USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 21
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Half a mile below the entrance of the Slate Lick, Mud Lick, which rises in Carroll township, flows in a northeasterly course.
The North River Branch of the Beaver Dam run is the last stream of consequence that flows into the run from the west be- fore its junction with the Clearfield creek south of the Clearfield county line.
In Chest township rises a run which Pomeroy sets down as Whitmer's, but which the Geological Survey of 1895 calls South Wilmer run. Its direction is about north northwest into Bec- caria township, Clearfield county, where, after being joined by its north branch, which rises in Chest township, Clearfield coun- ty, it enters Clearfield creek at Irvona.
Going back to Ashville, where we left off the description of the eastern tributaries of the Clearfield, the first branch is Lit- tle Laurel run, which empties a short distance below the town. Next comes Big Laurel run, or Cook run, which rises near Bur- goon's Gap, up which ascended the old Kittanning Path. Then Sandy run, Figart run, Fallen Timber run, Curtis run branch and Muddy run.
Clearfield creek holds a position in the history of the county that but few people fully appreciate. It is for a great part of its length the dividing line between the townships of Dean and Rende on its eastern bank, and Clearfield and White on the west.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Down its stream hundreds of millions of feet of the staple timber of Northern Cambria-the pine-have been floated to market, and along its course may vet be seen the remains of immense dams with wooden sluices where logs and rafts were impounded awaiting the rise of the water at the breaking up of the ice in the spring. An idea of the immense proportions of some of the lords of the forest may be formed when it is known that spars, or masts, one hundred and twenty feet in length and six feet in diameter twelve feet from the larger end have frequently been cut in Northern Cambria. The price of such a piece of timber, when floated to market, used to be $400, but the expense of get- ting it there, if it did not chance to stand near a stream, was so great that the profit was not as much as might be imagined. Now, along this noble stream another industry has developed, and the railroad annually carries thousands of tons of coal to the Eastern markets; and there is no telling what the future has in store for this part of our country, as the earth beneatlı is undoubtedly as rich in mineral resources as the surface for- merly was in forest products.
Bell's Gap run, in Reade township, Beaver run, in Susque- hanna, and others in Reade and Jackson, helped to drain the northern part of Cambria county.
First in prominence in the past, present, and future history of our county is the world-famed Conemaugh, for both in our early days and in more recent years its name is inseparably in- terwoven with the history of Southern Cambria in general and · Johnstown more particularly.
The name Conemaugh is derived from the Indian "Can- na-maugh" or Caugh-naugh-maugh, a more outlandish form of this appellation being "Quin-nim-mough-koong." The mean- ing of the name is Otter creek.
The Conemaugh river proper begins its course at the june- tion of the Stonycreek, the larger, and in the early history of Pennsylvania the more notable, of the two rivers, and the Little Conemaugh a short distance above the historic stone bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad at Johnstown.
The Little C'onemangh rises in Cresson township, this coun- ty, a few miles northeast of Lilly. The waters from the vicinity of Cresson drain into this branch-Laurel run-above Lilly, and at Lilly another branch of about equal size-Bear Rock run -unites with it from the southward. Into these two streams empty the waters from some of the best springs in Pennsylva-
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
nia. These springs-all the far-famed Cresson water-will re- pay the tourist, or the busy toiler for a visit to them. Little the people in the crowded city, accustomed to the use of hydrant water. however pure, know of the delicious draughts that may be quaffed from these crystal fountains, bubbling up from the caverns of the earth in vast volumes from the centers of pools, some of them six or eight feet wide and from two to three feet deep, so cold that you can scarcely bear your hand in them long enough to draw forth a handful of the silver sand that is being continually forced up by the water. Leaving Lilly, the stream receives only a few rivulets from the springs on both sides of its course, shooting thrice through the roadbed of the Pennsyl- vania straight-line, until Benscreek pours down its rapid torrent of abont four miles in length from Portage township and the southern part of Washington township.
