Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown,Pennsylvania
Official seal of Johnstown,Pennsylvania Seal
Nickname:  Flood City
Location of Johnstown within Pennsylvania.
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Cambria
Government
• Mayor	Tom Trigona
Elevation	1,800 ft (500 m)
Population  (2006)
• City	23,906 (city proper)
• Metro	152,598
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Website	http://www.cityofjohnstownPA.net

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, 62 miles east of Pittsburgh and 28 miles WSW of Altoona, Pennsylvania. The population was 23,906 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cambria County (including the entire city of Johnstown) and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

History

Johnstown, settled in 1770, is perhaps most famous for its three floods. The "Great Flood" of May 31, 1889 occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14 miles (22.53 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,200 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. Other major floods occurred in 1936 and 1977.

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This home was impaled by a tree by the raging waters of the 1889 Johnstown flood.

Johnstown was formally organized as a town in 1800 by the Swiss German settler Joseph Johns (ne Josef Schantz). The settlement was initially known as Schantzstadt, but was soon anglicized to Johnstown. From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. Johnstown was at the head of the canal's western branch, with canal boats having been transported over the mountains via the Allegheny Portage Railroad and refloated here, to continue the trip by water to Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley. Perhaps the most famous passenger via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842. By 1854, canal transport became redundant by the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which took away the canal's cargo and passenger business. The canal was abandoned soon afterwards.

With the canal's demise, iron, coal, and steel quickly became central to the town of Johnstown. By 1860, Cambria Steel of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States. Through the second half of the 19th century, Johnstown made much of the nation's barbed wire. Johnstown prospered from skyrocketing demand in the western United States for barbed wire. By 1900, Johnstown primarily only produced and fabricated steel, with little other economic diversification, other than ancillary coal production to feed the mills. This singular focus caused significant problems for Johnstown later on.

Johnstown in the inter-war years was a remarkably prosperous hard-working city. Its public transportation was considered the one of the best of any small city in the United States. The city's first commercial radio station, WJAC, began broadcasts in 1925. The downtown boasted at least five major department stores. However, the St. Patrick's Day 1936 Flood combined with the gnawing effects of the Great Depression left Johnstown struggling temporarily. A federally-financed flood control project, completed in 1938 and dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt, finally gave Johnstown temporary safety from its rivers. For the next 39 years, Johnstown proclaimed itself "Flood-free", a feeling reinforced when Johnstown was virtually the only riverside city in Pennsylvania not to flood during Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

The immediate post-WWII years mark Johnstown's peak as a steel maker and fabricator. At its peak, steel provided Johnstowners with more than 13,000 full-time, well-paying jobs. However, increased domestic and foreign competition, coupled with Johnstown's relative distance from its primary iron ore source in the western Great Lakes, led to a steady decline in profitability. New capital investment waned. Johnstown's mountainous terrain, and the resulting poor layout for the mills' physical plant strung along 11 miles of river bottom lands, compounded the problem. Extensive damage from the 1977 flood sealed Johnstown's demise as a steelmaker. By the early 1990s, Johnstown abandoned its steel production entirely, although some limited fabrication work continues. However, Johnstown's singular focus on steel for almost 150 years left little other viable, large-scale economic activity.

Johnstown has yet to find its economic footing for the 21st century. In 2003, US Census data showed that Johnstown was the least likely city in the United States to attract newcomers, demonstrating the weak opportunities provided by the local manufacturing and service economies. At the same time, Johnstown does show signs of recovering from its decades-long slumber. New or recent construction in the downtown and adjacent Kernville neighborhoods signal the increasing potential for Johnstown's service economy. Johnstown remains a regional medical, educational, and communications center. Healthcare now provides the bulk of employment opportunities within the city.

In recent years, the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, a concert/theatrical venue at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, continues to attract high-quality performers. The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the recently-formed Johnstown Symphony Chamber Players provide high quality classical music. The Pasquerilla Convention Center was recently constructed downtown, adjacent to the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. Under construction in 2005 is a new multi-use facility to replace the aging Point Stadium. Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center is also ready to construct a major medical complex on the site of an abandoned industrial property very close to the downtown area. A recently-passed zoning ordinance created an artist zone and a traditional neighborhood zone to encourage both artistic endeavors and the old-fashioned "Mom and Pop" enterprises that had difficulty thriving under the previous code. The Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center offers many exhibitions, events, performances, and classes that celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Area. The recently-established ART WORKS In Johnstown! will house artist studios in some of the area's architecturally significant but underused industrial buildings. A pilot ART WORKS project underway will feature Johnstown's first fully LEED-certified green building. Both of these institutions are in the historic Cambria City section of town, which boasts a variety of ethnic churches and social halls. This neighborhood hosted the National Folk Festival for three years in the early 1990s. Johnstown also hosts the annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally during the fourth week of June; the event has attracted motorcyclists from across the Northeast to the city of Johnstown since 1998.

