1889 — May 31, South Fork Dam fails, flash flood, fire, Johnstown & vic., PA –2,209-3,188

–2,209 – 3,188 Blanchard estimated range.*
–8,000-14,000 Bucks County Gazette (PA). “A City of the Dead,” June 6, 1889, p. 1.
–5,000-12,000 Logansport Journal (IN). “Death’s Awful Triumph,” June 4, 1889, p. 4.
— >10,000 Ogilvie. History of the Great Flood in Johnstown, Pa., May 31, 1889… 1889.
— 9,065 U.S. Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, June 1889, Vol. 17, p. 149.
— 7,000-8,000 Dieck, Herman. The Johnstown Flood. 1889, p. 53. (Publisher not noted.)
— ~5,000 Connelly and Jenks. Official History of the Johnstown Flood. 1889, p. 50.
–220 Fourth Ward Morgue. Bodies readied for burial by name.
— 48 Millville Borough Morgue, at school-house. Named bodies.
— 33 Millville Morgue. “
— 39 Minersville Morgue. “
–112 Morrellville Morgue “
— 63 “ “ Unidentified bodies.
— 12 Peelorville Morgue. Bodies readied for burial, listed by name.
–108 Pennsylvania Railroad Station Morgue. Bodies identified by name.
— 44 Presbyterian Church Morgue. Bodies identified by name.
–131 St. Columba Morgue, Cambria. Named fatalities.
— 5 “Names of some of the dead who are not recorded on morgue lists.”
–103 Bodies “recovered on the Kernville side.”
— 47 Bodies “taken from the river on the Westmoreland side at Nineveh.”
— 26 Bodies taken from river, on the Indiana side at Nineveh, by name.
–~50 “ “ “ Unidentified.
— 14 Bodies recovered at Franklin, by name (except for one unknown man)
–~15 Bodies recovered at Mineral Point.
— ? “long list of unidentified dead…in the official list…”
–1,070
— Thousands Johnson, Willis Fletcher. History of The Johnstown Flood. 1889, p. 392.
— 3,500 Annual Statistician and Economist 1892 (Vol. 16). L. P. McCarty, 1892. p. 64.
— 3,188 Shank, William H.. Great Floods of Pennsylvania. 1974 and 1993, p. 33.**
— <3,000 Chamberlin, Jo. “Johnstown Remembers, pp. 69-74 in Kartman, Disaster! 2007. -- >3,000 National Park Service. Johnstown Flood. “Frequently Asked Questions.” (webpage).
— <3,000 Smith, Roger. Catastrophes and Disasters. NY: Chambers, 1992, p. 109. -- 2,209 Arndt. “The Johnstown Flood of 1889.” P. 5 in Gilman, History of Johnstown Flood. -- 2,209 Assoc. of State Dam Safety Officers. Case Study: South Fork Dam (PA), 1889). -- 2,209 Binder. “Act of God? Or Act of Man?...” Review of Litigation, 15/1, Winter 1996, p.20. -- 2,209 Johnson. Situation Desperate: U.S. Army Engineer Disaster Relief… 2011, p. 37. -- 2,209 Johnstown Area Heritage Association. “The Johnstown Flood.” -- 2,209 Kutilek, “An American Tragedy; 2,209 Are Killed.” -- 2,209 National Park Service. Johnstown Flood National Memorial Pennsylvania. -- 2,209 Holen, Arlene. “The History of Accident Rates in the United States.” 1995, 101. -- 2,209 McCullough 1968. The Johnstown Flood, p. 269. -- 2,209 OJP DOJ. Community Crisis Response Team Trng. Manual: 2nd Ed. (Appx. D) -- 2,200 Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 131. -- 2,200 Collins. Tragedies of American History. 2003, p. 154. -- 2,200 Faher. “Bridge failures intensified flood…” Tribune-Democrat. 11-28-2009. -- 2,200 Gunn. “Johnstown, [PA], flood.” Chap. 36, Encyclopedia of Disasters (V1), p. 145. -- >2,200 History.com. This Day in History…May 31, 1889. “The Johnstown Flood.”
— 2,142 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 90.
— >2,100 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 80.
— 2,079 Keller (Chief of Bur. Of Infor.), July 8 rpt. to PA Adjutant Gen. D. H. Hastings.
–1,658 Recovered bodies.
–969 identified dead
–689 unidentified
–421 “names of…that certainly perished…” but bodies not found.

