{"id":42,"date":"2020-11-05T09:24:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T14:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-cgoldber\/?page_id=42"},"modified":"2020-12-21T20:20:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T01:20:32","slug":"reflection","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-cgoldber\/reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gallery:<\/a>
South Fork Dam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 History of the South Fork Dam:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Johnstown, Pennsylvania was once described as the \u201cbusiest, richest little community in the world\u201d(PA Inquirer, August 23, 1889). The small industrial city is located in the Great Lakes Region, which became an epicenter for United States manufacturing during the nineteenth century. An extensive canal and dam system was built to match the rapid industrial growth. This included the South Fork Dam, which was built just north of Johnstown in 1852. <\/span>The dam fell into despair in 1857 and changed ownership multiple times. The owner at the time of the disaster was the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an organization primarily co<\/span>mprised of wealthy business tycoons. They bought the dam in 1879 and transformed the area into a vacation spot (C<\/span>oleman 2019). The South Fork Dam represented America\u2019s remarkable manufacturing and technological\u00a0progress throughout the 1800s, as well as the achievements of the industrial giants who dominated the late nineteenth century.<\/p>\n

The Day of the Disaster:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 At around 4:00 PM on May 31, 1889, this triumphant symbol came tumbling down. Following hours of heavy rainfall, the South Fork Dam failed. The water from the reservoir traveled fourteen miles to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, destroying almost everything in its path (Winklestein 2008). According to the South Fork Fishing Club ground superintendent, \u201cEverything went before it like toys.\u201d Twenty million tons of water rushed towards the city, forming a thirty-five-foot tall wall of water. A telephone operator at the South Fork Tower explained that the wave <\/span>looked like \u201ca mountain coming.\u201d The wave accumulated so much debris that it seemed like \u201can avalanche of houses, water, trees, and freight cars\u201d (Coleman 2019). Fires caused by overturned ovens and household appliances ravaged the debris, contributing to the destruction. Hundreds of people were swept away and those who remained had to watch their friends and family perish as they struggled to avoid drowning. Two train cars were even \"Pulitzer<\/a>swept off the tracks, killing everyone inside (Kansas City Times, 1889). Overall, the disaster killed over 2,200 people out of Johnstown\u2019s population of 30,000. Though, it was difficult to determine exactly how many people died since the water carried many of the bodies away. One body was even recovered 100 miles away in Steubenville, Ohio (Coleman 2019). When it occurred, the Johnstown Flood had the highest death toll out of any previous U.S. disaster and is currently one of the top twelve deadliest floods of all\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0time globally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n