Flood Memorial

On this anniversary of the 1889 Flood - thought you would enjoy seeing some early film of the Flood Memorial up at Grandview. 

Franklin

 

Franklin

Main and Clinton

Main and Clinton Streets - Downtown Johnstown

Duncan Lumber Company

 

Duncan Lumber Company - Fort Hill - Somerset County. These narrow-gauge steam locomotives were used to transport logs and rough lumber. The locomotives were built on swivel tracks so that they could negotiate the sharp turns and rough track conditions all along the forest floor.

Ann's Place

 

Another shot of the inside of Ann's Place - Bedford Street sent in by Rick Callihan.

Joe Johns

 

Good old Joe Johns

South Fork

 

South Fork - 1890's

Armistice Day - 1918 - Part 2

Second look at Johntown celebrating the end of The Great War - 1918. Franklin Street Bridge in the background with the Conrad Building on the left hand side. Click to enlarge. 

Armistice Day - 1918 - Part 1

Armistice Day - 1918. The parade making it's way across the Franklin Street Bridge. The wooden structure on the right housed Johnstown Fire Department - Company No. 1. Click to enlarge.

Special Shout Out!

Two weeks ago I ordered a new Vupoint scanner. I'd just about wore my old one out. I also ordered the scanner docking station -  all you have to do is feed the pictures thru. Well as luck would have it - the Vupoint dock ended up in Somerset instead of Johnstown - I don't have a clue how because our addresses aren't even close.

 Leslie from Geochemical Testing in Somerset - kindly repackaged the docking station and sent in on to me. Now I have to say - that was very nice of them and I'd like to just send them out a big Thank You for being so nice and going above and beyond the call of duty!

Model T-Time

 

Taken somewhere around the Johnstown Area...

Cars for Sale

 

 A couple of car ads from 1971.

Bank Expansion - 1972

 

All the buildings at the corner of Franklin and Vine - were bought by U.S. Bank when they decided to expand back in 1972.

Market and Vine

This is the intersection of Market and Vine - current location of the Zamias Building. 

Geistown-Windber Road - 1894

Very cool look at the old Geistown-Windber Road in 1894. I have no idea which section this is.

First Lutheran Church Fire - 1918

A reader sent in this picture of the First Lutheran Church Fire in downtown Johnstown in 1918.

Saving a Cemetery

Now that I have the ability of riding up to Browns (Laurel Hill Cemetery) whenever I want. I have been working on my project to save the cemetery and bring it back to life. Here is John Smith.

And here is John Brown.

 Set up some flower boxes and put flowers on some the graves.

Along with some bunting and ribbons on posts.

 Lots of grass to cut, weeds to pull along with tons of birch and oak saplings trying to take over the place.

I would like to take the time out to thank a few people who - without their help - this project wouldn't have been able to get off the ground: Roger and Kelly Edwards, Elaine Adams and Joann Mock. Thank you really doesn't even cover how grateful I am to all of them - they have helped my vision of restoring this cemetery come true.

All that is left to do - is keep up on the grass cutting and weed whacking. We also found more graves underneath all the weeds and saplings.

The cemetery hasn't looked this good in years...

I also put up a flag - I just hope that the party crowd leaves everything alone and respects the fact that this is indeed a cemetery and not a place to party.

 Old Glory standing guard over Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Mill Gate around 1953

Mill Gate around 1953 or so.

Bethlehem around 1953

Bethlehem Steel around 1953 or so.

Goodyear Mute Train

The Goodyear Mute Train at the Johnstown Train Station - Goodyear would go from town to town - looking for deaf workers for their tire plants in Ohio. My grandfathers deaf brother Albert is standing just below the X. Goodyear employed thousands of deaf people to work in the noisiest sections of their plant. They must have gotten decent wages - since alot of them worked for Goodyear for years and were able to retire with a great pension plan. Besides Albert, my grandfathers sister Lena (Lenz) Pittman and her husband also worked for Goodyear in Ohio.

