Johnstown Flood National Memorial

We went here but the buildings were closed. We drove down the road a little bit to see the flood site. We walked around both sides. There are nice trails to walk. It was a great find and we’ll definitely be back to explore the nature trails.

A well done and scenic unit of the NPS. Exhibits, especially artifacts, in the Visitor Center are a little sparse. Only suggestion is to maybe update or edit the well done but overly dramatic and long orientation film. I’m a history junkie and even I got bored after 20 min of the 45 min production. Self guided tours or interpretative materials of the Hunt Club grounds would also be a good add. Not a fan of guided tours but like to explore on my own. Minor suggestions to an otherwise well done memorial to those who died due to a combination of complacency, ignorance and greed. Interestingly, you cannot find the PBS American Experience episode on the Johnstown Flood but then again the Andrew Carnegie foundation is a major PBS sponsor, and he was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Hmmmmm…

Boy did I learn a lot today about this event. If you get a chance take the van tour of the property it was very helpful to get oriented with the days events. The video was also interesting. This was worth the trip!

Hahaha… I have to chuckle about all the negative comments about the film. The best word I can come up with is «macabre.» I’m sure if Vincent Price was still around, they’d have hired him… it was that kind of film. All in black and white, artsy shots, cutaways from factual information to a random present-​day man (never seen) talking about how much pain the souls of the spirits in the cemetery are in… yeah. OK, so the movie is not at all the best NPS film I’ve seen. I agree with the other reviewers that you don’t get a lot of facts about who built the dam, why, and why it gave way. Usually the NPS films are great; they give you the facts, sometimes with some reenactment, but not usually with added weird drama, from the ones I’ve watched (this was my 83^rd National Park, and counting). So yeah, go into the movie (without your kids) with the idea that it’s going to be weird and macabre; by the time it ended and he was reciting the conditions of the bodies over the credits, I was sufficiently creeped out.
However, there are some great things about this place. The large picture windows in the rear of the VC overlook the abutments of what used to be the dam. You can walk out onto them and take photos, which I did, even though it was SO COLD. They have a fantastic diorama sticking out of the wall just as you walk in, showing a poor flood victim clinging to the remains of a house with a tree rammed through it. There’s an electronic map presentation on the first floor (kind of like they used to have at Gettysburg) that gives you a much better idea of the events of the day than the film. And being a taphophile, I enjoyed their display about Victorian mourning customs.
Someone at this place also knows how to use social media; they have a facebook and pinterest page that both discuss Victorian life and happenings at the museum.
I also endorse David McCullough’s book. That, and the Modern Marvels special from the History Channel, fill in lots of the gaps that the film does not.
By the way, I didn’t have time to make it to the Johnstown Flood Museum, which is actually in Johnstown, but I hear it’s great. I also took a drive out to the cemetery, and that was incredibly moving. They show the rows and rows of unidentified graves in the film, but I didn’t realize for some reason that that was real; I thought it was for drama, but no, it’s there. You can also see lots of other graves with the flood date on them. Those were the somewhat luckier ones, I guess, who could be identified and buried with their families.

First off this place could not have been easier to find.
Step 1: Address goes into GPS.
Step 2: Get into automobile and drive
Step 3: Get to JFNM
Duh
As for what you have if you go:
The 2^nd floor has a small gift shop, a few maps, some large windows looking out onto where the dam was, the «debris wall», a fascinating audio interview that David McCullough did with flood survivor Victor Heiser in the 1960’s along with the theater that houses the infamous movie.
The 1^st floor has some information about the shadowy members of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and lots of displays about clothing from the era along with the clothing and customs in regards to mourning.
You also can go out onto observation decks right near the where the damn wall was but good luck getting the rangers to tell you about that because while we were there none did. Speaking of the rangers, the same group that staffs this location also staffs the Allegheny Portage Railroad NPS site.
In regards to the movie, I’m kind of torn. You certainly learn something about what happened but the approach of this movie is very bizarre and a bit unnecessary or macabre. Younger kids probably should not watch this and older ones need to be debriefed afterwards about what they saw and any questions that they may have.
Overall this NPS site is a winner although skipping the movie may not be a bad idea. Instead give McCullough’s book on the flood a read as it paints a much more broad and rich picture of the events that made this tragedy happen.

