Two Utah Gypsies - RVing National Sites in the US: Pennsylvania - Johnstown Flood & Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Sites

Since we've been in the upper Minnesota area on the Canada border, we've had a bit of difficulty with the download and upload speed and being able to post. Recently, we arrived in Kabetogama, MN, which is in Voyageurs National Park. We are closer to Canada than any place so far on our trip, but the Internet seems to be a bit better so I'll take the chance and do a bit more updating of our summer.

After we left Maryland, we traveling through Pennsylvania on our way to Ohio. We had three stops on our journey today (July 7th) - Johnstown Flood, Allegheny Portage Railroad and the Flight 93 crash site from 9/11.

The first place we stopped was at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. This poor town has seen it's share of flooding and it had major floods in 1889 (this post), 1936 and 1977.

You'd think after a few these event they would have just abandoned the town, but they let it thrive. On May 31, 1889, I had nearly an entire family of cousins in my family tree destroyed by this terrible flood...the Hoffmans. Only a couple of the older boys survived. Below are the lists of the victims of the 1889 flood.

Find-a-Grave Photo

The death tole that day was 2,209 person killed: 1,219 female, 923 male. 99 entire families were lost, including my Hoffman family. 124 women lost their husbands; 198 men lost their wives. 396 children under the age of 10 years died. 568 children lost one or both parents. Bodies from the 1889 flood would be found as late as 1911 and as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio! Some people were unrecognizable and had to be identified by the clothes they were wearing! Such a tragic event.

The day started as any other, but when the rain really started to come down, they knew that Lake Conemaugh was going to break through the South Fork dam. There were telegrams prior to the event warning people of the possibility.

The aftermath was horrific as you could imagine. The force of Lake Conemaugh was similiar to the velocity and depth of the Niagara River as it goes over Niagara Falls! The water filled the entire valley and people were in it's path! Here are scenes from the aftermath.

There was a story of the Mineral Point Church Bell. It broke off the church but kept continuing to toll as it made it's way down the valley. You can read about the story below in the photo.

The Visitor Center was uniquely displayed making it look as though you were looking at a victim clinging to life while the flood roared by. There were some wonderful exhibits and lots of information especially on the tragedy of May 31, 1889.

It's hard to imagine that in this beautiful valley such tragedy occurred.

After leaving Johnstown, we traveled over to Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site in Gallitzin, PA. This site isn't your typical railroad site, but a site that consisted of railroad, canal boat, aqueducts, tunnels, etc. connecting the rail to canal boats between 1826-1831. Prior to this the Erie Canal has been completed and trade from Philadelphia noticed that their trade was slipping away, so Pennsylvania merchants encouraged legislators to authorize a main line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and this was the Allegheny Portage Railroad system.

Web Photo

During this time of completion, canal boat passengers would transfer to the steam railroad system pulled by horses which ascended up five inclined planes and then transfer back to the canal boats and so on until they reached their destinations through the Allegheny Mountains. Part of the length of this was through Conemaugh River and Viaduct that we shared above and connected Johnstown Main Line Canal to the Hollidaysburg Main Line Canal. Unfortunately, the portage railroad was obsolete within a few years time as more powerful locomotives became dependable.

At this site is located the Lemon House, built by Samuel Lemon on Cresson Summit in 1832. It was their home, tavern and business and used as a way point for travelers.