Many photographers took special “stereo views” that made their photos look three-dimensional. First they took the pictures with a camera that had two lenses (like binoculars). The pictures were printed side-by-side. People used a viewer called a “stereopticon” to blend the two pictures into one three-dimensional image. The “Viewmaster” and 3-D books and movies of today work in a similar way. See a stereo card and stereopticon on this page.
Stereo views were a new fad in 1889. Photographers liked being able to sell their pictures this way, since printing photos in newspapers, magazines, or books was still difficult and expensive. People bought thousands of stereo cards of the Johnstown Flood. Three-dimensional pictures really helped people understand how bad the flood damage was.
If you have 3-D glasses, you can see the same stereo views people saw with their stereopticons! Put your glasses on with the red lens over your left eye and the blue lens over your right eye. Click on the images below to view a larger image. To help you see as much as possible from these photographs, use the tool “Reading a Photograph.” If you don’t have 3-D glasses, you can view the same photographs here.
The Little Conemaugh River flowing past the offices of Cambria Iron, which withstood the flood.
The Schultz house, pierced by a tree, was a popular subject among photographers.
Flood debris piled 40 feet high on Main Street
A few of the structures still standing after the flood.
Flood debris along the riverbank
The flood came through the gap in the mountains.
The flood wiped out almost everything in its path.
Wreckage from the flood with the Schultz house in the background on left.
Burned remains of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church can be seen in the background.
The flood left parts of houses everywhere. Notice the house on the left is laying on its side.
Wreckage from the flood with the stone bridge in the background.
Although still standing, this structure sustained major damage from the flood.
Railroad tracks running through the flood wreckage. Cambria Iron Works in background.
Wreckage from the flood. Notice the house on the right is laying on its side. The Millvale schoolhouse is in the background. It was used as a morgue.
Wreckage from the 1889 Flood – contains one of the destroyed locomotives.
Wreckage from the 1889 Flood with the stone bridge in the background. The body in the foreground is a hoax. An body that obvious would long since have been removed. Notice how clean his shirt and clothes appear.
Notice the railroad car in the foreground and the makeshift bridge over the river.
Wreckage from the 1889 Flood surrounds these buildings on Railroad Street.
Flood Wreckage in downtown Johnstown. The Tribune building is the second on the right.
St. John’s Roman Catholic Church burned during the 1889 Flood.
Wood, Morrell, & Co (on left) and the Cambria Iron offices (on right) were two of the buildings to survive the 1889 Flood.
The Cambria Iron offices sit beside the Little Conemaugh River.
The 1889 Flood took houses off their foundations and left them in piles surrounded by debris.
The Merchants’ Hotel is the second on the left.
Notice the large safe in the foreground to the right.
The Millvale schoolhouse survived the 1889 Flood and was used as a morgue.
30 acres of debris tangles in front of the stone bridge which is barely visible in the left of the photo.
One of the church steeples to survive the 1889 Flood.
The 1889 Flood destroyed almost all bridges. Temporary bridges, like that seen being built here, were one of the first tasks accomplished. It was the only way to re-establish contact with the rest of the world
The stone bridge is visible to the left. The debris field in front of the bridge stretched for 30 acres.
Part of an engine destroyed by the 1889 Flood.
Three survivors stand among the debris.
Central part of Johnstown after the 1889 Flood.
Wreckage in front of the Morrell Institute
Part of the Cambria Iron Works withstood the flood, although it was heavily damaged.