On this stream, about two miles above the Benscreek mines, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company has placed an intake and laid a line of pipe to Portage Station, where the engines on the mountain take water, and from which many a train load of the crystal liquid is hauled to Altoona in times of drouth. The headwaters of this stream are about 2,100 feet above sea-level, and the fall is probably one hundred feet to the mile, while some of the springs that drain into the Little Conemaugh are located at an altitude of at least 2,300 feet.
After being swollen to a considerable stream by the waters of Benscreek, the Little Conemaugh turns to the northward under the massive stone bridge of the Pennsylvania straight- . line a few hundred yards below. It winds around through the woods and about half a mile further on receives a small stream -. Noel's run -- from the north side; thence on down to the Old Portage, where it was at first spanned by a stone-arch bridge which gave way in a freshet in 1847. On the abutments on which were erected the second bridge now rests an iron bridge built by the county. Just below empties in Sonman run, aug- mented by a little stream from Portage. Seven hundred yards further down-the stream here running in a southerly direction -- the New Portage crossed the river on an iron bridge on sub- stantial stone abntments. About two hundred yards below this embankment the stream turns in a westerly direction, and a quarter of a mile below was recently turned from its course to make room for the Pennsylvania railroad improvements. This new channel is about half a mile in length and in part
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
of the old course of the river. Trout run, which rises near the Blair county line, near Portage receives the waters of another stream from Summerhill township. Continuing on its westward journey, half a mile farther down is the dam that impounds the water for the Wilmore grist mill, now owned and operated by Sylvester Crum. A mile farther on, and about three hundred yards from Wilmore Station in a northwesterly direction, the North Branch mingles its waters in a stream of nearly equal size, forming a stream at a medium stage of about thirty yards wide.
Here we leave the Little Conemaugh for a time and ascend the North Branch to its headwaters, which we find to be in the vicinity of Ebensburg, one branch rising near the fair grounds, to the north of the town. On this stream is located one of the pumping stations which supply the town with water. One of the other branches rises to the northeast, and the third to the east, and flowing southward, furnish the water-power for Ludwig's woolen mill. About two-thirds of a mile further down is what used to be called Williams' Dam, which was an unsightly ex- panse of water two hundred yards wide and six hundred yards long jotted over with hundred of stumps of forest trees that had been killed by the water and their trunks allowed to fall into the dam. This rubbish was cleared away a few years ago, neat houses were built near the head of the dam, boats were placed thereon, and the tourist or summer guest can now take a row on Lake Rowena.
On the eastern bank of this resort, hidden by the dense foliage of small hemlock trees that fringe its border, is a cool spring, the temperature of which is said to be 52°. Ludwig's grist mill is run by water from this dam except when the water is low. when steam is used. A short distance below this, from the westward, enters a little stream that rises near Maple Park and flows past the Ebensburg steam tannery. Into this run the liquor from the vats is emptied, and when this is done the water in the north branch assumes an inky hue for the entire length of that stream.
It is then augmented by the waters of Roaring run-some- times called MeCarthy's run-formed of three branches, one rising near old Pensacola, in the southern portion of Cambria township, near New Germany, with a central stream shorter than the others, flowing in the general direction of the run, which is to the northeast, and continues its course in a general
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
direction until it reaches the mill dam of Samuel O'Hara, in Munster township, receiving on its way Sanders' run from the north and in the dam a creek whose headwaters are in the vicin- ities of Kaylor Station and Munster. This stream is marked on Caldwell's map as "the North Branch of the Conemaugh," but it is not. The East Fork of the North Branch would be a more appropriate name.
