After the Flood, photographers flocked to Johnstown. It was the biggest story since the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. And it was definitely a story that had to be seen to be believed!
Photography in 1889 required much different equipment than it does today. Negatives (film) were glass, which was heavy and easily broken. Cameras also weighed a lot and had to be used on tripods to keep them still while the picture was being taken. Imagine hauling all this equipment over mud, pools of water, and giant piles of wreckage left by the Flood!
The pictures these adventurous photographers recorded are truly amazing! Because of them, thousands of photographs of the effects of the Flood have survived to help us imagine the horrible devastation the Flood caused.
To help you see as much as possible from these photographs, use the tool “Reading a Photograph.”
Stereoview card of flood destruction.
Relief workers in Johnstown.
Stereo view card showing Conemaugh Valley near South Fork.
View of Johnstown, looking south across town.
View of Johnstown, looking towards Kernville.
The South Fork Dam after it failed. This used to be the location of the lake.
South Fork Dam (view from inside the dam) after the Flood. This view looks out through the broken dam.
Wreckage from the 1889 Flood.
St. John’s Roman Catholic Church caught fire and burned during the Flood.
30 acres of debris piled against the stone bridge as the flood waters receeded. Cambria Iron Works is visible behind the bridge.
