Tag: Johnstown PA
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 41 miles (66 km) west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and 70 miles (110 km) east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County.
Johnstown, settled in 1770, is perhaps most famous for its eight major floods. The “Great Flood” of May 31, 1889 occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles (22.7 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. Other major floods occurred in 1936 and 1977. Despite a pledge by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to make the city flood free, and subsequent work to do so, another major flood occurred in 1977. The 1977 flood – in what was to have been a “flood free” city – may have contributed to Johnstown’s subsequent population decline and inability to attract new…
