The Story of Johnstown : Its Early Settlement, Rise and Progress, Industrial Growth, and Appalling Flood on May 31st, 1889 / J. J. McLaurin, Penn State University Libraries, Penn State University Libraries.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McLaurin, John J. (John James), 1841-1923, Author.

, Penn State University Libraries, Author.

Contributor:

funder.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (378 p.)

Place of Publication:

University Park, PA Penn State University Press, [2025]

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

McLaurin J. J. : J. J. McLaurin (1841-1923) was a journalist and editor of the Harrisburg Telegram, one of the largest weekly newspapers in Pennsylvania in the late nineteenth century.J. J. McLaurin (1841-1923) was a journalist and editor of the Harrisburg Telegram, one of the largest weekly newspapers in Pennsylvania in the late nineteenth century.

Summary:

The Story of Johnstown, published just a year after the devastating Johnstown flood of May 1889, is considered by many to be one of the best contemporary journalistic accounts of the flood. J. J. McLaurin, who was working as a journalist for the Harrisburg Telegram, witnessed the flood firsthand and survived to write about it. His detailed account is illustrated with moving photographs of the flood's wreckage and aftermath. It is also accompanied by a history of the area from the colonial period, which looks at the town's early settlement and development, the Cambria Iron Company, and the construction of the ill-fated South Fork Dam on the Conemaugh River. McLaurin's direct, poignant account of the tragic Johnstown flood and its wake is a testament not only to the historic events but also to the people affected by the disaster-both those who perished and those who survived to rebuild their community.

Contents:

Frontmatter

INTRODUCTION

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE / James M. Place

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

CONTENTS

I. HOMES IN THE WILDERNESS

II. EARLY SETTLEMENT

III. RISE AND PROGRESS

IV. THE CAMBRIA IRON WORKS

V. THE SOUTH-FORK DAM

VI. MARCH OF THE DESTROYER

VII. WRECK OF THE DAY EXPRESS

VIII. WOODY ALE ANNIHILATED

IX. THREE THOUSAND PERSONS PERISH

X. ACCUMULATED HORRORS

XI. GLIMPSES OF THE HAVOC

XII. FATE OF PASTORS AND CHURCHES

XIII. ADVENTURES AND ESCAPES

XIV. HEROISM IN VARIED FORMS

XV. DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD

XVI. SOME OF THE VICTIMS

XVII. SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS

XVIII. HELP FOR THE LIVING

XIX. ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

XX. UNDER MILITARY AUTHORITY

XXI. MAGNIFICENT BENEVOLENCE

XXII. FLOOD RELIEF COMMISSION

XXIII. EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS

XXIV. PATHETIC SCENES AND INCIDENTS

XXV. SEEKING FOR LOVED ONES

XXVI. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS

XXVII. WHAT OF THE FUTURE ?

APPENDIX

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed November 07 2025)

ISBN:

0-271-10093-1