Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties and later organized in 1807. It was named for the nation of Wales, which in Latin is known as "Cambria". The county is part of the Southwest Pennsylvania region of the state.
Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located 57 miles (92 km) east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Johnstown metropolitan area and had 133,472 residents in 2020. It is also part of the Johnstown–Somerset combined statistical area, which includes both Cambria and Somerset Counties.
The Johnstown Flood, sometimes referred to locally as Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and accounted for US$17,000,000 in damage.
The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is a unit of the United States National Park Service. Established in 1964 through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it pays tribute to the thousands of victims of the Johnstown Flood, who were injured or killed on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam ruptured.
The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania. It operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny that connected the midwest to the eastern seaboard across the barrier range of the Allegheny Front. Approximately 36 miles (58 km) long overall, both ends connected to the Pennsylvania Canal, and the system was primarily used as a portage railway, hauling river boats and barges over the divide between the Ohio and the Susquehanna Rivers. Today, the remains of the railroad are preserved within the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service.
The Johnstown Inclined Plane is a 896.5-foot (273.3 m) funicular in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, U.S. The incline and its two stations connect the city of Johnstown, situated in a valley at the confluence of the Stonycreek and the Little Conemaugh rivers, to the borough of Westmont on Yoder Hill. The Johnstown Inclined Plane is billed as the "world's steepest vehicular inclined plane". It can carry automobiles and passengers, up or down a slope with a grade of 71.9%. The travel time between stations is 90 seconds.
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a nonprofit organization that operates four museums in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The organization is headquartered in the Carnegie Institute and Library complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes the original museum, recital hall, and library, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1979.
The Clara Barton National Historic Site, which includes the Clara Barton House, was established in 1974 to interpret the life of Clara Barton (1821–1912), an American pioneer teacher, nurse, and humanitarian who was the founder of the American Red Cross. The site is located 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Washington D.C. in Glen Echo, Maryland.
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a Pennsylvania corporation that operated an exclusive and secretive retreat at a mountain lake near South Fork, Pennsylvania. Its members were more than 50 extremely wealthy industrialists and their families. Most were based in Pittsburgh, the center of steel and related industries.
The Staple Bend Tunnel, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in a town called Mineral Point, was constructed between 1831 and 1834 for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Construction began on April 12, 1831. This tunnel, at 901 feet (275 m) in length, was the first railway tunnel constructed in the United States. It is rock-bored and stone-lined.
The Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a major producer of iron and steel that operated independently from 1852 to 1916. The company adopted many innovations in the steelmaking process, including those of William Kelly and Henry Bessemer.
Old City Hall, also known as the Southern Market, is a historic complex of adjoining buildings in Mobile, Alabama, that currently houses the History Museum of Mobile. The complex was built from 1855 to 1857 to serve as a city hall and as a marketplace. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973, as a rare well-preserved example of a 19th-century multifunction civic and commercial building.
Addison Hutton (1834–1916) was a Philadelphia architect who designed prominent residences in Philadelphia and its suburbs, plus courthouses, hospitals, and libraries, including the Ridgway Library, now Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He made major additions to the campuses of Westtown School, George School, Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Lehigh University.
The Inclined Plane Bridge is a 237-foot (72 m), Pennsylvania through truss bridge that spans Stonycreek River in Johnstown, Cambria County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It connects the city to the lower station of the Johnstown Inclined Plane. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) in 1997.
The Grand Army of the Republic Hall is an historic clubhouse building, which is located in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
Nathan's Department Store is an historic, American department store building that is located in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
Downtown Johnstown Historic District is a national historic district located at Johnstown in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 109 contributing buildings, 4 contributing sites, and 1 contributing structure in the central business district and surrounding residential areas of Johnstown. The district includes some buildings dated before the Johnstown Flood, but the majority date from 1890 to 1930. Notable buildings include the Alma Hall (1884), Bantley Building (1888), Stenger Dry Goods Store (1883), Widmann Building (1892), Cambria Iron Office Building, St. Vincent DePaul Building, Swank Building (1907), Glosser Brothers Department Store (1905), Johnstown City Hall (1900), former U.S. Post Office (1912), State Theater (1926), U.S. Post Office (1938), Franklin Street United Methodist Church (1869), St. John Gualbert Cathedral (1896), First United Methodist Church (1911), Elks Building (1903), and Moose Building (1917). Located in the district and listed separately are the Cambria Public Library Building, G.A.R. Hall, and Nathan's Department Store.
Cambria City Historic District is a national historic district located at Johnstown in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 198 contributing buildings and 1 contributing structure in a predominantly working-class residential area of Johnstown. Though predominantly residential, it also includes a small business district and industrial buildings such as a former brewery, bottling plant, and slaughter house, along with a notable collection of churches, schools, and a fire station. The district includes some buildings dated before the Johnstown Flood, but the majority date from 1890 to 1920. Notable buildings include the collection of two-story, balloon frame, detached and semi-detached dwellings, Fifth Avenue Hotel (1889), Pollack Building (1905), former Cambria Fire Hose and Ladder Company (1890), former Germana Brewery (1907), August and Louisa Mayer Building (1907), Tulip Bottling Company (1913-1949), St. Casimer's Polish Church (1907), Immaculate Conception Church (1908), St. Stephen's Slovak Church (1914), St. Columba Church (1914), St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church (1922), Venue Of Merging Arts, Hungarian Reformed Church (1902), and First Catholic Slovak Band Hall (1913-1949). The contributing structure is the Minersville Bridge (1914).
The Moxham Historic District is a national historic district that is located in Johnstown in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
Peoples Natural Gas Park is located near the Cambria Iron National Historic Landmark at the junction of the Conemaugh and Stoneycreek Rivers and there is a view of the Stone Bridge and the Johnstown Inclined Plane.
Located on 3.5 acres, the park has an outdoor pavilion that seats 600 as well as the adjacent Oilhouse that seats about 560.
Funded by Peoples Natural Gas for The Johnstown Area Heritage Association.
The newly completed Peoples Natural Gas Park is the home of the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival and many other special events produced by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA) and other organizations. The park includes landscaping, new restrooms, pathways and new sidewalks, ornamental fencing and gates around the perimeter.