Below O'Hara's Dam a new iron bridge has been erected by county aid-the first on the stream. Spanned by another iron bridge, which probably is of use to fewer people than any other bridge of its class in the county, it enters Summerhill township, a large part of the water of which is drained into it through Settlemyer's run. Less than one hundred feet from the con- fluence of these streams is a famous artesian well, drilled to a depth of 62S feet by Phillip Collins, of Ebensburg, while pros- pecting for oil in 1865. From a depth of ninety feet through a bore hole five inches in diameter has ever since been flowing a stream of water forced up from the subterranean channel of a stream thirty-two inches in depth. The water is slightly im- pregnated with sulphur, but is palatable to drink. The capacity of this well has been estimated at 60,000 gallons per day. Less than a mile from the oil-well spring the North Branch, which has in the meantime received but one small tributary from the westward, is crossed by an iron bridge, a span of one hundred feet, on the road from Wilmore to Ebensburg. One end of this structure is in Summerhill township and the other in Wilmore borough, the center of the stream forming the line between the township and borough for about a quarter of a mile to another iron bridge that crosses on the line of the Old Portage railroad on abutments built in 1847 to sustain the railroad bridge that took the place of the stone bridge that, like the bridge near Portage, was undermined by the flood of that year. Here the stream turns to the southward, and about one hundred rods fur- ther on unites with the Little Conemaugh. An idea of the volume of this stream may be formed when it is known that on the memorable 31st of May, 1889, the water at the junction of these streams extended from the embankment of the Pennsylva- nia railroad to that of the-Old Portage, a distance of about five hundred yards, about three feet higher than the highest previous high-water mark.
Resuming the description of the Little Conemaugh: That stream now flows for a distance of about one hundred rods in
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
a direction south by west, where it receives a considerable ac- cession from waters of the central and western part of Summer- hill township, south of Wilmore, turning its course it continues into Croyle township, where it is crossed by the stone bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad, prior to the late improvements between Lilly and Portage, designated as Little Conemaugh bridge No. 1, about one hundred yards east of the Deep Cut. Bending again to the west in a compound curve in the shape of an inverted S, abont a mile in length, it is crossed below the Deep Cut by Bridge No. 2, and about three hundred yards east of Summerhill Station by the three-span stone bridge desig- nated No. 3. From this point the river makes a regular curve to a point about half a mile west of Summerhill Station, where it is crossed by Bridge No. 4. Nearly midway on this bend is located the dam that furnishes the water power for the grist mill of D. A. Sipe, formerly the Thomas Croyle mill site, where he built a grist mill in 1801. This is the most powerful water- power as yet utilized in Cambria county. Into this dam flow the waters of Laurel run, a stream which rises in the north- western part of Summerhill township and flows into Croyle township, where it receives the waters of a branch flowing from New Germany, and rushes down through Summerhill borough, a rapid mountain stream, to its junction with the Little Cone- mangh.
This bend in the river is crossed by two iron bridges- one above Sipe's mill on the township road leading to Sonthern Croyle and the other below, on the road to South Fork. From Bridge No. 4 the bend continues a short distance, when, curv- ing slightly to the left, the river makes a bend of half a mile, and then several shorter curves, receiving a large run from the vicinity of Webster Mines, after which it once more approaches the Pennsylvania railroad at Ehrenfeld Station, from which point it continues southwest to its junction with the South Fork a short distance below which it is crossed by the Pennsylvania railroad on a substantial stone bridge known as Bridge No. 5 ..
Leaving the Little Conemaugh once more, we commence the description of a branch, the name of which is inseparably associated with the history of Johnstown-the historic South Fork.
The South Fork of the Little Conemaugh rises near the line between Bedford and Cambria and is the boundary between the townships of Croyle and Summerhill on the north and Vol. 1-15
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Adams on the southi. Its entire length approximates ten miles. Its waters before the opening of the mines along its branches were as clear as crystal, which even a heavy rainfall on its headwaters scarcely clouded, as lit- tle land was then cleared in those localities, the water draining principally from a mat of roots and stones and herbage. In these pellucid streams innumerable game fish-especially trout, some of them of prodigious size-were found. Indeed it is doubtful if any other stream of equal size in Pennsylvania has produced so many millions of speckled beauties as the South Fork and its branches.
