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Johnstown, Pennsylvania
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Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, miles east of Pittsburgh and west-south west 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 includes Cambria County. As of 2007, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 144,995.
stown, settled in 1770, is perhaps most famous for its three floods.
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Encyclopedia
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, miles east of Pittsburgh and west-south west 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 includes Cambria County. As of 2007, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 144,995.
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 (23 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. Other major floods occurred in 1936 and 1977.
1800s
Johnstown was formally organized as a town in 1800 by the Swiss German immigrant 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, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants Pittsburgh and Cleveland. 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.
1900s
Johnstown was a remarkably prosperous hard-working city during the inter-war years. In the early 1900s, the population reached 75,000 people. 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, including Glosser Brothers, which in the 1950s gave birth to the Gee Bee chain of 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 D. 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 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 most of its steel production, although some limited fabrication work continues. As a result of Johnstown's singular focus on steel for almost 150 years, little other large-scale economic activity existed. In 1992, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designated Johnstown a financially distressed municipality.
2000s
In 2003, U.S. Census data showed that Johnstown was the least likely city in the United States to attract newcomers; however, what were previously relatively weak opportunities provided by the local manufacturing and service economies have more recently begun to burgeon, attracting outsiders. Gamesa, a Spanish wind energy company, opened its first U.S. wind turbine blade manufacturing facility near here in 2006. Several state-of-the-art operational wind turbines are sited on Babcock Ridge, the "eastern continental divide," along the eastern edge of Cambria and Somerset Counties. Lockheed Martin relocated a facility from Greenville, SC to Johnstown in 2008. Recent construction in the surrounding region, the downtown, and adjacent Kernville neighborhood—including a new Regional Technology Complex that will house a division of Northrop Grumman, among other tenants—signal the increasing dependence of Johnstown's economy on the U.S. government's defense budget. The high-tech defense industry is now the main non-health-care staple of the Johnstown economy, with the region pulling in well over $100M annually in Federal government contracts, punctuated by one of the premier defense trade shows in the U.S., the annual Showcase For Commerce.
Johnstown remains a regional medical, educational, cultural, and communications center. As in many other locales, health care provides a significant percentage of the employment opportunities in the city.
The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Pennsylvania Highlands Community College both attract thousands of students to their contiguous modern campuses in Richland, five miles east of Johnstown. 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 historic Cambria County War Memorial Arena at 326 Napoleon Street. Point Stadium, a baseball park where Babe Ruth once played, was razed and rebuilt. 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 Johnstown Chiefs hockey team have provided affordable family entertainment to the region for over 20 seasons. The Chiefs are a member team of the ECHL, the premier "AA" hockey league in North America, and play their home games in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. The recently-established ART WORKS In Johnstown! houses 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 eastern European 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. Well over 200,000 participants enjoyed the 2008 edition of Thunder In The Valley.
Significant and largely successful efforts have been made to deal with deteriorating housing, brownfields, drug problems, and other issues as population leaves the city limits and concentrates in suburban boroughs and townships. 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 (40.325174, -78.920954).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km²), of which, 5.8 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (4.11%) is water. The Conemaugh River forms at Johnstown from its tributaries, the Stonycreek River and the Little Conemaugh.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,906 people, 11,134 households, and 6,045 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,097.0 people per square mile (1,583.2/km²). There were 12,802 housing units at an average density of 2,194.0/sq mi (847.8/km²). 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. 23.8% were of German, 10.0% Italian, 9.2% Irish, 7.7% Polish, 7.2% Slovak and 5.7% American ancestry according to Census 2000.
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.
Neighborhoods
The City of Johnstown is divided into many neighborhoods, each with its own unique, ethnic feel. These are the Downtown Business District, Kernville, Hornerstown, Roxbury, Old Conemaugh Boro, Prospect, Woodvale, Minersville, Cambria City, Morrellville, Oakhurst, Coopersdale, Walnut Grove and Moxham.
Of the suburbs, Westmont Boro, Southmont Boro, Brownstown Boro, Ferndale Boro, Upper Yoder Twp, and Lower Yoder Twp form the West Hills. Richland, Geistown Boro, Lorain Boro and Stoneycreek Township are in the East Hills, while East Conemaugh Boro, Franklin Boro, Daisytown Boro, Conemaugh Township, and West, Middle, and East Taylor Townships lie to the north of the city.
Johnstown in the arts and literature
Two major motion pictures have been filmed in Johnstown, taking advantage of the city's 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 than 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. Nancy Dowd would revive the fake town of "Charlestown" in her screenplay for the 1981 punk rock satire Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, but the film itself was shot in Canada.
The second major film was All the Right Moves, a high school football drama set in the fictional town of Ampipe and featuring Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson and Craig T. Nelson. Locations seen in the movie are the old Johnstown High School in Kernville, torn down shortly afterwards; the Carpatho-Russian Citizen's Club in East Conemaugh; the Franklin works of Bethlehem Steel; the Point Stadium; the Johnstown "Cochran" Junior High football practice field and the Johnstown Vo-Tech football locker room.
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 aid 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.
The American death metal band, Incantation, currently call Johnstown their home.
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 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 50 odd miles away.
Education
Colleges
Secondary Education
Libraries
- The Cambria County Library is located at 248 Main Street, Johnstown PA 15901.
- The Highland Community Library is located at 330 Schoolhouse Road, Johnstown PA 15904.
Business
Major employers in the area:
Media
Newspapers and magazines
Radio
The Johnstown market is the 191st largest radio market in the country. The following box contains a list of radio stations in the area.
Television
The Johnstown/Altoona/State College market is the 101st largest in the country. The following box contains a list of television stations in the area.
Transportation
Highways
The main highway connecting Johnstown to the Pennsylvania Turnpike is US 219. In addition, there is also State Route 56, which is an expressway from 219 until Walnut Street. From there, it provides a connection to US 22 to the north of Johnstown, which connects to Pittsburgh and Altoona.
Airport
The local airport is the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport and is served by United Airlines.
Rail
Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak's daily . 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
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 Baseball Tournament held each summer. Several Major League Baseball Players have played on AAABA teams over the years, including Hall-of Famers Al Kaline and Reggie Jackson and current Major League managers Joe Torre and Bruce Bochy. The organization also has its own Hall of Fame instituted in its 50th anniversary year of 1994.
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.
Johnstown is home to the Flood City Water Polo team. Established in 2005 by Zachary Puhala, the team takes its name from the history of floods in the area. FCWP is part of the American Water Polo Organization.
Landmarks
- Grandview Cemetery is one of Pennsylvania's largest cemeteries: With more than 65,000 interments, Grandview is home to over 47 burial sections and more than of land. Grandview also holds the remains of the 777 victims of the 1889 Johnstown Flood who were not able to be identified.
- (The Crown American Building)
People
Notable Johnstowners include:
- Carroll Baker—actress, whose Hollywood movie career spanned five decades.
- Frank Benford (1887-1948)—physicist
- Edward R. Bradley—racehorse breeder: owner of four Kentucky Derby winners
- D. C. Cooper—heavy metal singer
- Pat Cummings—professional basketball player, '79 through the late '80s
- Steve Ditko—American comic book artist and co-creator of Spider-Man
- Pete Duranko—Notre Dame and Denver Broncos football player
- Jim Gallagher, Jr.—PGA Tour golfer
- Jack Ham—Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker
- Carlton Haselrig—All- professional offensive guard with Pittsburgh Steelers
- Artrell Hawkins—professional football player. Former starting Strong Safety for the NFL's New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, and Cincinnati Bengals.
- Andrew Hawkins—professional football player. Wide Receiver with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes
- Tim Kazurinsky—comedian and actor, of television's Saturday Night Live and the Police Academy movies
- Natalia Livingston—General Hospital actress
- Terry McGovern (1880-1918) — Hall of Fame boxer
- Charles T. Menoher (1862-1930) — World War I general
- John Murtha—U.S. Congressman
- Mark Singel—Former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, as well as former acting governor from June 14, 1993, to December 13, 1993.