Significant and largely successful efforts have been made to deal with deteriorating housing, brownfields, drug problems, and other issues. The Johnstown Fire Department has become a leader in developing intercommunication systems among first responders, and is now a national model for ways to avoid the communications problems which faced many first responders during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Geography

Johnstown is located at 40°19′31″N 78°55′15″W (40.325174, -78.920954)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.7 km² (6.1 mi²). 15.1 km² (5.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.11%) is water. The Conemaugh River forms at Johnstown from its tributaries, the Stonycreek River and the Little Conemaugh.

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Wards and neighborhoods of the city

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Moxham

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Oakhurst

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 23,906 people, 11,134 households, and 6,045 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,583.2/km² (4,097.0/mi²). There were 12,802 housing units at an average density of 847.8/km² (2,194.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.28% White, 10.71% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.59% of the population.

There are 11,134 households of which 22.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.87.

Within the city, the population is spread with 21.3% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,595 and the median income for a family was $28,279. Males had a median income of $26,163 versus $19,791 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,236. 24.6% of the population and 18.9% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 37.5% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Johnstown in the Arts and Literature

Two major motion pictures have been filmed in Johnstown, taking advantage of the city's blue collar atmosphere.

The first is 1977's Slap Shot, directed by George Roy Hill and featuring Paul Newman as an aging hockey player/coach. The screenplay by Nancy Dowd was a parody loosely based on the real-life Johnstown Jets hockey team and its North American Hockey League championship in 1976. In the movie, Johnstown was rechristened "Charlestown" and the Jets as the Charlestown Chiefs. The film's premiere engendered some local controversy, as some thought Johnstown was portrayed in a less flattering light. The name "Charlestown" itself is believed to be a reference to Charles Kunkle, an influential local businessman of the era. Slap Shot has since become the iconic movie about hockey and its foibles. (See below for information on Johnstown's current professional hockey franchise.)

A portion of a second major film was shot in Johnstown. 1983's All the Right Moves is a high school football drama set in the fictional town of Ampipe and featuring Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson.

Historian David McCullough wrote what is widely regarded as the city's definitive history, The Johnstown Flood, in 1968. McCullough completed his research with the aide of the remaining flood survivors.

The film The Johnstown Flood, written and directed by Charles Guggenheim, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subjects in 1989.

Mystery novel writer K.C. Constantine fictionalized many elements of Johnstown and its culture as "Rocksburg" in his novels, although the nearby city of Greensburg, Pennsylvania also provides some of the lore for Rocksburg.

In 2000, Kathleen Cambor published In Sunlight, In A Beautiful Garden. The novel followed its characters through the events leading up to and including the 1889 flood. Although the protagonists in the novel were fictional, several historical figures, such as Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, and Daniel Morrell were also depicted in the book.

Author James Patterson had his fictional serial kidnapper Gary Soneji from Along Came A Spider stopping at a convenience store on his way through Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and author David Morrell had his fictional character "Eliot" recruit two brothers from an orphanage in Johnstown to train as assassins in The Brotherhood Of The Rose.

In 1978's haunting film Dawn of the Dead, a character mentions that they are flying over Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and quips that the people are actually entertained by the zombie outbreak. George Romero filmed the majority of the zombie movie at the Monroeville Mall, some 30 odd miles away.

Education

The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ)[1], located in suburban Richland Township, is a four-year, degree-granting constituent college of the University of Pittsburgh. UPJ has an enrollment of approximately 2,700 full-time undergraduates in the arts, humanities, sciences and engineering technology. The university was founded in 1927 as the first regional campus of a major university in the United States, predating the University of California at Los Angeles by a few months. UPJ relocated to its suburban Johnstown campus in 1970.

Business

Major Employers in the Area:

• American Red Cross
• Concurrent Technologies Corporation
• Conemaugh Health System
• DRS Technologies
• Freightcar America
• JWF
• Johnstown Wire Technologies
• Höganäs AB
• Lockheed Martin
• Martin Baker
• Metropolitan Life
• Pepsi Bottling Group

Transportation

Highways

The main highway connecting Johnstown to the Pennsylvania Turnpike is US 219. In the future, the highway will be designated Interstate 67.

