The Johnstown Area Heritage Association is a non-profit, membership-based organization that preserves and presents Johnstown’s nationally significant stories to the nation. To do that, we provide high-quality educational, cultural and recreational experiences in the area’s unique historic settings through a linked system of attractions and historic districts known as the Johnstown Discovery Network.
Visit our timeline for more details on our museums, special projects, and other initiatives from our founding in 1971 through the present.
We operate the Johnstown Flood Museum and the Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center. We opened the Wagner-Ritter House and Garden in 2006, the Johnstown Children’s Museum in 2009, and Peoples Natural Gas Park in 2012. We also began illuminating the historic Stone Bridge with colorful, animated lights in 2011.
Other major JAHA programs include the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival, as well as a variety of additional cultural programming and special events scheduled throughout the year. In this way, we enhance the quality of life for those who live in and around Johnstown, bring positive national attention and visitors to our area, and contribute to the region’s economic development through heritage tourism.
In addition, JAHA is involved in a variety of community projects related to historic research, preservation, and community revitalization. Notably, in 2017 we completed a major renovation and refurbishment of the Johnstown Train Station, which JAHA owns and hopes to develop further. We maintain an extensive archive of photographs, documents and objects that are significant to the history of this area.
JAHA is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the nationally significant historic heritage of the Greater Johnstown Area through its museum facilities, historical collections, and education programs. JAHA operates as a clearinghouse and catalyst for revitalization efforts based on cultural tourism and historic preservation.