* We use National Park Service (NPS) for low-end of range. The NPS notes that number was “carefully derived” about fourteen months afterwards. We use Shank (3,188) for the high end (2,209 known dead and 979 missing), and note that the NPS, after indicating when the 2,209 number was derived, notes “The actual death toll was probably well over 3,000.” The very high estimates (5,000-14,000) are, in our opinion, not credible. We reference the NPS and other sources to the point that the actual death toll is unknown. See Willis Johnson below on the fact that undertakers in the first days afterwards were overwhelmed and some did not keep records of the number of bodies made ready for burial, thus precision is not possible.

** “The rampaging waters and subsequent fires that broke out in the city left 2,209 known dead and 979 more missing, who were certainly lost.”

Narrative Information

Association of State Dam Safety Officers:

“South Fork Dam was an earth- and rock-fill dam located about 8 miles east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Originally constructed in 1852, the dam’s primary purpose was to provide a source of water for a division of the Pennsylvania Canal. The dam was approximately 72 feet high, 918 feet long, 10 feet wide at its crest, and 220 feet wide at its base. The outlet works for the dam consisted of a stone-lined culvert with five valves for releasing varying amounts of flow as well as a spillway created by cutting into the rock along the east abutment. Though plans specified a spillway width of 150 feet, the constructed spillway only spanned about 70 feet. As a result of poor maintenance, the outlet works culvert collapsed and a portion of the dam washed out in 1862.

“In 1879, the breached dam and surrounding land were sold to Benjamin Ruff who planned to repair the dam and use the land to create a retreat for the wealthy. Under Ruff’s ownership the area became the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club of which elite members included Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick. The South Fork Dam, as it became known, experienced a catastrophic failure on May 31, 1889 when it was overtopped during a large storm event. The resulting flood wave that contained 20 million tons of water and debris caused 2,209 fatalities and became known as the “Johnstown Flood”.

Gelber: “Property damage was estimated at $17 million….

“Hundreds of desperate souls were swept off rooftops and buildings, and those unfortunate souls who clung to the remnants of the railroad bridge suffered a terrible fate when the mass of debris became engulfed in flames. Ruptured oil tanks ignited and burned flood refugees alive, despite valiant rescue efforts that were clearly hampered by the loss of fire-fighting equipment. After the floodwaters receded 25,000 residents were left homeless and disease took even more lives….” (Gelber, Ben. The Pennsylvania Weather Book. Rutgers University Press, 2002, p. 186.)

Graham: “The distance between the dam and the community of Johnstown was about 23 km (14 miles)…. Debris was a major factor in this flood. Debris swept before the flood momentarily dammed the water at a 23 m (75 feet) high stone railroad viaduct bridge located about 8 km (5 mi) downstream from South Fork Dam. The collapse of this viaduct sent a renewed surge toward the community of Johnstown. In Johnstown, another stone bridge used by the Pennsylvania Railroad piled up 15 meters (50 ft) of debris, but the bridge did not fail. The mass of debris, covering more than 0.24 km2 (60 acres), caught fire and burned for 5 days.” (Graham 1999, p. 3)

History.com: “The South Fork Dam collapses on this day in 1889, causing a flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that kills more than 2,200 people.

“Johnstown is 60 miles east of Pittsburgh in a valley near the Allegheny, Little Conemaugh, and Stony Creek Rivers. It is located on a floodplain that has been subject to frequent disasters. Because of the area’s susceptibility to floods, a dam was built in 1840 on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles upstream from Johnstown. Nine hundred feet by 72 feet, it was the largest earth dam (made of dirt and rock, rather than steel and concrete) in the United States and it created the largest man-made lake of the time, Lake Conemaugh. The dam was part of an extensive canal system that became obsolete as the railroads replaced the canal as a means of transporting goods. As the canal system fell into disuse, maintenance on the dam was neglected.

“In 1889, Johnstown was home to 30,000 people, many of whom worked in the steel industry. On May 31, the residents were unaware of the danger that steady rain over the course of the previous day had caused. A spillway at the dam became clogged with debris that could not be dislodged. An engineer at the dam saw warning signs of an impending disaster and rode a horse to the village of South Fork to warn the residents. However, the telegraph lines were down and the warning did not reach Johnstown. At 3:10 p.m., the dam collapsed, causing a roar that could be heard for miles. All of the water from Lake Conemaugh rushed forward at 40 miles per hour, sweeping away everything in its path.

“People in the path of the rushing flood waters were often crushed as their homes and other structures were swept away. Thirty-three train engines were pulled into the raging waters, creating more hazards. Some people in Johnstown were able to make it to the top floors of the few tall buildings in town. However, whirlpools brought down many of these taller buildings. A bridge downstream from the town caught much of the debris and then proceeded to catch fire. Some people who had survived by floating on top of debris were burned to death in the fire. Reportedly, one baby survived on the floor of a house as it floated 75 miles from Johnstown.

“One of the American Red Cross’s first major relief efforts took place in the aftermath of the Johnstown flood. Clara Barton arrived five days later to lead the relief. It took five years to rebuild Johnstown, which again endured deadly floods in 1936 and 1977.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, May 31, 1889. “The Johnstown Flood.”)

Johnson, Leland/USACE: “President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison spent Sunday, 2 June 1889, with Secretary of War Redfield Proctor reading the poignant and shocking dispatches coming from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. An old earthen dam upstream of the city had given way on the last day of May, unleashing a flood wave that caused 2,209 fatalities. The failure of South Fork Dam released a wave onto already swollen streams that smashed its way down the Conemaugh valley, ripping up trees, wiping out villages, and engulfing entire trains. By the time it reached the city at
the confluence of the Little Conemaugh River and Stony Creek, a mass of debris was rolling on its crest. Johnstown was destroyed by what would become the most deadly river flood in American history.

“President Harrison was so moved by the disaster that he presided at a mass meeting in Washington to collect contributions for the victims, and he telegraphed the governor of Pennsylvania to ask what could be done to help. The governor requested temporary bridges: all bridges at Johnstown, except a stone bridge blocked by debris, had been washed out. Lack of bridges gravely hampered relief efforts, and people were unable to learn the fate of relatives and
friends living on opposite sides of the streams.

“Harrison ordered the Corps of Engineers to Johnstown to install temporary bridges across the streams. The Corps had one pontoon bridge at the Military Academy at West Point, where Superintendent John Parke used it to train cadets. Colonel Parke had a personal interest in the Johnstown emergency: his nephew and namesake, John Parke, a summer employee at the South Fork Dam, had made a historic horseback ride down the valley to warn that the dam was failing. Parke the elder had his pontoons (flat boats) aboard a train and on the way to Johnstown before noon on 4 June….” (Johnson, Leland R. Situation Desperate: U.S. Army Engineer Disaster Relief Operations, Origins to 1950. Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2011, p. 37.)

Johnson, Willis Fletcher: “….One of the most active undertakers here [Johnstown] is John McCarthy, of Syracuse, N.Y., one of the leading undertakers there, and a very public-spirited man….He said to a reporter: [during body recovery process]

It is worthy of mention, perhaps, that never before in such a disaster as this have bodies received such careful treatment and has such a wholesale embalming been practiced. Everybody recovered, whether identified or not, whether of rich man or poor man, or of the humblest child, has been carefully cleaned and embalmed, placed in a neat coffin, and not buried when unidentified until the last possible moment. When you reflect that over one thousand bodies have been treated in this way it means something. It is to be regretted that some pains were not taken to keep a record of the bodies recovered, but the undertakers cannot be blamed for that. They should have been furnished with clerks, and that whole matter made the subject of the work of a bureau by itself. We have had just all we could do cleaning and embalming the bodies.” [p. 365]

(Johnson, Willis Fletcher. History of The Johnstown Flood. Edgewood Publishing Co., 1889.)

Ludlum: On Thursday, May 30, 1889 “…the first drops of a light rain fell over the Allegheny Mountains of west-central Pennsylvania. These were the harbinger of a band of increasing precipitation being generated by a slow-moving low-pressure system approaching from the west by way of the Ohio Valley. Though not of great barometric depth, the narrow weather trough extended in a long finger from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It separated cold polar air rushing southward over the Great Lakes region, with temperatures near 40 [degrees]F…and accompanied by late-season snow squalls, from warm tropical air streaming northward over the Atlantic coastal plain, having a thermal content near 70⁰F…and attended by thunderstorms. Nature set the scene in the clouds for a clash of the elements over Pennsylvania that would produce a rainstorm of great intensity, and man’s defective works on earth were to turn an already major flood into a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.

