The Dam Melts Away - Johnstown Flood National Memorial - Saint Michael, Pennsylvania - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Just below you stands the remains of the South Fork Dam, a 931-foot-long dam made chiefly of earth. The dam remains intact on the ends where it joins the sides of the valley. But at its center, a 300-foot section is gone. Through this chasm the waters of Lake Conemaugh roared on May 31, 1889.

On that rainy morning, Col. Elias J. Unger began supervising efforts to save the dam. Unger, who was then President of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, lived in the house beside this exhibit. With a crew of some 15 laborers he tried to dig an auxiliary spillway on the far end of the dam, then tried to make the dam higher by plowing the dam's crest and piling up the dirt. Nothing worked.

At 3:15 p.m., the dam gave way. The center of the dam seemed to “melt away” under the force of the flood. And, as one witness observed, “the entire lake began to move.”

“God have mercy on the people below.”
Rev. G. W. Brown
Eyewitness at South Fork Dam
May 31, 1889

Group that erected the marker: National Park Service - Johnstown Flood National Memorial URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 733 Lake Road South Fork, PA USA 15956

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