Laurel Highlands Historical Village

Be Proud of Who You Are - Be Proud of Your Heritage

by

The 1864 Blacksmith Shop – The most historically significant building remaining in the Cambria Iron & Steel National Historic Landmark

Established in 1852, the Cambria Iron Company (later known as the Cambria Steel Company) is a former company located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that made many important contributions to the iron and steel industry. Before Cambria, only a very few small-scale blast furnaces and foundries existed in Johnstown. The inventor, William Kelly implemented many of his iron and steel technology advances at this location and the facility attracted some of the innovators of the steel industry and it was also the site

Source: The 1864 Blacksmith Shop – The most historically significant building remaining in the Cambria Iron & Steel National Historic Landmark

by

Best state in America: Pennsylvania, for turning old rails into trails – The Washington Post

For more than 20 years, hikers have struck out on June’s first Saturday to confirm what America’s most famous naturalist, John Muir, noted more than a century ago: “Wildness is a necessity.”

The occasion, National Trails Day, celebrates the nation’s more than 230,000 miles of trails. It’s a network that continues to expand, thanks to a decades-long effort to convert abandoned rail tracks into walkable green spaces.

New York City’s High Line – a roughly 1.5-mile elevated trail cutting across a western portion of Manhattan – might be the highest-profile example of a rails-to-trails project. But no state has done more to put old track to good use than Pennsylvania.

Source: Best state in America: Pennsylvania, for turning old rails into trails – The Washington Post

by

Johnstown Area Heritage Association offers walking tours of city | News | tribdem.com

Learn more about the history of Johnstown by seeing it up close and personal.The Johnstown Area Heritage Association will begin offering walking tours of downtown Johnstown beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday starting from the Johnstown Flood Museum, 304 Washington St.Additional walking tours will be held at 11 a.m. May 26, June 1, Aug. 3 and 25 and Sept. 7, and 1 p.m. May 25, June 4, July 7 and 23, Aug. 4, 13 and 24 and Sept. 10 all starting from the Johnstown Flood Museum.

Source: Johnstown Area Heritage Association offers walking tours of city | News | tribdem.com

by

Races follow path of Great Johnstown Flood | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If you know anything about Johnstown, you’ve heard of the Great Flood of 1889.  After torrential downpours drenched the steel-making town on May 31 that year, 20 million tons of water crashed through the South Fork Dam at Lake Conemaugh 14 miles upstream of the city. What followed remains Pennsylvania’s deadliest disaster.When the poorly maintained dam broke in late afternoon, it sent a rolling hill of water and debris moving with the force of Niagara Falls toward the city, flattening everything in its path. By the time the floodwaters receded, more than 2,200 people were dead. Many perished in a subsequent fire that raged through the tons of accumulated debris, which included entire houses.It’s a tragic tale that sticks with you, but it’s also a story that’s ultimately inspiring, say organizers of Cambria County’s Path of the Flood Historic Races, which follow the route of the flood through the Little Conemaugh Valley.

Source: Races follow path of Great Johnstown Flood | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette