The failure of the South Fork Dam, which affected Johnstown, is currently regarded as the worst dam failure in U.S history. Even before Folsom Lake Dam was built and the reservoir filled, the north fork of the American River was supplying water to communities, farms and ranches in south Placer and northeast Sacramento counties. Simply put, the South Fork Dam had by then become a ticking time bomb, one that would timeout and detonate during the mid-afternoon of Friday, May 31st, 1889. It was the deadliest non-hurricane flood in American history, and people wanted answers. According to HISTORY, when the dam was built in the 1840s, it was the largest earth dam in the United States . It would be the most devastating flood of the 19th century in the United States. Morrell insisted on inspections of the dam's breastwork both by his own engineers, (including John Fulton) and by those of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 2 Pennsylvanian engineer William Morris designed the dam, located a "safe . Hussey, elected as the club's only female member following her husband's death in 1884, Frank B. Laughlin secretary of the Solar Carbon and Manufacturing Company, John Jacob Lawrence paint and color manufacturer, partner of Moses Suydam, Jesse H. Lippincott associated with the Banner Baking Powder firm, Sylvester Stephen Marvin established himself in the cracker business, founding S. S. Marvin Co., centerpiece to the organization of the, Frank T., Oliver, and Walter L. McClintock associated with O. McClintock and Company, a mercantile house, James S. McCord owner of the wholesale hatters McCord and Company, W. A. McIntosh (president of the New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Company and father of, H. Sellers McKee president of the First National Bank of Birmingham, founder of, Reuben Miller Miller, Metcalf and Perkin, Crescent Steel Works, Edwin A. Meyers Myers, Shinkle and Company, H. P. Patton associated with the window glass manufacturer A. and D. H. Chambers, Benjamin F. Ruff first president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, tunnel contractor, coke salesman, real estate broker, Marvin F. Scaife producer of iron products through W. B. Scaife and Sons, James M. Schoonmaker J. M. Schoonmaker Coke Company, James Ernest Schwartz president of Pennsylvania Lead Company, Moses Bedell Suydam M. B. Suydam and Company, Colonel Elias J. Unger managed hotels along the Pennsylvania Railroad, second and last president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, did not have a military record, Calvin Wells president of Pittsburgh Forge and Iron Company. This dam was built to hold back Lake Conemaugh, and the dam was named the South Fork dam. USBR. The 3,015 sq. At approximately 3 PM in the afternoon the dam gave way, millions of tons of water poured into the valley and the city. (2)Rose, A. At 4:07 p.m., Johnstown inhabitants heard a low rumble that grew to a roar like thunder. Some knew immediately what had happened: after a night of heavy rains, South Fork Dam had finally broken, sending 20 million tons of water crashing down the narrow valley. PA The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. ft. 438 Lookout Dam Rd, Statesville, NC 28625 $449,900 MLS# 3892981 New construction home to be finished approx. Enjoying our content? The South Fork Dam was built to provide water for the operation of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal between Johnstown and Pittsburgh. Right image Holmes. The mission of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is to lead the state's efforts in ensuring a secure water future for Texas and its citizens. The dam was built in the 1840s and early '50s, decades before the Fishing and Hunting Club was established. It was patched, mostly with mud and straw. The ruins of the Sisters of Charity building. Here you'll find all collections you've created before. [2] A torrent of water raced downstream, destroying several towns. The South Fork Dam was originally built between 1838-1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system to be used as a reservoir for the state's Main Line of Public Works canal basin in Johnstown. As the dam burst, a 30- to-40-foot-high wave rushed the 14 miles toward Johnstown. Credit: NPS/Harpers Ferry Center. . 1852-June 10, the Western Reservoir was finally dammed. Reconstructionincluded lowering the dam crestby approximately two feet toallow for carriage travel acrossit, placing a mesh screen withinthe spillway to prevent the lossof fish during flows through it,and repairing the washed outportion of the dam with randomfill that consisted of clay, brush,and hay. This was the first major disaster relief effort handled by the new American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton. It changed hands again in a sale to private investors. The Johnstown Flood became a symbol of the power and potential destructive force of the elements. Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password. A time line of the South Fork Dam: 1830s-Pennsylvania constructed the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh; the canal's Western Division had its eastern terminus at Johnstown. Knox and Reed successfully argued that the dam's failure was a natural disaster which was an Act of God, and no legal compensation was paid to the survivors of the flood;[12] The perceived injustice aided the acceptance of strict, joint, and several liability, so that a non-negligent defendant could be held liable for damage caused by the unnatural use of land.[13], Individual members of the club did contribute substantially to the relief efforts. In 1862 the dam broke, resulting in a sag in the middle where repairs had been made. Some of the big names included Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. Along with about half of the club members, Henry Clay Frick donated thousands of dollars to the relief effort in Johnstown. But could it have been prevented? The South Fork Dam was built between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide water for the operation of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal between Johnstown and Pittsburgh. . and looked at similar dam failures and issues with the South Fork dam itself to . The South Fork Dam was an earthen dam originally built between 1838-1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of the Pennsylvania Main Line canal system to be used as a reservoir for the canal basin in Johnstown. Each case was "either settled or discontinued and, as far as is known, no one bringing action profited thereby. The dam fell into despair in 1857 and changed ownership multiple times. These 61 wealthy steel and coal industrialists came from Pittsburgh, and made some . The flood met its first serious resistance at the Pennsylvania Railroads Stone Bridge, which saved the lives of thousands by not breaking. Everywhere people were hanging from rafters or clinging to rooftops as railcars were swept downstream, frantically trying to keep their balance as their rafts pitched in the flood. The Influence of Dam Failures on Dam Safety Laws in Pennsylvania, Johnstown Flood Debate Renewed: UPJ Geologists' Report Questions Findings of Early Investigation into Cause of 1889 Dam Failure, Historic Structure Report, The South Fork Dam Historical Data, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Pennsylvania, Package No. Court of Common Pleas. The total death toll was calculated originally as 2,209 people, making the disaster the largest loss of civilian life in the United States at the time. February 11, 1881; "Report of the Committee on the Cause of the Failure of the South Fork Dam", loc. But there was more yet to come. Making the wave even more terrifying was the black pall of smoke and steam that hung over itthe death mist remembered by survivors. House ripped from its foundation by the flood in Johnstown, with a tree trunk sticking out of a window. Torrents of water rushed downstream as the dam failed, inundating nearby Johnstown with 16 million tons of water and wiping out much of the town. The outlet works for the dam consisted of a stone-linedculvert with five valves for releasing varying amounts of flow as well as a spillwaycreated by cutting into the rock along the east abutment. Oregon Dam Safety Conference. Though the dam had been built according to accepted engineering practices, the canal system was obsolete by the time the dam was . After the South Fork dam broke in 1889, he (and law firm partner James Reed, also a club member) convinced the more than 60-member club to remain silent about the flood and their roles as club . South Fork Snake . Johnstown Flood National Memorial [citation needed]. Upon request, special presentations can be arranged for groups. "Executive Communications (P. Daniel Smith), United States Congress, Senate Government Printing Office, 1954, pages 4-5. It was abandoned by the commonwealth, sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and then sold again to private interests. Notwithstanding leaks and other warning signs, the flawed dam held the waters of Lake Conemaugh back until disaster struck, in May 1889. Though the dam had been built according to accepted engineering practices, the canal system was obsolete by the time the dam was . . Any modification to a spillway should be reviewed and approved by a professional engineer. However, by the mid-1850's the canal system and its dams were virtually obsolete because trans-state rail service had been established. The failure of the South Fork Dam on May 31, 1889, released a wall of water 12 meters (40 feet) high traveling at 32 kph (20 mph) that killed nearly 3,000 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and other towns. Rumors of the dam's potential for harm, and its likelihood of bursting, had been circulating