Lake Conemaugh was a scenic man-made mountain lake retained by an aging 72-foot earthen dam. The lake and acreage around it was owned, maintained and enjoyed by the wealthy members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. On May 31, 1889, at 3:15 p.m., the 1 mile wide, 2.5 mile long, 60 foot deep lake emptied completely into the valley below. The South Fork dam, weakened from days of unusually heavy rains, caved as the lake water crested over the top of the dam, spilling a wall of water into the narrow Conemaugh River valley. About 20 million tons of water raced towards Johnstown, 14 miles West and 450 feet below the dam. Five towns built along the Conemaugh River were obliterated and each town added to the debris that quickly churned its way towards Johnstown. Within an hour, a massive wall of debris - hundreds of shattered houses and buildings, uprooted trees, boulders, miles of barbed wire from the Woodvale Wire Company, several locomotives weighing 170,000 pounds each, railroad tracks and hundreds of animals and humans both dead and alive, reached Johnstown. David McCullough's book details one of the most devastating disasters in U.S. history. Although difficult to read in parts, this horrific and haunting true story of the 1889 Johnstown, PA, flood is a page turner. McCullough's writing is profoundly descriptive in a manner that the reader can easily imagine the era and understand the character of the hardworking townsfolk of the prosperous steel and coal town of Johnstown. Was this a natural disaster or human error due to the arrogance of a few wealthy people? You decide.
Recommended by Deanna Jenks