Island Park was located near Benscreek in the area near the present St. Andrew's Church. It featured quite a large picnic ground. The area was served by street car from the city. The Windber-Johnstown line also went near the place. Besides being an overnight stay for people coming to Johnstown via the Somerset Pike or the Davidsville Road, the hotel was well known for its famous Sunday dinners. During the winter season people would drive by sleigh from the city to the hotel for an evening meal. In the summer, a large swimming pool made the park a popular spot for young and old alike hoping to escape the heat.
One of the leading office buildings in Downtown Johnstown around 1900 was the Lincoln Building on Franklin Street facing Lincoln Street. Later Cambria Savings and Loan occupied the site.
A shop was on the first floor. The upper floors were occupied by doctors, lawyers, insurance offices and lodge rooms. It was a stone and brick structure, extending from Franklin Street to the alley in the rear.
Next to it on the right was the First Lutheran Church. Both buildings were destroyed in the most disasterous fire in the history of the city up to that time - March 17, 1918, when the Rose and Suppes buildings - also on Franklin Street were destroyed. The fire jumped across the rear alley and destroyed the old Kline's Store on Main Street. Kline's later built a store in the 300 block of Main.
One of the showplaces of the time belonged to Henry Haws, son of the founder of Haws Refractories. His home was located on Vine Street where the First Lutheran Church is now located.