As theJohnstown Area Historical Associationnotes, the dead were found hundreds of miles away and continued to be found for decades after the flood. square miles of downtown Johnstown was completely leveled, including The newest chapter on the Johnstown flood, written not by historians but geologists, fixes blame for the disaster squarely on a sports club owned by some of Pittsburgh's industrial . However, there was not enough substantial evidence to hold the club legally responsible. The Club members also had many connections, allowing them to insert court-appointed experts that happened to favor their positions. But there was one small blessing on the day: Because so many had already fled, only 16 people from Mineral Point died. In fact, for a brief moment, the lake reformed itself behind the viaduct. The three remembered most happened on May 31, 1889, when at least 2,209 people died, the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936, in which almost two dozen people died, and a third devastating flood on July 19-20, 1977, when at least 85 people died. As the raging waters tore down the river valley moving at speeds as fast as 100 miles per hour at times, everything in its path was torn up and carried along. There were two primary conjectures about who was to blame: former Congressman John Reilly and the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Although the 1977 flood was brutal within a seven-county disaster area, the JLFPP flood control efforts kept the flood level about 11 feet lower than it would have been without it. Johnstown and Its Flood. this flooding would be much worse than other times. The Flood Museum's film is available for purchase. After the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sold the property, it was subsequently owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, a local businessman and one-time Congressman named John Reilley (Reilly) and, finally, the South fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club counted many of Pittsburghs leading industrialists and financiers among its 61 members, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Philander Knox. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club wanted to build the lake up to its original height, so they could go boating and fishing. In simple terms, many saw the Club members as robber barons who had gotten away with murder. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1940. Hydraulic experts and engineers flocked to Johnstown to analyze the situation. But the city needed more immediate help, and this help arrived in the form of Clara Barton and the American Red Cross. Later, he worked as a teacher, journalist, editor, carpenter, and read more, Best known to his many fans for one of his most memorable screen incarnationsSan Francisco Police Inspector Dirty Harry Callahanthe actor and Oscar-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood is born on May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California. A: "Whatever happened to fanny packs?" B: "Oh, you'll start seeing them againthey're back in style apparently." Even more tragic was the loss of life. However, the canal system became obsolete almost immediately after the reservoir was completed in 1852. University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown professor Paul Douglas Newman describes the city as a giant drain that sits at the bottom of several watersheds, all prone to flooding. These men had been warned of the danger time and again, but they feasted and enjoyed themselves on the lake while the very lives of the people in the valley below were in danger.. sentences. University of Pittsburgh scientists have used ground-penetrating radar and computers to analyze the dam site and the volume and speed of floodwaters that hit Johnstown at 4:07 p.m., an hour after the break. Harrisburg: James M. Place, 1890. In the first edition following the disaster, the Tribunes editor George Swank placed blame for the disaster clearly on the Club: We think we know what struck us, and it was not the work of Providence. They left immediately following the disaster, and the club members were largely silent about the tragedy. Netanyahu, who promised read more, Near Tel Aviv, Israel, Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer who organized Adolf Hitlers final solution of the Jewish question, was executed for his crimes against humanity. The dam and the large lake behind it were the private property of an exclusive vacation retreat made up of 19th-century industrial barons including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon. Were the people below the dam warned? Fishing and boating were popular activities, and the club members also enjoyed picnicking by the reservoirs spillway. Clara Barton: Professional Angel. The result, as reported byThe Seattle Times, was around 750 bodies that were never identified. Johnstown Flood. The most powerful case against Reilly was provided by Robert Pitcairn, the executive of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. valley. Littles case was dismissed almost immediately. . Our park, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, preserves the ruins of the South Fork Dam, part of the old lakebed, and some of the buildings of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The club boasted some of the richest and most powerful men in the country as founding members, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Frick, and Andrew Mellon. However, the legal ambiguity allowed the club to argue that Reilly was to blame. Every year, the town honors the dead with a reading of a list of names of those who died in this tragic event. it made its way to the city of Johnstown. As