“Johnstown, a manufacturing city of about 30,000 residents, was situated in a narrow river valley on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad about one third of the way from Altoona to Pittsburgh. The exact amount of rainfall at Johnstown cannot be determined since the local observer, Mrs. H. H. Ogle became a victim of the flood. The rainfall has been estimated at 6.2 in…by averaging other nearby observations. Measured amounts ranged up to 9.8 in…at Wellsboro, Tioga County, in the Susquehanna watershed. It is probable that the higher mountains caught larger amounts. Though of limited east-west extent, the rain front stretched from West Virginia northeast to central New York State, causing high floods in the Potomac, Allegheny, and Susquehanna drainage systems.

“On Friday morning, May 31, the steady rain sent the Conemaugh River over its banks into factories, stores, and homes in the narrow valley above Johnstown. When the local rain gauge was carried away by the high water at 10:44 a.m., the river stood 20 ft…above low water; by noon it was ‘higher than ever known; can’t give exact measurement,’ according to the river reporter.

“This was already a record flood and would have achieved historic local stature without the occurrence at South Fork Creek of the Little Conemaugh River, some 15 mi…upstream from Johnstown.”

“The weather on Memorial Day, Thursday, May 30, 1889, in Western Pennsylvania was gray, giving way to a fine mist that began to fall during the evening hours. After tapering off for a short while, rain commenced to fall again shortly before midnight, only with much greater intensity and accompanied by strong winds.

“The weather scenario that ultimately led to the disastrous Johnstown Flood of 1889 featured a trough of low pressure extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.” (Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, 76.)

New York Times, 1911: “The mass of debris borne by the flood was checked by the bridge of the Pennsylvania Railroad and an effective dam was made. The water recoiled upon the city, meeting there the wing that had been diverted and had flowed around the city. The result was a gigantic whirlpool which ground to pieces any building that escaped the first onset. The noise of the destruction was maddening to the survivors. (New York Times. “Johnstown Flood; Other Disasters,” 10-1-1911)

Shank: “An ominous rumble was all the warning Johnstown residents would receive before a tall dark spray became visible above the deadly wave of water heading for the city. By then it was too late…for many to seek higher ground. The merciless torrent swept locomotives and railroad cars, homes and factories, trees and furniture downstream. Thirty acres of water-lagged debris careened into the stone arch railroad bridge, which ignited a horrible conflagration.

“The rampaging waters and subsequent fires that broke out in the city left 2,209 known dead and 979 more missing, who were certainly lost.” (Shank, William H. Great Floods of Pennsylvania: A Two-Century History. American Canal and Transportation Center, 1972, 2nd Ed.. 1993. P. 33.)

Smith: “….Gaping hole. The break in the dam widened to a gaping hole 430 feet (130m) across, but the rushing water was slowed by the debris it collected. The valley above Johnstown narrowed significantly, and the accumulated debris almost stopped the water several times before it came on again. As the wall of water neared Johnstown, it struck the Gautier rolling mill. Its force was irresistible and huge furnaces together with boilers and drums of cable and wire were swept up by the flood. At 4:10 pm, an hour after the initial break, the flood reached Johnstown. Much of the town was wrecked but the flood was halted by the Stone Bridge, which carried the railway line to Pittsburgh. The bridge checked the waters, held them, and then as the debris piled up around its massive piers, slowed them to a less destructive force. Unfortunately, despite all the water, this wreckage caught fire — it contained live coals, petroleum and much other flammable material -=- and people who had survived the onrush of water died by fire.

“The flood continued, though much abated, and when the wreckage of one building arrived in Pittsburgh, 60 miles (100 km) away, the next day, rescuers found a five-month-old baby alive inside….” (Smith, Roger. Catastrophes and Disasters. Edinburgh/NY: Chambers, 1992, p. 109.)

U.S. Army Signal Corp.: “It has been estimated that the loss of life and property in the string of communities in the direct path of the Johnstown flood is about as follows:

Johnstown and Millville 7,000
Franklin and East Conemaugh 38
Cambria 1,100
Woodvale 300
Kernville 600
Mineral Point 16
Minersville 8
Morrellville 1

“….The Following extracts from a special report relative to these floods, by Professor Lorin Blodget, of Philadelphia, will be found of interest:

“The floods of May 30, 31, and June 1, 1889, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia:

“It is undoubtedly proper to treat this flooded district as a whole, and to understand it properly the leading facts should be presented as they occurred on each successive day as fully as possible. In this way the extraordinary character of the storm and the flooding violence of the rainfall in each locality will be best shown.

