The Johnstown Flood Museum and Heritage Discovery Center/Johnstown Children’s Museum are currently operating on a winter schedule: open Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10:00 am-5:00 pm, Sunday noon-5:00 pm; and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. We will update this alert ribbon (and, in the instance of longer closures, the Heritage Johnstown Facebook Page) if either or both museums are closed due to severe winter weather. Special events calendar is here.

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“A Very Busy Place”: Johnstown’s Canal Era

“A Very Busy Place”: Johnstown’s Canal Era

Date/Time
Date(s) - February 8, 2026
1:00 PM

Location
Heritage Discovery Center
201 6th Ave
Johnstown, PA 15906


Johnstown was once an inland port serving the Main Line of Public Works. As an end point on the canal system, goods were loaded from railroad cars to canal boats and vice versa, making Johnstown a very busy place indeed! Doug Bosley, chief of interpretation for the National Park Service at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and Johnstown Flood National Memorial, will join us at 1:00 pm on Sunday, February 8 for an illustrated presentation on this formative period in Johnstown’s history.

Doug Bosley, a park ranger since 2000, is a native of Johnstown who has been interested in the Main Line Canal and Portage Railroad since childhood. His grandfather, Don Seese, was the first curator of the Johnstown Flood Museum.

The presentation is free to Heritage Johnstown members or with museum admission. Museums for All pricing is available to those who qualify.