anyone who has ever experienced a flood knows, water flows in unexpected ways, and there were no satellites, Internet, or airplanes in 1889. Hydraulic experts and engineers flocked to Johnstown to analyze the situation. I want to do it tonight. In 1879, they made repairs and improvements to the dam to bring up the water level. The dam was about 15 miles upstream from Johnstown, Pa., a steel mill town of more than 10,000 people. She oversaw a massive relief effort that established the reputation of the Red Cross, which included building temporary shelters and providing food. Below the bridge the floodwaters reached the first floor, but it did not have the force of all that debris trapped in the jam. The damage would have been less if the water had been able to slip through the viaduct unimpeded. The Terrible Wave. Barton's branch of the American Red Cross is remembered for providing shelter to many survivors in large buildings simply known as "Red Cross Hotels," some of which stood into early 1890. While the water continued to rise, he sent a messenger to the nearest town to telegraph a warning to Johnstown that the dam was close to overflowing. Whose idea was the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club? American author and historian David McCullough's first book, The Johnstown Flood (1968), tells the story of a flood that devastated a steel community in Central Pennsylvania in 1889. Make sure youre always up-to-date by subscribing to our online newsletter. For most, You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! As officials prepare to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the enormous Johnstown Flood of 1889, new research has helped explain why the deluge was so deadly. 700 of the victims could not be identified. The Historic Flood of May 31, 1889 First let's look at circumstantial evidence on the 1889 flood (2,209 killed, $17m damage). It was clear that club members instructed the workers to carry out the fatal renovations. Later investigations like the 2014 computer simulation refuted this claim. Then the whole dam broke -- the lake full of water just pushed the dam out in front of it. Designed to protect Johnstown from ever experiencing floods of the level of 1889 and 1936, the JLFPP protected the city from further major flooding until 1977. . The waters were 60 feet tall in places and rushed forwards at 40 mph. AsABC Newsnotes,the litigation chiefly took place in Pittsburgh courts, where the owners of the club had tremendous influence. And asTribLIVEreports, the flood did $17 million in damage, which would be over $480 millionin today's dollars. According to Johnstown citizen Victor Heiser, It is impossible to imagine how these [club] people were feared (PA Inquirer, August 23, 1889). From 1985 until 1988, a sequel series titled What's Happening Now!! Legal action against individual club members was difficult if not impossible, as it would have been necessary to prove personal negligence and the power and influence of the club members is hard to overestimate. The club did engage in periodic maintenance of the dam, but made some harmful modifications to it. The Pennsylvania Railroad had no use for the dam or the lake, so it sold the property to John Reilly, a congressman from Altoona. That happened 88 years after America's deadliest flash flood, also in Johnstown, prompted the construction of the Laurel Run Dam. Clara Barton, Founder, American Red Cross. How Americas Most Powerful Men Caused Americas Deadliest Flood, The Deadliest Natural Disasters in US History. fairly often in southwestern Pennsylvania, so most people didn't think Then the pile, which was 40 feet high and 30 acres across, caught fire! Supplies of donated food arrived as soon as trains could get close to the town. It is located on a floodplain that has been subject to frequent disasters. It returned as a weekly series from November 1976 until its April 1979 conclusion. . General Hastings took charge for several months, making sure relief supplies went to survivors who needed them and keeping the press from taking over the town. This section of our website has more about the station's history, present and future. May 31 1889 May 31 Over 2,000 die in the Johnstown Flood The South Fork Dam in Pennsylvania collapses on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood, killing more than 2,200 people.. Except, there wasn't. The impressive dam made of packed-down earth stood 72 feet high and 900 feet wide. The community was essentially wiped out by the historic Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, along with six other villages in the Conemaugh River Valley. The waters hadn't even receded yet when hundreds of journalists arrived to document the disaster for the world. The death toll of the Johnstown Flood was worse because the town was already flooded. The viaduct was a 78-foot-high railroad bridge, originally built in 1833. In minutes, most of downtown Johnstown was destroyed. Regardless if they were to blame or not, the public resented that the club members provided little relief relative to their respective wealth. Was someone to blame? Once the dam failed at 3:10-3:15, however, such communications were impossible. Anna Fenn Maxwell's husband was washed away by the flood; she was trapped in the family home with seven children as the water rose. By June 5th, the newly organized Red Cross, led by Clara Barton, arrived in Johnstown. There are stories of homes floating past with people trapped on the roofs, screaming for help. Daily weather map for 8 am May 30, 1889, the day before the big flood in Johnstown. As it is, for the people of Johnstown and the surrounding area, May 31, 1889, remains a memory of loss. After Johnstown was