Franklin Street

Franklin Street - Downtown Johnstown

Buzz Wagner

On this Flag Day - More on Buzz Wagner from an October 22, 1942 newspaper clipping.

Train Cuts off Head

From the August 9, 1907 - Johnstown Leader. A warning to some - it's a tad bit graphic!

Pine Box Derby - 1950's

Pine Box Derby - Southmont - most likely around 1953 or so.

Mining

Area coal mine and the working conditions underground. 

 

The Death Roll - L.R. Brallier - 1907

The Death Roll - L.R. Brallier - August 1907 - Johnstown Businessman

Johnstown High - 1931

Johnstown High - Future Homemakers - 1931

Gallitzin Church Has Fine Organ - 1907

Gallitzin Church has Fine Organ - St. Mary's Polish Catholic Church - August 1907

Gee Bee Ad - 1967

Gee Bee Ad - Retreads - $6.44 plus tax - Free Cigarettes for our Troops in Vietnam

Walnut Grove - Geistown - Johnstown Passenger Railway - 1907

I found this clipping from 'The Weekly Tribune' - August 1907 - very interesting. Johnstown Passenger Railway - petition to expand trolley service from Walnut Grove to Geistown along with the naming of Oakland - the neighborhood in between the two.

Roxbury School

Roxbury School 

Johnstown Tintypes

A pair of tintypes. On the left - Isiah Foust and Levi Lehman. On the right - Levi Charles and Frank Lehman. All I know about these men are - that they lived in Johnstown.

Early Settlers Die - 1907

Some of the names mentioned: Settlers - David L. Davis, John Turane. Miner George Lefever hurt in a rockfall at a Vintondale Mine - John Wilkinson and his new erection - August 1907

Main and Franklin

Corner of Main and Franklin Streets - Downtown Johnstown - Penn Furniture, Woolworth's and U.S. Bank.

Morrellville - 1940's

My grandparents Carmela and John Cacicia standing on K Street with my Aunt Lucy and her husband Charlie Wiley. Also a nice look at the street above - Mercury Avenue. This was taken in the early 1940's.

Clinton Street

Clinton Street - Downtown Johnstown

Rescued Babe from Fire - Morrellville - 1907

Every old house has a story to tell. If only you can figure it out. I ran across this clipping from The Johnstown Leader by accident. I was just scanning anything interesting I could find and this is one of them.  This happened August 9, 1907 - at 1139 Virginia Avenue - Morrellville at the home of Rollo Herdman. The house next door - owned by James McCloskey also suffered damage.

This 1139 Virginia Avenue now - and as you can tell - this home was rebuilt soon after the blaze. 

Ann's Place - Bedford Street

 

Reader Rick Callihan sent in another shot of Ann's Place on Bedford Street - 1950's

Franklin Street

Bob Cribbs sent in this shot - 940 Franklin Street about 1955 - it's now a parking lot. 

Saving a Cemetery - Browns Farm

Now that I finally have the means to haul a lawn mower up to Browns - I can finally begin to bring Laurel Hill Cemetery back to life. A project I have been dreaming about for years. 

Cut the grass as best I could considering there are a lot of smaller stones hidden under decades of growth.

What you see behind the stones are birch saplings trying to take over the cemetery.

More saplings and not grass...wish it was grass - would be alot easier to deal with.

And even more saplings behind John Brown. Eventually this saplings will become trees and erase most of the features of this sacred spot. But not if I can help it!

 Cut a path up from the cemetery.

Had my nephew with me - he helped for a while - then went over to the pond to catch salamanders.

And catch them he did - we brought ten home and he made a spot for them by the crick to see if they take.

Beauty like this just melts my heart - looking up at the remains of the old Harshberger Grove from the cemetery and the 150+ old apple trees - I call "the three sisters". I will keep you posted on the progress I am making on bringing this cemetery back to life.