Great Johnstown Flood of 1889

E831977

The Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 was a catastrophic dam failure–induced deluge that devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people and becoming one of the deadliest and most infamous disasters in U.S. history.

All labels observed (8)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf dam failure disaster ⓘ
flood ⓘ
affects Conemaugh Valley ⓘ
Johnstown, Pennsylvania ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Johnstown Flood ⓘ
Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
associatedOrganization South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club ⓘ
commemoratedOn annual observances on May 31 in Johnstown ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
damage extensive destruction of Johnstown, Pennsylvania ⓘ
damInvolved South Fork Dam ⓘ
deadliestIn Pennsylvania history ⓘ
deathToll >2200 ⓘ
documentedIn books ⓘ
documentary films ⓘ
newspaper accounts ⓘ
photographs ⓘ
estimatedPropertyDamage approximately $17 million (1889 USD) ⓘ
firstMajorPeacetimeOperationOf American Red Cross ⓘ
floodType dam-break flood ⓘ
followedBy major relief effort by the American Red Cross ⓘ
hasCause failure of the South Fork Dam ⓘ
heavy rainfall ⓘ
historicalSignificance catalyst for reforms in dam safety awareness in the United States ⓘ
impactOnLaw influenced later discussions of strict liability for dam owners ⓘ
legalOutcome no successful civil or criminal liability for dam owners ⓘ
locatedIn Johnstown, Pennsylvania ⓘ
locatedInAdministrativeEntity Cambria County, Pennsylvania ⓘ
linked to: Cambria County

Pennsylvania ⓘ
locatedInTimeZone Eastern Time Zone ⓘ
mainCause breach of the South Fork Dam ⓘ
memorializedBy Johnstown Flood National Memorial ⓘ
memorialLocatedAt South Fork Dam site ⓘ
notablePersonInvolved Andrew Carnegie (member of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) ⓘ
linked to: Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Mellon (member of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) ⓘ
linked to: Andrew W. Mellon

Henry Clay Frick (member of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) ⓘ
linked to: Henry Clay Frick
oneOfDeadliest disasters in U.S. history ⓘ
partOf history of American disasters in the 19th century ⓘ
history of Johnstown, Pennsylvania ⓘ
pointInTime 1889-05-31 ⓘ
precededBy days of heavy rain in late May 1889 ⓘ
reliefLeader Clara Barton ⓘ
reliefOrganization American Red Cross ⓘ
riverSystem Conemaugh River ⓘ
Little Conemaugh River ⓘ
linked to: Conemaugh River
speedOfFloodWave up to about 40 miles per hour ⓘ
startDate 1889-05-31 ⓘ
timeToReachTown about 57 minutes after dam failure ⓘ
waterSource Lake Conemaugh ⓘ
waveHeight up to about 60 feet ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (17)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Johnstown, Pennsylvania → knownFor → Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
Johnstown, Pennsylvania → significantEvent → Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown, Pennsylvania → significantEvent → Johnstown Flood of 1936 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown, Pennsylvania → significantEvent → Johnstown Flood of 1977 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Cambria County → hasHistoricEventAssociation → Johnstown Floods ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Dorothy Cumming → appearedInFilm → The Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
David McCullough → notableWork → The Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Charles Guggenheim → notableWork → The Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Charles Guggenheim → subjectOf → The Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
History of Pennsylvania → includesEvent → Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 → alsoKnownAs → Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 → alsoKnownAs → Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown Flood Museum → dedicatedTo → 1889 Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown Inclined Plane → builtAfter → Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown Inclined Plane → usedDuring → Johnstown Flood of 1936 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Downtown Johnstown Historic District → relatedToEvent → Johnstown Flood of 1889 ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
Grandview Cemetery → commemorates → 1889 Johnstown Flood ⓘ
linked to: Great Johnstown Flood of 1889