destroyed, it was found that 1,600 homes had been destroyed, 2, 209 people lost their lives, and there was over $17,000,000 in property damage. July 20 1977 July 20 Great great flood hits Johnstown A flash flood hits Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on July 20, 1977, killing 84 people and causing millions of dollars in damages. One comment published in the Philadelphia Inquirer captures the publics attitude towards the club members. The ownership of the dam shifted various times throughout its history, so this was no trivial question. The flood had cut everything down to the bedrock. The Pennsylvania Railroad had repaired it, but did not build it back up to its original height. Residents of Johnstown, and Americans in general, began to turn their wrath toward the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the club contributed 1,000 blankets to the relief effort. The flood was the first major natural disaster in which the American Red Cross played a major role. The dam was envisioned by the state of Pennsylvania, and Sylvester Welch (Welsh), the principal engineer of the old Allegheny Portage Railroad, as a canal reservoir. Not much is known about Benjamin Ruff's life. The repaired dam would hold for ten years. The tragedy of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 resulted from a combination of nature and human indifference and neglect. A branch of the American Red Cross from Philadelphia, not associated with Barton, arrived as well. This natural disaster caused many families and homes to come crashing down, all the townspeople shed tears that day as they watched their homes and loved ones float away with the . The South Fork Dam, located 22 km (14 miles) upstream of the town . Many people drowned. It was moving fast very fast. What might have been worth a fortune 20 years ago may be worth significantly less today. Libby Hipp was carrying Gertrude and her and Aunt Abbie tuned back to go to the house. When the dam burst, sending 20 million gallons of deadly water hurtling toward Johnstown, this resignation doomed them. Niagara Falls. Though 80 lives were lost in the 1977 flood, it was far less than it would have been if the waters had risen another 11 feet. black mountain of junk. However, no club member ever expressed a sense of personal responsibility for the disaster. or redistributed. The public wanted the club members to face the same type of destruction that they did. Even though the club members were able to avoid legal consequences, the public indignation regarding these lawsuits helped push the American legal system to shift from a fault-based system to one based on strict liability (Coleman 2019). A total of 314 of the 1100 Woodvale residents died when this happened. Those are the facts and figures. Princeton has made the title available in its online archive, and it is downloadable in a variety of formats suitable for e-readers and tablets. The railroad lost two cases based on the loss of property. Most members donated nothing. They also lowered the dam by a few feet in order to make it possible for two carriages to pass at the same time, so the dam was only about four feet higher than the spillway. to roofs, debris, and the few buildings that remained standing. With rebuilding also came questions: How and why did the flood happen? There were many doubts regarding the legitimacy of the report. Over 1600 homes were destroyed. Tents and temporary shelters called "Oklahoma" houses were erected. At 3:10 p.m., the dam collapsed, causing a roar that could be heard for miles. Market data provided by Factset. New York: Penguin, Puffin, 1991. The festival will take place Aug. 4-5. (Click here for a complete list of club members). I think I can get away with it! Schmid went on to kill three other read more, Just before four oclock on the afternoon of May 31, 1916, a British naval force commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty confronts a squadron of German ships, led by Admiral Franz von Hipper, some 75 miles off the Danish coast. Six dams in the area failed, resulting in incredibly traumatic flooding for much of the town. (AP Photo), This photo from May 31, 1889, released by the Johnstown Flood Museum shows the destruction along Main Street in Johnstown, Pa., following the collapse of the South Fork Dam that killed 2,209 people. At approximately 3:00 pm on May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam gave way, unleashing 20 million tons of water into the valley below. What is the fishing club doing? Law, Anwei. a moving mountain of water at an average speed of 40 miles per hour. (AP Photo/Johnstown Flood Museum). People who managed to survive so far became trapped in the huge pile of debris, all wrapped in a tangle of barbed wire from destroyed Gautier Wire Works. After five years, rebuilding was so complete that the city showed no signs of the disaster. The world, in short, wants to kill us. Testimony Taken by the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1889-1891. It took them seven months to finish the report and they did not publish it until 1891. The public was very frustrated with the delayed release (Coleman 2019). There were also many suspicious circumstances surrounding the report. , best swimmers couldn't swim in that mess. This antagonism was to break out into violence during the 1892 Homestead steel strike in Pittsburgh. A spillway at the dam became clogged with debris that could not be dislodged. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Then the debris caught fire, burning some of the flood survivors there to death. 777 bodies were never identified, buried in unmarked graves. Earlier in the night, Schmid allegedly had said to his friends, I want to kill a girl!