for years, and perhaps this contributed to why they were not taken seriously on that fateful day. [8], The charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, assembled by Henry Clay Frick were Benjamin Ruff, T. H. Sweat, Charles J. Clarke, Thomas Clark, Walter F. Fundenberg, Howard Hartley, Henry C. Yeager, J. It was all over in ten minutes. On the afternoon of May 31, 1889, a private dam in western Pennsylvania burst, sending 20 million gallons of water and debris into the unsuspecting town of Johnstown with the force of a tidal wave . It was abandoned by the commonwealth, sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and then sold again to private interests. The dam as originally built with a higher crest by the State of Pennsylvania would have impounded a greater volume of 1.627 10 7 m 3 below a lake stage of 493.5 m. Many publications report that . . His workers desperately tried to dig another spillway and increase the height of the dam, but the water was rising too fast. After several days of unprecedented rainfall in the Alleghenies, the dam gave way on May 31, 1889. Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser-Alexander, updated October 2019. National Parks, Monuments & Historic Sites, Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas Declaring Independence, Stanley, Ks Extinct but Still Here (LOK), Black Bob Reservation in Johnson County (LOK). [15], Interactive map showing the location for South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club Historic District. When the initial renovation was completed under Ruff's oversight, it became impossible to drain the lake to repair the dam properly, having modified the dam and lake area it to suit its recreational interests. Thousands of people desperately tried to escape the wave, but they were slowed as in a nightmare by the two to seven feet of water already covering parts of town. The dam broke after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. Major Historical Dam Failures with Modes of Failure. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works downstream in Johnstown. Charter of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. People still wonder why so many vote against temporary taxes to help relieve or open museums or sports stadiums in their towns. Required fields are marked *. South Fork Dam. Hundreds, alive and dead, were buried beneath the ravaged city. But, that had been the case every spring for so many years, that it the supposed threat had become something of a standing joke around town. Central Pennsylvania, May 31, 1889: After a deluge of rainnearly a foot in less than twenty-four hoursswelled the Little Conemaugh River, panicked engineers watched helplessly as swiftly rising waters threatened to breach the South Fork dam, built to create a private lake for a fishing and hunting club that counted among its members . South Fork provides visitors with abundant all-season activities from hunting and fishing to skiing, golf, horseback riding and wildlife viewing. There have been a number of fatal dam breaks in the United Statest. The Navy's New $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier Is Already . SO he can make the road on the dam wider for his carriage to cross. Then the oil caught fire. 1862-Due to heavy rains and lack of maintenance, the South Fork Dam failed for the second time; the water in Johnstown was raised only 2-3 feet. 41 terms . Represents a district that is made up of a large portion of eastern Nevada, including parts of Elko, Eureka, and Nye counties, and all of Lincoln and White Pine counties. Part of the St. Michael neighborhood, and most of Creslo, of the town St. Michael-Sidman, Pennsylvania now sits on the bed of the former Lake Conemaugh. Cambria Iron and Steels facilities were heavily damaged; they returned to full production within 18 months. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, Last edited on 10 September 2022, at 20:32, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, "'It's still controversial': Debate rages over culpability of wealthy club members" by David Hurst. South Fork I recently found aerial photography from 1952 showing a free flowing north and south fork of the American River. South Fork of the Snake (PALISADES DAM) Year Built: 2012: Year Reconstructed: N/A: Average Daily Traffic (Year): 100 (2021) with 10% of truck traffic: Future Average Daily Traffic (Year): 100 (2041) NBI Report. Many became helplessly entangled in miles of barbed wire from a destroyed wire works. Watching the lake rising an inch every 10 minutes, he knew that once the water ran over the top of the earthen dam, it would cut through it like a knife and the whole thing would go. The worst dam failure in the United States was the Johnstown flood of 1889. At approximately 3:00 p.m. on May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam gave way. Torrents of water rushed downstream as the dam failed, inundating nearby . The world rushed to help. However, according to modern research conducted by, among others, University of Pittsburgh instructor Neil M. Coleman,[7] the report was delayed, subverted, and whitewashed, before being released two years after the disaster. See the many changes to the South Fork Dam through the years. The South Fork Dam in 1881 after it was rebuilt by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. 1879-Reilly sold the dam to Benjamin Ruff, who bought it in the name of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club of Pittsburgh. The Influence of Dam Failures on Dam Safety Laws in Pennsylvania. Soldiers sit on a hill overlooking Johnstown, Pennsylvania after the 1889 flood. Originally constructed in 1852, the dams primary purposewas to provide a source of water for a division of the Pennsylvania Canal. For whatever reason, at least three warnings sent from South Fork to Johnstown by telegram the day of the disaster went virtually unheeded downstream. In just 40 minutes, 1600 homes turned into debris and thousands of people died and their corpses floated away. After many years of delays it was finally completed in 1852 and provided good service. [3], Daniel Johnson Morrell became a member of the club for the purpose of observing the state of the dam under its stewardship, and campaigned to club officials, especially to Ruff, its founder, regarding the safety of the dam. Terrible Living Conditions of Gorbals, Glasgow Slums before the Redevelopment, Toronto in the 1940s: What Toronto looked like During and after the World War II, What Norfolk looked like in the Late 19th Century, Spectacular Historical Photos of Sacramento in the 1880s, Gibraltar in 1980 through the Lens of a Spanish Photographer, Vintage Sensual Maids: 50+ Provocative Photos Of Naughty Flappers From The 1920s. The South Fork Dam was an earthenwork dam forming Lake Conemaugh (formerly Western Reservoir, also known as the Old Reservoir and Three Mile Dam, a misnomer),[1] an artificial body of water near South Fork, Pennsylvania, United States. How was his response different? The flood struck the Johnstown with devastating force along with heavy wind and blew the buildings and homes. . Under Ruffs ownership the area became the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Clubof which elite members included Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick. Debris at the stone bridge covered 30 acres, and clean-up operations were to continue for years. The property became South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Barton and her crew remained in Johnstown until October when the city was finally able to begin rebuilding itself. Founded in 1879, the club was designed to give the most powerful men in Pennsylvania a quiet retreata place to enjoy the magnificent wealth they had accumulated in the steel, railroad, and other industries. But by far the most famous dam failure, and indeed one of the worst disasters in U.S. history, was the Johnstown flood of 1889 . In the aftermath, bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati, Ohiomore than 400 miles away. Directions: I-77 N to exit 51 for I-40, keep left at fork for I-40 W. Take exit 141 for Sharon School road and TR . But many were trapped in the wreckage, some still hopelessly hung up in the barbed wire, unable to move. The president at the time of the flood was Colonel Elias Unger. Former Bouquet seller now making a go with blogging and graphic designing. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like People knew the South Fork dam might break. The dam was located on Lake Conemaugh, which was an artificial body of water. 1. All Rights Reserved. Technical paper published by Association of State Dam Safety Officials, Newspaper article published by the Tribune-Democrat, Author: H. Unrau, U.S. National Park Service, Presentation at Oregon Dam Safety Conference, Author: N. Coleman, U. Kaktins, & S. Wojno. The flood ended up being the deadliest in American history. The lake had a perimeter of seven miles (11km) and could hold 14.3 million tons of water. Originally built by the Commonwealth to service a canal system, the dam was abandoned when railroads superseded canals and was sold to private interests. [9], Alphabetically, a complete listing of club membership included:[6]. (Credit: Histed/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images). It was the worst disaster event in U.S. history at the time, and relief efforts were among the first major actions of Clara Barton and the newly organized American Red Cross, which she had founded and led. Thats changed in modern years as scientists and historians work to reconstruct what happened during the fateful flood. Built for the super rich of 1800s, the sporting club, catered to a very wealthy clientele from nearby Pittsburgh. Dam not originally built of stone, face of