jtownpointbridge

THE GREAT JOHNSTOWN FLOOD OF 1889

PAGE SEVEN: THE POINT AND THE STONE BRIDGE

This is the Point in Johnstown where the Little Conemaugh comes in from the right, joining the Stony Creek from the left, to form

the Conemaugh River. The arched bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to carry its trains over the Conemaugh. Pittsburgh

lay about 2 hours off to the left, and the Johnstown depot is just a bit further down on the right. The buildings on the right are part

of the Cambria Iron Works.

Looking at the peaceful (albeit very, very windy and cold) scene in the photo above this one, it was hard to imagine what this

very area looked like after the flood when the arches of the bridge were clogged so with debris that Lake Conemaugh formed

again atop Johnstown and the huge masses of broken houses, buildings, animals, people, trains, wagons, fences, barbed wire,

etc. caught on fire and burned to the waterline as in the pictures here.

The bridge is the same, only its outer parts now coated with cement. The under parts of the arches themselves are

uncoated and you can see the old stones.

Looking back up the Little Conemaugh toward Johnstown. You can see the Carnegie Library there on the upper left.

The rivers in Johnstown now have a flood-control system that has only been overflowed once, in 1977.

The ridge beyond the Stony Creek.

A spillway in the Little Conemaugh.

The Point looks so very like the prow of a ship I told Melanie she hadda do the "King of the World" thingie.

Standing there myself, you really got the feeling you were aboard something that was moving toward the stone bridge. It was along here

that Letty was floating atop her bit of broken roof. It was dark by then and everything between her and the bridge was aflame.

The Stony Creek side.

Coming back up, across the street is Point Stadium, which was built atop much of the collected debris from the flood. The

incline is to the right of the tree.

SOUTH SIDE OF THE DAM REMAINS; THE LAKEBED

BACK TO THE WATERS (Jo's story set during the flood)