Airport

The local airport is the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport and is served by U.S. Airways.

Rail

Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak onboard the Pennsylvanian (Amtrak). The city is located on the former mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Norfolk Southern operates (60-80) trains daily on these rails.

Mass Transit

CamTran operates the local bus service, and the Johnstown Inclined Plane.

Sports

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Logo
Johnstown Chiefs	Ice hockey	ECHL; American Conference	Cambria County War Memorial Arena
Johnstown Riverhawks	Indoor football	American Indoor Football League; Northern Conference	Cambria County War Memorial Arena

Johnstown has been home to a long succession of minor league hockey franchises dating back to 1940. The current team, the Johnstown Chiefs, were named for their Slap Shot counterparts. The team made their ECHL debut in 1988.

The city also has a rich history in amateur and professional baseball. Since 1944, Johnstown has been known as the host city for the AAABA Baseball Tournament held each summer. Several Major League Baseball Players have played on AAABA teams over the years.

In addition, the city has hosted several incarnations of a Minor League Baseball team, the Johnstown Johnnies, beginning in 1884. The last team to play as the Johnnies, as a part of the Frontier League, left the city in 2002.

Johnstown also hosts the annual Sunnehanna Amateur golf tournament at its Sunnehanna Country Club. The invitational tournament hosts top amateur golfers from around the United States.

More recently Johnstown has also added an indoor football team; the Riverhawks of the AIFL.

Landmarks

The Johnstown Inclined Plane is the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane.

The area is also home to one of Pennsylvania's largest cemeteries: Grandview Cemetery. With more than 65,000 interments, Grandview is home to over 47 burial sections and more than 235 acres of land. Grandview also holds the remains of the 777 victims of the 1889 Johnstown Flood who were not able to be identified

The Staple Bend Tunnel is the first railroad tunnel constructed in the United States.

People

Notable Johnstowners include:

• Carroll Baker -- actress, whose Hollywood movie career spans five decades.
• Frank Benford -- (1887-1948) physicist
• Steve Ditko -- American comic book artist and co-creator of Spider-Man.
• Pete Duranko -- Notre Dame and Denver Broncos football player, now battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Tim Kazurinsky -- comedian and actor, of television's Saturday Night Live, and the Police Academy movies.
• Jack Ham--Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker.
• Terry McGovern--(1880-1918) Hall of Fame boxer
• John Murtha--U.S. Congressman.
• Michael Novak -- author, philosopher, Roman Catholic theologian and United States diplomat. Novak is currently George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. He was the 1994 recipient of the Templeton Prize.
• Joe Pass -- (1929-1994) jazz guitarist.
• Ray Scott (sportscaster)--(1920-1998) sportscaster.
• Emil Sitka -- (1914 - 1998) actor, whose famous line "Hold hands, you lovebirds!" earned him the moniker as the fourth of the Three Stooges.
• Frank Solich -- football coach.
• Michael Strank--(1919-1945) World War II hero and one of the six soldiers pictured in the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo, from Johnstown suburb of Franklin.
• Luke Swank -- (1890 - 1944) photographer. Link to Swank biography
• Ian Williams-- rock guitarist has played in Don Caballero and Storm & Stress. Currently plays in Battles.
• Pete Vuckovich--Cy Young Award winning pitcher.
• Chicken Charlie(AKA Charlie Chicken)--perhaps the most famous figure in all of Johnstown. Carries an almost mythological status with many city residents.

See also

• Windber, Pennsylvania
• Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania
• Westmont, Pennsylvania
• Richland Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania

References

• David McCullough, "The Johnstown Flood", ISBN 0-671-20714-8
• Karl Berger, M.D., editor, "Johnstown: Story of a Unique Valley," Published by the Johnstown Flood Museum, 1984
• [2]

External links

• Greater Johnstown / Cambria County Chamber of Commerce
• Johnstown & Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Johnstown Flood National Memorial - South Fork, Pennsylvania
• Johnstown Flood Museum, downtown Johnstown
• Johnstown Flood, public broadcasting documentary
• Johnstown Area Heritage Association
• Thunder in the Valley
• Johnstown Tribune-Democrat daily newspaper
• Johnstown Cambria County Library
• University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown