Johnstown Flood Museum

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Johnstown Flood Museum
Johnstown Flood Museum (11718055843).jpg
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Location within Pennsylvania
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Johnstown Flood Museum (the United States)
Established1973
Location304 Washington St.,
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°19′40″N78°55′15″W / 40.3278°N 78.9208°W / 40.3278; -78.9208
Type History Museum, Artifacts, and Local History
PresidentRichard Burkert
Website Official website
Cambria Public Library Building
Arealess than one acre
Built1890
Architectural styleFrench Gothic revival
NRHP reference No. 72001100 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 19, 1972

The Johnstown Flood Museum is a history museum located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The museum is housed in the former Cambria Public Library, which is part of the Downtown Johnstown Historic District. [1]

Contents

Building history

The Cambria Public Library building is a historic Carnegie library. It was built in 1890–1891, after the original library was destroyed in the Johnstown Flood. Andrew Carnegie, along with the Cambria Iron Company, provided all funds toward the construction and maintenance of the library through 1930. It is one of 3,000 Carnegie libraries constructed between 1885 and 1919. The building is a three-story brick structure with a tile roof encased in dormers in the French Gothic revival style. [2]

The Cambria Public Library was a center of culture and community in Johnstown. In addition to holding over 75,000 books, the Cambria Public Library had a 300-seat auditorium, a meeting hall, a Pennsylvania State Library district center, a government documents repository, a gymnasium for the Johnstown Athletic Center, and was home to the Beth Zion Forum Lecture. The building was damaged in the Johnstown flood of 1936 and ceased to function as a library in 1971. [2]

The Cambria Public Library building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. [2] It has housed the Johnstown Flood Museum since 1973. [3]

Museum

The Johnstown Flood Museum opened on May 31, 1973, on the 84th anniversary of the Johnstown Flood. [4]

The Johnstown Flood Museum chronicles the events of the flood through exhibits and media. The museum shows the documentary, The Johnstown Flood in the Robert S. Waters Theater. Exhibits include the relief map that uses lights and sounds to display the path of the flood. Surrounding the map are artifacts from the flood. The museum also features a restored "Oklahoma house", a temporary structure used to house flood survivors. [3] [5]

In January 2025 the museum, but not its contents, were damaged when cold weather caused a water valve to leak on the third floor. [6] As a result, the museum was closed indefinitely. [7] [8] The museum reopened in September 2025 with plans to close again for renovations in late spring 2026. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmark (March 1972). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania SP Cambria Public Library Building. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved December 11, 2025. (Downloading may be slow.)
  3. 1 2 Cheney, Jim (May 26, 2017). "Explore Johnstown's legacy and the 1889 flood that changed Pennsylvania forever". PennLive. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Johnstown Flood Museum to celebrate 50 years of heritage". WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. May 30, 2023. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Johnstown Flood Museum commemorates a tragedy". Reading Eagle. May 31, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ Betts, Anna (January 28, 2025). "Pennsylvania flood museum temporarily closed due to flooding". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  7. ↑ Sutor, Dave (January 26, 2025). "Johnstown Flood Museum damaged, closed". The Tribune-Democrat. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Flooding forces indefinite closure of Johnstown Flood Museum". WJAC. January 27, 2025. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  9. ↑ Johansson, Shelley (September 29, 2025). "Johnstown Flood Museum now open to visitors; reopening to be celebrated with Oct. 9 cocktail party". Heritage Johnstown. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
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