Due to an interior water leak on 1/23/25 caused by extreme cold, the Johnstown Flood Museum ONLY is temporarily closed. Thankfully, nothing of historic significance was affected. The water remediation team concluded their work, which leaves repainting, floor refinishing, and replacement of carpet and soundproofing materials. We are currently waiting for insurance adjustors and approval of quotes, a process we cannot control. When we have a timeline for re-opening, we will update! In the meantime, we apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to remediate and repair our beloved flagship museum.

In the meantime, we are pleased to present Relic Tales of the Johnstown Floods at the Heritage Discovery Center, which is unaffected and operating normal business hours. This new temporary exhibition includes more than 200 artifacts and photographs, many of which have never been on display before, from the Johnstown flood of 1889 (as well as 1936 and 1977).  Welcome!

News & Stories

Category Archive: Heritage Johnstown at Home

by Amy Regan, Heritage Johnstown curator

The disaster of the 1889 Johnstown Flood presents a question: what would you do if everything you had known was taken away in a single afternoon? Anna Fenn’s story exemplifies the human ability to survive …

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At the time of the 1889 flood, Johnstown’s population was about 30,000 people, and 2,209 died in the disaster. Whether you survived or not was largely determined by where you were at the time the flood hit, and sometimes sheer …

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By Amy Regan, Heritage Johnstown curator

At the time of the 1889 flood, Johnstown’s population was about 30,000 people, and 2,209 died in the disaster. Whether you survived or not was largely determined by where you were at the time the …

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By Nikki Bosley, Heritage Johnstown staff

“It was only a question of time until the dam would break.” – John Fulton

It was 7:00 a.m. on the morning of May 31, 1889, and John Fulton, General Manager of the Cambria Iron Company, …

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by Amy Regan, Heritage Johnstown curator

For Women’s History Month, we’d like to share the story of artist Helen F. Price, who was born in Johnstown to Sarah Haws Price and Charles F. Price in 1892. Her parents survived the 1889 …

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In the early 2000s, AmeriCorps member Mike Burke worked with Heritage Johnstown (then known as JAHA) and the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP to research early Black history here. By poring through written documentation such as census records, early newspapers, …

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The Waters/Suppes family, which has lived Johnstown for generations, shared this video with us several years ago. It has been featured in the Archives & Collections section of this website, but we are now making it available as part of …

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By Cole Szramowski, a PennWest student who wrote this post for us as part of a class he’s taking through Heinz History Center. He thanks local hockey expert Mike Piskuric for his assistance with this article!

Johnstown, Pennsylvania is just like …

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Virtual Railfan is a streaming platform that offers live views of trains all over the world – and now, its 30 million monthly users will be able to watch trains coming through Johnstown.

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By Nicholas Gehlmann. Nick is a volunteer who has been researching military history for us We’re sharing his research on our World War I artifacts for Veterans Day, as part of our Heritage Johnstown at Home series. 

2024 marks the 110th …

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