Fantastic site but PLEASE use caution with the creepy, inappropriately ghoulish orientation film. Likely a bad choice for anyone under 12 or adults of a sensitive nature. Wonderful site overall with helpful Rangers but the film was wrong for an NPS site. I was also offended by a display noting the rescue/​relief effort that stated many nationalities and ethnic groups, including «African-​Americans,» helped. Why the hell wouldn’t they have? No need to point it out as just the most amazin’ thing, can ya believe it, Maisy? Even colored people!
Stupid politically correct nonsense that backfired.

You know what irks me? When someone gives you a history lesson instead of a review. Also, when someone does nothing but complain about the place they are reviewing. Can I just say, ‘Quit your bitching.’ Can I get an Amen?
Johnstown Flood National Memorial is not hard to find as one previous reviewer wrote. Take the main highway (US 219) to the exit and within a few minutes you are there. People need to take it easy with the negativity here. Don’t you think there is already enough negativity here? I mean the flood did start here and mismanagement of the club was here. Are you expecting some grand extravagant theme park? It’s a humble place, comprised of buildings that probably sat dormant for years because of the stigma that place held.
You really should just be there to take in the shear size of the place. You don’t need any sign to tell you where the dam began, it’s pretty obvious (you can even see it from the highway). Then all you have to do after that is look back from that point and see where the water stretched to. What most people don’t tell you here is that you can walk down to the dam breast and go out to the observation decks. Here, you get a better perspective as to where the water laid and how far back it went.
There are signs with information dotting the place for the people that may not know what happened here years ago. Inside is a nice mix of informative displays and visual cues to show you how bad the flood was. Staff, at least when I was here, were pleasant and informative. They even suggested that after we were done here that we go down into Johnstown for the flood museum (they even knew the hours of that place even though they aren’t under the same company).
How about that… an actual review on a place with minimal (if any) history lesson. And I don’t think I complained once about the place. How refreshing.

This is the one of the worst-​planned and run NPS sites I’ve visited.
Don’t follow the NPS signs to the location — they will run you for miles on backroads, when the site is really quite near an exit to 219. The large Johnstown Flood National Memorial «entry» sign — where at other sites many visitors stop for a photo — is located half-​way up a hill with no parking area; you just see it as you drive by.
The «ranger» on duty spent all his time sitting behind the cash register reading a book. He remained seated even when talking with visitors, and seemed annoyed at visitor questions. «What is outside the window?» may seem a dumb question, but the museum displays don’t make it clear that THAT thing there is the dam remnants, and the lake was to the «left» of the dam from our viewpoint. No information given as to how BIG the lake was (1×2 miles at its widest I read elsewhere).
The movie is bizarre, and the worst I’ve seen at an NPS site. You learn a LITTLE about why the dam was constructed without any plans or engineering. Much of the movie is about how the movie was made, how the narrator read so much and talked to so many people, and how he amazingly walked the entire path of the flood — 14 miles — although I doubt the film-​maker did so. The towns below the dam, and how the wall of water hit them, are discussed and period drawings shown in the film, with no map or other indication about WHERE these towns are in order on the river. If you live locally, you know this, but many visitors will come from out of the area.
A lot of attention is given to the panic of the victims and their terror in cities and a train — WHERE the train was is unclear. There are many scenes of tombstones in a spooky graveyard and a long section on how the narrator has communed with the spirits of the dead, accompanied by spooky music and sound effects, «I hear the voices of the dead… they call to me across eternity…»
There are many ways to do an effective NPS site documentary. For example, I cringed a bit when the Arkansas Post movie started out with a current-​day man and boy on a fishing trip, and the boy asks his dad questions, but THAT format actually turned out great with placing Arkansas Post in history and getting to know the various peoples in its history.
If this movie were entered in a high school spooky movie contest, it might rate honorable mention. As a video meant to give some context or info to the site visitors, it’s a Fail. Another Unilocal reviewer recommends visiting the Johnstown Flood Museum in Johnstown to actually learn about the flood.

