USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > Johnstown > From trail dust to star dust : the story of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a city resulting from its environment > Part 5
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
roads eventually were the natural successors to the ancient trails. Our nation then became a nation on wheels. In- evitably, however, came the desire to lower these paths from the heights, and it was the riverways to which men looked for the solution of their problems of inland com- merce. Benjamin Franklin's word of warning, “rivers are ungovernable things" went unheeded and a vast net- work of inland waterways, such as those existing already in Europe, began. State vied with state. The Pennsylvania Canal was part of this vast, cumbersome, expensive net- work of canals, roads, and railways.
It was the birthright of the New World democ- racy to make its own mistakes and in so doing to prove for itself the errors of the Old World.
Just as the present is understood and experienced through the past, so the future is anticipated through both. The Erie Canal which followed the Mohawk trail became the path of the New York Central Railroad. The trail through the Cumberland Gap became the National Pike. Baltimore began the canalization of the Potomac which resulted in the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road. Philadelphia, not wishing to lose its trade to New York, followed the trails of the redmen through Penn- sylvania to Fort Pitt to build the Pennsylvania Canal, which in turn laid the right-of-way for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1851. The rivalry of these three great cities resulted in the development of the three great railroad systems in the East. Today, "trail dust gives way to star dust."
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The Pennsylvania Canal
Even though the millions spent by the State for canal projects almost put the State into bankruptcy, the Penn- sylvania Canal, so far as Johnstown is concerned, en- couraged the expansion of the iron and steel industry and placed Johnstown on the main artery of transporta- tion. Besides, it made transportation costs for commodi- ties cheaper. In early days of trail and paths, to transport a barrel of flour between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia cost $14. In 1835, by canal, it cost $1.121/2. In 1907, by rail, 22c. Before the days of the Canal, when there were no roads through the wilderness, the most necessary foods were high priced. Coffee was 50c a pound; shad, 50c each; salt, $5 a bushel; wheat, $2 a bushel. These prices may not seem high in the present-day inflation; but, when the average daily wage of the workman was about 50 cents, they were extremely high. Johnstown, being a stopping-off place to transfer from rail to canal, gained new contacts with the rest of the Country. Many prominent persons passed through. Business and profes- sional men, artisans and laborers were attracted to the growing community. The busy and profitable years of the Canal were from 1834 to 1851. Then change - so paradoxical, permanent, and persistent in all ages - brought the Pennsylvania Railroad to Johnstown and made all-weather transportation possible.
On August 29, 1851, The Tribune bore the follow- ing heading to an article: "Last of the Packets and the First Train." The first train went through on August 25, 1851. The Canal was finally abandoned in 1863. Between the coming of the railroad and the complete abandon-
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
ment of the Canal, there were topics such as these that were recorded in The Tribune: On April 18, 1855, a steamboat; Ephraim Stitt of Blairsville, last captain to carry freight from Pittsburgh; pig iron still being carried in 1859; Knowlton of Walnut Grove runs a flat boat be- tween Johnstown and Conemaugh in 1860; on May 1, Pennsylvania Railroad, the purchaser of the Canal, aban- dons it between Johnstown and Blairsville.
Today there is no trace of the Canal in Johnstown. It is completely filled in. The Gautier division of Bethlehem Steel Company stands in the basin.
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Courtesy The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
PORTAGE RAILROAD - CARS BEING PULLED UP AN INCLINED PLANE
Courtesy The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
PORTAGE RAILROAD - SECTION BOATS
Note small SAFETY CAR (a Johnstown Invention) in front of first boat (Please refer to page 67)
Reproduced from a diorama - Courtesy Penn Traffic Co.
THE BASIN - PENNSYLVANIA CANAL
Reproduced from a diorama - Courtesy Penn Traffic Co.
THE AQUEDUCT - PENNSYLVANIA CANAL (Please refer to page 75)
STILES., ALLEN & CO.
Reproduced from a diorama - Courtesy Penn Traffic Co. ORIGINAL PENN TRAFFIC STORE
Reproduced from a diorama - Courtesy Penn Traffic Co. PENN TRAFFIC STORE IN 1907
16 Ferries, Fords and Bridges
The story of transportation in Johnstown would not be complete without something of the fords and bridges which crossed the two rivers. At first there were only fordings, the best known one being the Beula (Beulah or Buel) Fording near the present Franklin Street Bridge. The crossing received its name from the road leading to Stoystown from Beula. This was a Welsh community in the north of the County, three miles from Ebensburg. Although short lived, it was a thriving town with schools, hostels, even a library; but when Ebensburg became the county seat in 1804, Beula became a dead town. Nothing remains of it today except an historical marker.
