High Water 1936 - Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, USA
Posted by: 
ted28285
N 40° 27.682 W 079° 22.106
17T E 638331 N 4480244
The high-water mark posted in one of the arches of a railroad bridge. The flooding of the Conemaugh River on Saint Patrick's Day 1936.
Waymark Code: WM16P29
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2022
Views: 2
This marker is approximately 17' above the river. The marker only has a date with a line for the mark. The marker is on the underside of a stone arch railroad bridge that was built in 1907. An interpretive sign nearby has mention of the water level further downstream on Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh. As a result of this flood the nearby Conemaugh Dam was completed in 1952 to provide flood protection on the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas and Allegheny Rivers.
The 1936 St. Patrick Day Flood was a result of an extremely cold winter that left the ground frozen deeply and covered with snow and ice. A normal winter most of the snow and ice would have melted slowly and seep into the ground. Not this year all of the heavy rain, snow, and ice ran off swelling the streams and rivers beyond an acceptable volume. This flood was widespread across the Northeast United States.