Chalk one up for Susan the Procrastinator again! I’ve had this review sitting around in a word document for a few weeks and I’ve finally gotten around to finishing it.
My husband and I visited the Johnstown Flood National memorial as part of a three-​prong outing we did a couple of weeks ago. That outing included the memorial, the Path of the Flood Trail, and Staple Bend Tunnel. And that outing grew out of a previous outing we did with my cousin and her husband to the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.
The Johnstown Flood traces its history back to the creation of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, which was a series of canals and inclined planes that linked Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It was an engineering marvel for its time, however the construction f the railroads like the Pennsylvania RR and the New Portage RR made it obsolete. When the canal system was declared obsolete, the reservoir sat abandoned for nearly 20 years. The wealthy industrialists of Pennsylvania then bought the old reservoir and changed the name to Lake Conemaugh. They established fishing & hunting club and built lavish homes on the site. However they did not maintain the old reservoir and on May 31, 1889, a torrential rain storm caused a breach sending 20 million tons of water into the Conemaugh Valley below. 2209 people were killed that day and the Johnstown Flood was the worst man-​made disaster of the 19^th Century.
Like most people, we began our tour at the visitor’s center. There we saw the famous 35 minute film on the flood. We heard tales of loss and heroism such as when railroad engineer John Hess tried to warn the residents of East Conemaugh by tying his train whistle down and racing to town ahead of the deluge. We also saw how Johnstown had rebuilt– by July 1^st, 1889, stores opened on Main Street for business. Within a few years there were no signs of the flood.
We then went out to the site of the dam. Here we saw the remnants and I paused as I tried to imagine millions of gallons of water rushing down into the valley as it breached. We also took a van tour around Lake Conemaugh, which was included in our admission fee. We stopped at the 1889 Clubhouse, which was acquired by the NPS in 2006. Docent-​led tours of the Clubhouse are available, but I should let you know: this building is NOT in very good condition and is slated for renovations.
We would have liked to linger at the site, but we had to press on. After all, we had to ride our bikes down the Path of the Flood Trail to Staple Bend Tunnel. The Flood Memorial is a fascinating link in the history of the Johnstown-​Altoona Area. And if you want to read more, check out the following link.

This is an interesting place to learn about the 1889 Johnstown Flood. Many people don’t realize the magnitude of this disaster that killed over 2,200 people in Johnstown, PA. Killing more people than on the Titanic or Hurricane Katrina.
It was a horrible disaster with lessons to be learned on responsibility, engineering, history, and much more. The story also highlights the strength of the people of Johnstown to rebuild their city and industry after the flood.
The movie is not as scary as the engineer suggests. In fact, the best documentary on the Johnstown flood was done in the past decade and is available on iTunes if you want to check it out.
Be sure to take an opportunity to also walk the grounds to envision the size of the dam and the amount of water that rushed into the city of Johnstown in 1889.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s very interesting to see the remains of the dam that failed and some of the surviving buildings from the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. However, I have a BIG bone to pick with the film presentation, which is the main draw of the museum.
When it begins, a ranger cautions you that it might not be appropriate for kids and says it begins with a few minutes of loud noises before the lights go out and the film begins. I was totally up for this– sounded like an interesting approach. However, what actually played seemed like one of those haunted house soundtracks you can buy around Halloween. After the warning, I expected a seriously scary and loud attempt to approximate the noise of the flood sweeping through town– it does not achieve that. At all.
But my main gripe with this museum is that the film seems to want viewers to emerge spooked rather than educated, and that’s (IMHO) completely inappropriate for a National Parks Service production. It was hard not to laugh out loud at the voiceover, which is a first-​person narrative containing phrases like, «I hear the voices of the dead… they call to me across eternity…» Apparently our National Parks Service believes in ghosts and assumes everyone else does, too. And it’s not (as far as I could tell, anyway), taken from a survivor’s diary or something– it’s just made up. If anyone from the NPS is reading this, please, get someone to record a new voiceover.

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial was a really nice place to visit, it has a great visitor center that displays the history of the 1889 flood with all sorts of interactive displays and exhibits. It is located at the former South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club (which maintained the dam that burst and caused the flood). Some nearby buildings still remain from the era. 4.00 admission, ages 15 and younger: free.