Early methods of passage, for foot travelers as well as wagons, across the rivers were the ferries and fords. Adam Trefts had a ferry on the Stony Creek near the present Haynes Street bridge; and Joseph Haynes had a ferry at Market Street. Gray's ferry operated between The Point and the west end of the present Stone Bridge. When the water was high, it was not unusual for a mer- chant crossing a ford with his wares in his wagon to have everything dumped into the swiftly moving waters. The first fording on the Stony Creek was probably at the
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
mouth of the old feeder at Suppes' Dam. Jacob Stutzman operated a ferry here. The fording that the people coming from Somerset used was the old Beula Fording, crossing at Franklin and Willow Streets. The fordings near Walnut Street were many, because people going to Westmoreland and Indiana counties and to Ebensburg crossed here. Where the Woodvale bridge now is, there was a fording used from earliest days to reach Hilde- brand's grist mill at Sylvania. Another fording called Broad Fording (400 feet wide) was near the present entrance to the lower mills. Peter Daniels, whose ferry was on the Little Conemaugh opposite the Woodvale mill, charged 3c per person; when the river was high and the current strong, the cost was a "fip," a fivepenny bit or fivepence, worth 61/4 cents.
Naturally, the bridges replaced the fordings. On June 3, 1817, the court appointed Adam Cover, William Spence, and A. Murphy as viewers to meet viewers from Somerset County to locate a bridge across the Stony Creek at or near Fox's Fording which was near the Red Bridge, or what is known today as Kring's. This was the first bridge across the Stony Creek. In traveling between Somerset and Beula or Ebensburg, people crossed the Stony Creek at the Beula Fording when the river was fordable, but when the water was high it was necessary to cross at Fox's Fording and come down Von Lunen Road. On the same date, another board met to locate a bridge over the Little Conemaugh. The first bridge over the Conemaugh was erected in 1829, when it stood for only one night and fell of its own weight. It was located between the present Walnut Street bridge and the aque-
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Ferries, Fords and Bridges
duct (nearer the latter). The aqueduct was directly be- hind the Penn Traffic store. Over this, horses and riders could pass on the tow path, but it was not wide enough for vehicles. The highways on which these fordings oc- curred were the main thoroughfares between the Laurel Hill Gap and Ebensburg.
The first Franklin Street bridge was built in 1842. It was a covered bridge as were all the bridges of that day. This was a toll bridge which cost the foot traveler one penny to cross. It was partially washed away in 1857, replaced, and served until 1866, when it was destroyed by a big ice-gorge. It was replaced by an iron bridge. Later it was taken down and each piece was marked so that the bridge could be reconstructed at Poplar Street. Again in 1889, the Franklin Street bridge was destroyed and again in 1936. The last time the water was forceful enough to lift it from its abutments and carry it 800 yards down stream.
Until 1887, it was the custom to post a sign on all bridges to the effect that a fine would be imposed on anyone driving a horse faster than a walk over the bridge. However, when the steel bridge was erected, it was con- sidered strong enough to allow a horse to pass over it "at the will of the driver." In those days horses with sleighs raced out Franklin Street in the winter time.
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17 Roads
There were three roads of importance to the early settlers. At the December term of court in 1800, a peti- tion was presented to the court of quarter sessions for Somerset County as follows:
"That a road hath lately been laid out from the Town of Somerset to the Town of Beula passing by or near a place known by the name of Samuel Steel's saw mill. Also, that one other road from Somerset to Beula hath been laid out ... In the laying out the two roads aforesaid, the said petitioners agree there is great propriety as they swerve from each other so as that one materially accommodates the neighborhood of Stoys- town and the other Ben's Creek settlement."
