Johnstown Flood National Memorial
The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is a unit of the United States National Park Service. Established in 1964 through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it pays tribute to the thousands of victims of the Johnstown Flood, who were injured or killed on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam ruptured.
Dam abutment and Elias Unger's farm
Image: Johnstown Tree in House crop
Image: A430, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Pennsylvania, USA, sign at dam site, 2016
Image: A427, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Pennsylvania, USA, sign at dam site, 2016
The Johnstown Flood, sometimes referred to locally as Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and accounted for US$17,000,000 in damage.
Debris of Stone Bridge in Johnstown following the flood
The remaining abutment of the South Fork Dam with the US-219 highway bridge downstream in the background
Remains of the South Fork Dam abutment with US-219 downstream in the background as it appeared in 1980
Remains of South Fork Dam showing construction details of the dam as it appeared in 1980