“There was a general storm developed in Kansas and Missouri May 27th, which moved slowly from west-southwest to east-northeast along a line from Kansas to New England, making this transit at a slower rate than usual, however, on and after a partial suspension on the 29th, developing renewed violence in Virginia and Pennsylvania on the 30th of May. This was the beginning of the extreme conditions, the high temperature and dense saturation, and it had been unusually cold both south and north up to the morning of the 30th.

“As this saturated condition reached the higher ridges of the Alleghenies on this day, it developed the most excessive rainfall of the century for so large an area, depositing a uniform sheet of from 6 to 8 inches of rainfall during a continuous storm of from twenty-four to fifty-six hours during. The greatest profusion was on May 31st and during the nights of May 30th-31st on the western border, and May 31st and June 1st on the eastern border. And this rainfall was in sheets or masses rather than in drops, being described as ‘cloud bursts’ by several observers and many local journals, a characteristic observed at Johnstown and Harrisburg alike, as also at places far south in Virginia and north as far as Smethport, McKean Co., Pa…..” (U.S. Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, June 1889, Vol. 17, p. 149-150.)

Watson: “May 31, 1889: Great Johnstown Flood

“The confluence of chilly Canadian air colliding with moisture-laden tropical air flowing northward along the Atlantic coastal plain turned a light rain into a heavy downpour that would trigger Pennsylvania’s greatest human catastrophe.

“An earthen dam built in 1852 at the junction of South Fork Creek and the Little Conemaugh River, fourteen miles northeast of Johnstown, was designed to furnish water to the Pennsylvania Canal. A railroad line would eventually render the dam obsolete, and a group of wealthy Pittsburgh investors, including Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellow, purchased the site in 1879, establishing the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club.

“The seeds of tragedy were sown by complete indifference to engineering concerns regarding the integrity of the dam. The South Fork dam stood 50 feet high, about 450 feet above the elevation of a stone-arch bridge in the middle of Johnstown eighteen miles downstream. The dam did not have a solid central foundation, and for ten years Conemaugh Valley residents had voiced concerns about the potential dangers of the neglected dam to no avail.

“The great reservoir, Lake Conemaugh, was 2.5 miles long, 1.5 miles wide, and as deep as 100 feet. As heavy rain pelted down on western Pennsylvania throughout the morning hours of Friday, May 31, 1889, the waters rose at the rate of an inch per hour. As early as 11:30 a.m., engineers were alarmed that the dam was in trouble, as many worked feverishly to open the sluiceway to release pent-up pressure. Floodwaters from runoff were already knee-deep in Johnstown from the heavy rains, but when messengers arrived shortly after noon warning of a grave danger, few chose to evacuate their homes and flee for the hills. One Pennsylvania Railroad engineer reportedly rode eighteen miles frantically sounding his whistle and ‘crying out that the dam was bound to go.’

“As the afternoon wore on, it became apparent that the dam was showing signs of imminent collapse. Residents in the area frantically attempted to shore up the crumbling earthen structure, but at about 3:15 p.m. the middle of the dam gave way, creating a breach of 300 feet, which sent a thunderous wall of water 35 feet high and a half-mile wide down the narrow valley at a rate of 40 miles per hour.

“Twenty million tons of water raced through the river valley ‘like a cannon ball,’ stated a press account. The wall of water tore through the villages of South Fork, Mineral Point, and East Conemaugh, wiping out everything in its path. Debris turned into ‘battering rams’ and twenty-ton railroad engines parked at the Pennsylvania Railroad yard ‘were tossed like chips of wood.’ The towns of Franklin and Woodvale disintegrated under the rush of water and debris that was headed for the city of Johnstown, a vital manufacturing town home to 28,000 residents and the Cambria Iron Works. The force of the water against the hillside caused a backwash up the valley of Stony Creek, wiping out the center of town in ten minutes (Watson 1993, 126 ).

National Park Service FAQ’s: Question: “Were the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club held responsible for what happened May 31, 1889?

Answer: “The Club was never held legally responsible for the Johnstown Flood, although the Club was held responsible in public opinion. The only cases successful from the Johnstown Flood were against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company…the railroad lost two cases based on the loss of property.” (National Park Service. Johnstown Flood. “Frequently Asked Questions.” (Webpage).)

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