The Benscreek road is substantially now the Somer- set Pike. The Hudson and Morrison map of 1816 does not show that the Beula road was ever opened between Johnstown and Beula. The Galbreath or Frankstown Road ran along a ridge almost to Munster. Then it took a southward course and passed Ebensburg about four miles south, thence to and across the Laurel Hill. The popular Frankstown Avenue in the city of Pittsburgh is the westerly terminus of this road. There is confusion in the name Frankstown Road for there were two roads
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Roads
by this name. The second one, authorized in 1792, led from Frankstown to Conemaugh and thence to the north- west side of the Chestnut Ridge at or near Thomas Trimble's. This is still the direct route from Hollidays- burg to Johnstown. The Bedford to Johnstown road is the oldest one in the County and ended at the corner of Main and Bedford Streets. It was opened for travel so early that there is no record of its beginning. It was the most direct route between these points and may have been traveled as early as 1731, when it was simply a trail to the nearest block house at Bedford. This is the road that was used by Solomon and Samuel Adams and their sister Rachel between 1760 and 1770. On this road at the place now called Scalp Level, Samuel Adams and an Indian killed each other in 1771 when the family was fleeing to the block house. Lumbermen, however, have a different interpretation for the place-name Scalp Level. To them, it meant cutting the timber close to the ground.
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18 Civic Development
The charter original for Johnstown was not issued by virtue of government authority, but was given by a solemn pledge in writing by Joseph Johns. Conemaugh -Old Town, established in 1800, became Conemaugh Borough in 1831. The borough of Conemaugh became the borough of Johnstown in 1834, and the borough of Johnstown became the city of Johnstown in the fall of 1889, just after the great flood.
As the community grew and prospered, Johnstown's civic development paralleled its industrial development. The hog, the cow, and the goose ordinances gave evidence of growing civic consciousness and developing community maturity on the part of the citizenry. These ordinances prohibited the animals from running at large in the Town. The succession of fences which surrounded Central Park were for the purpose of keeping the cows out.
CAMBRIA PUBLIC LIBRARY-The first library in Johnstown was organized as a subscription library, occu- pying a space in the Assistant Fire Company hall. A char- ter was procured in June, 1870. The first library building was built by the Cambria Iron Company in 1880, and was destroyed in the flood of 1889.
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Civic Development
The present edifice stands on the site of the original structure on the corner of Washington and Walnut Streets. This building was given by Andrew Carnegie; however, it was not endowed by him.
The library has been maintained in turn by the Cambria Iron Company and its successors. The contribu- tions of Bethlehem Steel Co. reached $18,000 a year. In 1930 the contributions were discontinued. Beginning in 1930 many boroughs made annual appropriations which enabled the library to remain open. The City Council ap- propriated money in 1932, and the Johnstown School Board began its appropriation in 1942 and continued until 1946.
The Women's Library Association was organized in 1932 to assist in the maintenance of the institution during the depression years. The first floor was destroyed in the flood of 1936, and the Women's Library Association with the aid of State funds for flooded libraries remodeled the first floor into a room for boys and girls. In this room was placed a plaque dedicating it to the President, Miss Florence L. Gocher, who was active in the organization of the Association. Mrs. W. O. Keffer was Secretary and Mrs. Joseph J. Meyer was Treasurer.
The Community Chest aided the library as one of its agencies in November, 1940, and continued its contri- butions until January, 1942. In the 1946 November elec- tion an annual tax of 1/2 mill on all taxable property in the city of Johnstown to maintain the library was passed. The Westmont Borough continued to contribute on the same basis as the Johnstown taxpayers.
In February, 1945 the library observed its 75th anni-
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
versary. The following statement is taken from The Johnstown Democrat of January 31, 1945: "Out of the debris of disaster and devastation has emerged the best institution the community has ever known. In true em- bodiment of the aims for all public institutions of Johns- town, the library is better equipped to serve and progress than ever before."
The Cambria Public Library is indeed fortunate to possess one of the first editions of the Messiah. It was presented to the library by Mr. and Mrs. Donald Davis in the early 1940's. It was brought to this Country by Mr. John Davis, a native of Wales, in 1840. According to Mr. William C. Smith in his book Concerning Handel: His Life and Works (London, Cassell, 1948) every authenticating detail is present in this edition. According to Mr. Smith, with whom the library has corresponded, it is the only known copy in America and one of the two in the world, he having the other.
The title page of this valuable edition reads as follows:
Messiah an Oratorio in Score
As it was Originally performed Composed by Mr. Handel To which are added His additional Alterations
London. Printed by Messrs. Randall & Abbell Successors to the late Mr. J. Walsh in Catherine Street in the Strand of whom may be had
the compleat Scores of Samson, Alexander's Feast, and Acis & Galatea.
