black banner in large black font. The panel has a cream-colored background. There are two columns of text and two images.
Wayside Title: It just seemed like a mountain coming.
Text: At approximately 3:15 on the afternoon of May 31, 1889, the dam gave way. Twenty million tons of water rushed through he breach "roaring like a mighty battle," an eyewitness said. It was at though Niagara Falls thundered into the river valley for about thirty-five minutes.
Look downriver and imagine the unleashing of the destructive force that shaved wooded hillsides down to bare rock, snapped huge trees like toothpicks, moved 80-ton railroad locomotives about like toys, and lifted houses from their foundations tossing them about before crushing them. It took the water about an hour to travel the 14 miles of river channel to Johnstown and only 10 minutes to destroy the city.
Image: Artist's conception of the South Fork Dam failing. NPS/Harpers Ferry Center.
Image: A scene of water and debris.
Wayside Layout: At the top of the wayside is a thin black banner with white text. To the left is "Johnstown Flood National Memorial." To the right is "National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior." Next to the text is the National Park Service arrowhead. The title of the wayside is below the black banner in large black font. The panel has a cream-colored background. There are two columns of text and two images.
Wayside Title: It just seemed like a mountain coming.
Text: At approximately 3:15 on the afternoon of May 31, 1889, the dam gave way. Twenty million tons of water rushed through he breach "roaring like a mighty battle," an eyewitness said. It was at though Niagara Falls thundered into the river valley for about thirty-five minutes.
Look downriver and imagine the unleashing of the destructive force that shaved wooded hillsides down to bare rock, snapped huge trees like toothpicks, moved 80-ton railroad locomotives about like toys, and lifted houses from their foundations tossing them about before crushing them. It took the water about an hour to travel the 14 miles of river channel to Johnstown and only 10 minutes to destroy the city.
Image: Artist's conception of the South Fork Dam failing. NPS/Harpers Ferry Center.
Image: A scene of water and debris.