dam on lake was not rip-rapped. The Johnstown Flood in rare pictures, 1889. Over the years, some people worried about the72-foot-high earthen dam, one of the largest earthen dams in the world, causing one resident to remark: No one could see the immense height to which that artificial dam had been built without fearing the tremendous power of the water behind it., Others wondered and asked why the dam had not been strengthened, as it certainly had become weak, making Johnstown vulnerable. About eight miles to the east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was where the South Fork Dam, a rock and earthen dam, was built. That's when a dam altered by the exclusive club burst, and the unthinkable happened. A primary and secondary spillway regulates overflow. Money poured in, too. A number of club members built large cottages nearby. On May 31, 1889, after several days of unprecedented rainfall, the dam gave way. Thousands of people huddled in attics or on the roofs of buildings that had withstood the initial wave, were still threatened by the 20-foot current tearing at the buildings and jamming tons of debris against them. Investigation of the failure was conducted by the ASCE (American Societyof Civil Engineers) in 1891. It was also hypothesized during the investigation ofthe failure that had the spillway been constructed according to the originallydesigned size, the dam would likely have not been overtopped and the worstman-made disaster in the United States prior to September 11, 2001 would havebeen avoided. They are representative of popular late-19th century architectural styles, including Stick/Eastlake, Gothic Revival, and Queen Anne. When it reached Johnstown, 2,209 people were killed, and there was $17 million in damage. In the growing darkness, they watched other buildings being pulled down, not knowing if theirs would last the night. "Benjamin Franklin Ruff (1835-1887)", "Johnstown Memorial", National Park Service. Mostly forgotten about by the 1870s-1880s, it was also a menace, over the heads of the people of Johnstown and the Conemaugh Valley. Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries. An engineer at the dam saw warning signs of an impending disaster and rode a horse to the village of South Fork to warn the residents. He promoted this idea to Henry Clay Frick, a friend of his, who was one of the wealthy elite group of powerful men who controlled Pittsburgh's steel, rail and other industries. The South Fork Dam was originally built between 1838-1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system to be used as a reservoir for the state's Main Line of Public Works canal basin in Johnstown. That version of the dam partially failed just a decade after it had been completed. 3768 Arctic Fox Dr , Island Park, ID 83429 is a single-family home listed for-sale at $1,100,000. When the water was "up" in the spring, the lake covered over 400 acres (1.6km2). On May 31, 1889, torrential rain and subsequent flooding caused the South Fork Dam to fail near Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Storage capacity is 40,000 acre-feet. Emergency morgues and hospitals were set up, and commissaries distributed food and clothing. By 1881 the dam had been repaired, without the benefit of an engineer,and the reservoir filled to capacity to form the now nearly three-mile-long Lake Conemaugh. This was part of a cross-state canal system that was aptly named the Main Line of Public Works. Author: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Association of State Dam Safety Officials Those who did see it said it snapped off trees like pipe stems, crushed houses like eggshells, and threw around locomotives like so much chaff. A violent wind preceded it, blowing down small buildings. B. At the time of the Great Flood the club house was handsomely furnished and was fully equipped to care for at least 200 guests. People stand atop houses after the flood May 31, 1889 (Source: The Washington Post) A bout a century and a half ago, the opening of the South Fork Dam was officially inaugurated in the American . . Original construction included both adult and juvenile fish passage facilities to help move fish past the dam. [6] The founding entrepreneur, Benjamin F. Ruff, had died several years earlier, and Unger had been on the job only a short time. The water took its natural course, dropping 450 feet in 14 miles, at times 70 to 75 feet high, and reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour. The mesh screens placed in the spillway further decreased spillwaycapacity due to the collection of debris. This flooding resulted in the deaths of 2,209 people, the loss of 1,600 homes, and over $17,000,000 in property damage. Operational Failure Modes. It was a moving mass black with houses, trees, boulders, logs, and rafters coming down like an avalanche, she wrote. Their secret retreat was a place to fish, hunt and consolidate their power. In addition, the material used to repairthe embankment settled, creating a low point on the dam crest that increasedthe potential for overtopping and concentrated overtopping flow at that location. The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. Afterward, the railroad abandoned the dam, and it deteriorated. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}402053N 784633W / 40.348092N 78.775730W / 40.348092; -78.775730, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Fork_Dam&oldid=1136217234, This page was last edited on 29 January 2023, at 08:31. Disaster was far from the minds of Pennsylvania magnates like Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and Henry Clay Frick when they joined the secretive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. High School: South Iredell; Location Information. Francis et al. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The South Fork dam was planned to supply water to the canal and waterway west of the Alleghenies. Built following the disastrous Johnstown flood of 1889, the Inclined Plane connected the downtown area with the far higher Westmont, which was being developed into a residential neighborhood. As the flood was going through towns towards the Johnstown, it was destroying trees, homes, boxcars and even locomotives and carrying them along with the water. The average depth is 30 to 35 feet. A dam was built in 1840 on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles . He chose not to do it. The spillway is obstructed with a bridge and fish screen. The South Fork Dam in Pennsylvania collapses on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood, killing more than 2,200 people. South Fork,PA 15956. For the next eight years, the summer resort offered fishing, hunting, boating, and other recreational opportunities for club members. A rendering of the scene at the Stone Bridge. All About South Fork Reservoir. Until May 31, 1889, that is. The Men Who Built America. The dam was watertight due to puddled earth or being packed down. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a Pennsylvania corporation which operated an exclusive and secretive retreat at a mountain lake near South Fork, Pennsylvania, for more than fifty extremely wealthy men and their families. Johnstown was home to more than 30,000 people in 1889 and many of them worked in the booming steel industry. The South Fork Dam was an earthenwork dam forming Lake Conemaugh ,[1] an artificial body of water near South Fork, Pennsylvania, United States. Those caught by the wave found themselves swept up in a torrent of oily, yellow-brown water, surrounded by tons of grinding debris, which crushed some and provided rafts for others. 1889-Sometime around 3:10, on the afternoon of May 31, the dam failed sending 20,000,000 tons or 3,600,000,000 gallons of water hurtling toward Johnstown. Learn more at erinblakemore.com. "Historic Challenge: Study Contests Cause of Dam Breach That Led to 1889 Flood", University of Pittsburgh Johnstown. (1)Mills, K. (2013). There is a large pressure ridge at the mouth of Boat Cove with some less stable ice from there toward the dam. Many more failures - in Arizona, Tennessee, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and elsewhere across the U.S. - occurred around the turn of the century, and some early state . The South Fork canyon area west of the park boundary is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The South Fork Dam was built on the artificially created Lake Conemaugh in Pennsylvania, the US between 1838 and 1853. After the flood, Andrew Carnegie, one of the club's better-known members, built the town a new library. On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed catastrophically and 20 million tons of water from Lake Conemaugh burst through and raced 14 miles (23km) downstream, causing the Johnstown Flood.[2]. 1889 South Fork Dam Failure. South Fork Reservoir comprises 1,640 surface acres and has a maximum depth . 1863-Canal between Johnstown and Blairsville was closed meaning there was no longer a viable reason to maintain the South Fork Dam. The South Fork Dam was built between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide water for the operation of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal between Johnstown and Pittsburgh. Lake Conemaugh was held back by the South Fork Dam, a large earth-fill dam that was completed by the club in 1881. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). On the chilly, wet afternoon of May 31st, the dam started to go at 3:10 p.m. The fearful rushing waters opened the gap with such increasing rapidity that soon after the entire lake leaped out It took but forty minutes to drain that three miles of water. John Parke, South Fork Engineer. However, the telegraph lines were down and the warning did not reach Johnstown. The dam had not failed completely since 1862.