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Oratorio
Compotey/In M: HANDEL
Courtesy Cambria Public Library
ONLY KNOWN FIRST EDITION OF THE MESSIAH IN AMERICA
From Trail Dust to Star Dust
Edgehill Drive in Westmont, the double-track plane has an oblique length of 8961/2 feet, a perpendicular lift of over 500 feet, and a 35-degree 25-minute inclination. The two-inch diameter steel cables which alternately raise and lower the cars, accommodating both vehicular and pas- senger traffic, were made, time-tested, and proved (to 168 tons capacity) in the laboratories of the Cambria plant. They are replaced at regular intervals, and their rugged- ness is evidenced by a virtually uninterrupted and acci- dent-free service on the Plane over a period of almost seventy years. Having a 71 per cent grade, it is considered the steepest plane of its kind in the Country. It is pow- ered by a 300 H.P. electric motor having a 16-foot dia- meter drum. The Borough of Westmont purchased and began operating the Plane in 1935. The top level of the Plane, almost 1,700 feet above sea level, commands a breath-taking view of the City, the surrounding hills and the Gap-Johnstown, a city resulting from its environ- ment.
A CITIZEN'S CREED
I believe:
1. In the city, maker of state and nation and the power of the individual to direct and shape its life.
2. In my community and its ability to accomplish greater things and in my neighbor and me to make it a more wholesome and beautiful place to live in and to attract others.
3. In my street and my ward as much as I do in my house and lot, and they are what I make them.
4. In the wholly American community, the cooperation of citizens and the principles of freedom and democ- racy everlasting.
W. C. HOWLAND, Leader Press, Johnstown, 1917.
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19 Newspapers
The first newspaper in the County was the Western Sky published in Beula, a settlement of the Welsh, three miles west of Ebensburg. This was the town which in 1804 had early hopes of being the county seat. There were a number of early newspapers published in Ebens- burg, but like Beula their lives were short. Most of them were for political advertisement and their rise and fall were completely dependent upon the success or failure of the political candidates who sponsored them.
James Moore Swank founded the Cambria Tribune in 1853, a weekly newspaper with six columns in folio size, 22 by 32 inches. It contained literary writings both original and reprint, something of national politics and events, advertisements, and a little local news. The Johnstown Democrat, the second paper of the name to be published, made its first appearance on March 5, 1863.
Through the influence of D. J. Morrell and other Republicans, the Cambria Tribune expanded rapidly. One of the early July 3rd issues was novel and notable; it was printed on the outside in blue and on the inside in red! In 1865 the name of the paper was changed to The Johns-
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
town Tribune. James Swank sold out to his brother, George T., better known as "Tom," who had worked in New York under Horace Greely. Mr. "Tom" Swank modeled his paper after the style of the New York Tribune. This influence can still be seen in the physical make-up of the 8-column daily, The Tribune-Democrat. This is a paper continuing the old Johnstown Tribune and the Johnstown Democrat, the consolidation taking place in September, 1952. It is the only paper in the County having a complete morgue. Between May 31, 1889 and June 13, 1889, however, no paper was published.
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20 Early Churches
Father Gallitzin, a pioneer pastor to the people in the forest on top of the Alleghenies, came from a Russian noble family who had been prominent in war and diplo- macy. His father, having a profound admiration for John Adams, sent his son to the United States for travel under the hoped-for influence of Mr. Adams. This hope never materialized. Laying aside his princely title, Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin traveled under the name of Mr. Schmet, an abbreviation for "von Schmettau," his moth- er's family name. He arrived in Baltimore in the fall of 1792. Here Bishop Carroll took an interest in him which resulted in the prince's decision to renounce a military career and to enter the church for the good of the Ameri- can mission. He was known as "Father Smith" when he arrived at Loretto to found the church community re- quested by Captain McGuire. On a tract of land granted by the captain to Bishop Carroll for the church and its schools, Father Gallitzin began to construct the log church which was dedicated on Christmas Eve, 1799. Here he celebrated the first mass held anywhere between the Mississippi and the Susquehanna rivers. By his ver- satility as priest, counsellor, teacher, doctor, trader, tan-
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
ner, and farmer, he established a community which still bears testimony to his influence.