- 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 O'Donnell (1922-2007) — purported presidential photographer and documentary photographer of aftermath of atomic bomb devastation in Japan in 1945. O'Donnell was discovered after his death to have falsely claimed credit for many photographs by well-known photographers and the historical accuracy of his Japanese claims is disputed by some. The New York Times retracted its obituary of O'Donnell on September 15, 2007, "Known for Famous Photos, Not All of Them His." O'Donnell was a photographer, but it is impossible to ascertain the veracity of any of his claims due to false statements over nearly two decades.
- Joe Pass (1929-1994) — jazz guitarist
- Ray Scott (sportscaster) (1920-1998) — sportscaster
- Geroy Simon—professional football player. Slotback for the CFL's British Columbia Lions. 2006 CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award
- Emil Sitka (1914–1998) — actor, whose famous line "Hold hands, you lovebirds!" earned him the moniker as the fourth of the Three Stooges
- Russell Shorto—acclaimed author of "Island at the Center of the World" and "Descartes Bones"
- Frank Solich—football coach
- Michael Strank (1919-1945) — World War II hero and one of the six U.S. Marines pictured in the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo, from Johnstown suburb of Franklin
- Pete Vuckovich—Cy Young Award winning pitcher
- John Walker (organist)
- Chicken Charlie - local entrepeneur
Political jurisdictions in the Johnstown MSA
Adams Township |
Addison Borough |
Addison Township |
Allegheny Township |
Allegheny Township, Somerset County |
Ashville Borough |
Barr Township |
Benson Borough |
Black Township |
Blacklick Township |
Benson Borough |
Brothersvalley Township |
Cambria Township |
Callimont Borough |
Carolltown Borough |
Casselman Borough |
Central City Borough |
Chest Springs Borough |
Chest Township |
Clearfield Township |
Conemaugh Township, Cambria County |
Conemaugh Township, Somerset County |
Confluence Borough |
Croyle Township |
Daisytown Borough |
Dale Borough |
East Carroll Township |
East Conemaugh Borough |
East Taylor Township |
Ebensburg Borough |
Ehrenfeld Borough |
Elder Township |
Elk Lick Township |
Fairhope Township |
Ferndale Borough |
Franklin Borough |
Garrett Borough |
Geistown Borough |
Greenville Township |
Hasting Borough |
Hooversville Borough |
Jenner Township |
Indian Lake Borough |
Jefferson Township, Somerset County |
Jennerstown Borough |
Larimer Township |
Lincoln Township, Somerset County |
Lorain Borough |
Lower Turkeyfoot Township |
Lower Yoder Township |
Meyersdale Borough |
Middlecreek Township, Somerset County |
Middle Taylor Township |
Milford Township, Somerset County |
Nanty Glo Borough |
New Baltimore Borough |
New Centerville Borough |
Northampton Township, Somerset County |
Northern Cambria |
Ogle Township |
Paint Borough
Paint Township, Somerset County |
Patton Borough |
Portage Borough |
Quemahoning Township |
Richland Township |
Rockwood Borough |
Salisbury Borough |
Scalp Level Borough |
Seven Springs Borough (partial) |
South Fork Borough |
Shade Township |
Shanksville Borough |
Somerset Borough |
Somerset Township, Somerset County | Southampton Township, Somerset County |
Southmont Borough |
Stoneycreek Township, Cambria County |
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County |
Summerhill Borough |
Stoystown Borough |
Summerhill Township |
Summit Township, Somerset County |
Susquehanna Township |
Upper Turkeyfoot Township |
Upper Yoder Township |
Ursina Borough \
Vintondale Borough |
Wellersburg Borough |
West Carroll Township |
West Taylor Township |
Westmont Borough |
White Township |
Wilmore Borough |
Windber Borough
External links
- Johnstown travel guide from Wikitravel
- (Johnstown's Community Newspaper)
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