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. 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!

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University of California at San Francisco donates slides for our Wentzscope

University of California at San Francisco donates slides for our Wentzscope

Posted: March 12, 2021 10:59 am

Last August, a Wentzscope was installed in the Johnstown Children’s Museum, thanks to support from the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies. The Wentzscope is a sturdy, hands-on microscope that allows kids to explore the world of microscopy.

The Wentzscope came with a small collection of slides, and its rotating specimen wheel holds five specimens for visitors to examine. Marisa Tracey, director of children’s museum programming, changes the slides every month to keep the display fresh for return visitors.

Marisa found an announcement that the University of California at San Francisco’s Department of Anatomy planned to donate its large collection of glass microscope slides of primarily human tissues to educational institutions in the United States and Canada (the department is switching to virtual microscopy). She got in contact with Drs. Steven Rosen and Allan Basbaum, who agreed to send us some of their slides! Thanks to UCSF’s generosity, we now have 20 new slides for use in the Wentzscope to inspire the next generation of scientists. We are very grateful!

Be sure to check out some of the new slides next time you’re at the children’s museum.