Until 1828, the different Christian sects in the Cone- maugh Valley worshipped together in the school house on the plot provided by Joseph Johns for that purpose. In 1835, the Presbyterians built a frame church on Main Street. The Methodists were deeded a lot on the corner of Franklin and Vine streets (the site of the present United Brethren Church) by Peter Levergood for the sum of six cents. The site of their present church property was secured from Adam Cover for little more. Lutherans and Catholics erected churches and convents, and provided the first teachers. The first parochial school was established by the Lutherans not far from the site of Joseph Johns' cabin. At present there are approxi- mately 120 churches for the 22 different denominations in Johnstown.
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21 Schools
Prior to the Act of 1834, providing for free public schools, education in the County was gained only in private schools which belonged to the masters who taught them, or in church schools, or under private tutor. The first school in the County was that opened by Father Gallitzin in connection with his church at Loretto in 1800. The second was at Beula. The third school was in Johnstown in 1805. It was a little log house, 18 by 20 feet, on the lot at the northeastern corner of Vine Street and Park Place. Reverend Mineely was the first teacher. Tuition per month was 50 to 75 cents for six days a week.
The first effort toward free common schools was the Act of 1809. Its basic principle was so objectionable that it was known as the "Pauper Schools Act." Poor children could be sent to any school and the County would pay the tuition if the parents could not. This was naturally not a success in a democracy. In 1834, came the first substantial act with a State appropriation of $75,000. Thaddeus Stevens defeated an attempt to repeal this act. Joseph Johns must have had some of the spirit of Thaddeus Stevens when in 1800, thirty-
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From Trail Dust to Star Dust
four years earlier, he dedicated the large piece of ground "for erecting school houses and houses of public worship, free and clear of all encumbrances." Joseph Johns Junior High School now stands on this ground. In 1810, on the northeast corner of the grant, a one-story log schoolhouse was erected which was subsequently weather boarded but never painted. The boys called it "Old Blacky." It was paid for by public subscription and was also used as the first place of worship. Until 1854, "Old Blacky" was used for school purposes.
In 1836, two years after the Act of 1834, the "Little Brick" was built on the southwest corner of the grant and was also used as a place of worship. A year later a school was built on the southwest corner of Walnut and Conemaugh streets for $200. In 1850, this school was moved to Market Street between "Old Blacky" and the "Little Brick." It was named the "White School- house." The new structure cost $4,458.
It was not until 1855 that the schools were graded. The first high school was organized in 1868 in the building used at one time by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for a station. It was near the site of the old Canal basin. As the public schools were growing and being graded, the parochial and private schools, the latter sometimes called select schools, were developing. A select school for young ladies stood where the Episcopal Church now stands. When the Free Public School Law became effective, Adam Coover, the first tax collector, collected in 1834 the sum of $388 in local taxes; the State contributed $73 locally. Adam Coo- ver, together with Peter Levergood, George W. Easley,
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Schools
George Beam, and E. A. Vickroy, served as Board of Directors for Public Schools. Robert P. Linton was a teacher, and an ardent advocate of free public schools. Benjamin Benshoof was Assessor at the time, and heartily cooperated with Adam Coover, Collector, and his fellow advocates of public free education in County and Township precincts. The first high school com- mencement was in 1882.
As Johnstown progressed, the organization of the first school district (underway in 1844) was the signal for the start of a rapid growth that was to continue unabated for the next century. Parochial schools were established by Mennonites and Catholics. Most Catho- lic parishes have elementary schools, and in the Eighth Ward there is a Catholic High School to educate students from all over the City.
In 1927 the University of Pittsburgh established a Center in Johnstown, renting space in the high school building. The Johnstown Center later became the Johns- town College of the University of Pittsburgh, with quar- ters located in Moxham. It has been a great boon to the young people of the greater Johnstown area and has encouraged many students to secure a college education.
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22 Music
Music played an important part in the lives of the early settlers. Most of them being German and Welsh, they had an innate love for music. The first organ (a small hand organ) in Cambria County was owned by Jacob Coover, who taught music in Benscreek, in Stutzman School (now a Westmont grade school) and in Ligonier. Mr. Coover, who lived at Millcreek and worked at the furnace there, would place the organ on a sled in winter and on a wagon in summer and take it to the people who gathered to sing. Before the days of the organ, the teacher using a pitch pipe would lead the singing by "lining" the music.
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