The first tributary of this stream is Beaver Dam run, which rises in Bedford county and flows westward through Summerhill township to its junction, at a point where both are about two miles in length. From the south, Rachel's run flows from the Somerset county line. It is much longer than the South Fork to their confluence, and is undoubtedly the parent stream. Some two miles further down, on the same side, Otter Creek, enlarged by the influx of Yellow run, pours in its wa- ters; and a half mile farther on, on the north bank, Cedar Swamp run, which rises about four miles eastward in Summer- hill, flows in through Croyle township. At the junction of these streams, a short distance below the present town of Lovett, is the head water-line of the old reservoir, a half mile farther down which the North Lick run entered, and on the south a larger run, not far from the breast of the dam.
About a quarter of a mile above Sandy run is the site of the reservoir which will ever occupy a conspicuous place in the history of the Conemaugh valley. In 1835, Sylvester Welch, engineer of the Old Portage road, suggested to the legislature the propriety of building a reservoir for impounding water sufficient to supply the canal from Johnstown to Allegheny, the previous sources of supply from the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh, with what additional water was collected lower down, being inadequate to the demand. During the administra- tion of Governor Ritner, which was one of retrenchment, little outlay was made for public works; but in 1838 David R. Porter was elected by the Democrats, or Masonic party, on a platform favoring the completion of these works. However, little was done until in about 1841, when the work was put under head- way.
The dam was an embankment of clay, gravel, and stone,
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
about three hundred feet through at the bottom, sloping to the top, about seventy feet high, at an angle on the upper slope, which was counter-scarped with a stone slope wall, of about 35' and on the lower, which was rip-rapped with boulders, at an incline of 45 . The width on top was about twenty-five feet. Through the middle was a puddle wall about twenty-five feet in thickness. On the north side through a spur of the hill was cut the spillway, about seventy feet in width. Through the em- bankment at the bottom was a stone arched culvert, in which were laid five water pipes, about thirty inches in diameter, and connecting with the valve-house above, where the water needed was let in by means of a wicket operated from a room in a frame derrick, which extended up above the water in the reser- voir, which, when full, formed a large lake-about eight hun- dren feet wide at the breast, about a mile in the widest part, and two and nine-tenth miles in length, with an average depth of twenty-five feet. In 1847 this dam, not yet finished was badly damaged by a freshet, and was subsequently completed; but in 1862 the stone arch gave way, by reason of a leak in the dam, and a huge break which incapacitated the dam for further use was the result. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting club of Pittsburg, rebuilt the dam in 1880, which broke on May 31, 1889, as elsewhere noted.
Below Sandy run, the South Fork unites with the Little Conemaugh below the railroad bridge at South Fork.
As illustrative of the rapid growth of our mountain neigh- bor, it is only necessary to state that on Pomeroy's map of Cambria county, published in 1867, the name South Fork does not appear, except as the name of a branch of the Little Cone- maugh.
From the junction of the South Fork the Little Conemaugh continues its course in a gentle bend, for about a mile and a quarter, where it strikes the high bluff known as the "Hog- back." Around this it winds in a great bend, about a mile and three-quarters in length, at the middle of which Bear Run en- ters from the south, to the viaduct over that stream, a point less than two hundred feet from where it strikes the bluff before mentioned. Through the bluff in its narrowest part is Hog- back Cut, through which the Old and New Portage railroad ran and which is now occupied by the tracks of the Pennsyl- vania railroad.
From the viaduct the river assumes a northwest direction
228
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
for about a mile and a quarter, receiving the waters of the formerly-famous Sulphur Spring from the south, to Mineral Point, where the waters of Salt Lick run flow in from Jackson township. through East Taylor. It is crossed by No. 6 Bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad, near the foot of Plane No. 1 of the Old Portage railroad. At the head of this plane may yet be seen the first tunnel pierced through a hill for the use of a railroad on this continent.
Between this point and Conemaugh in many places are still visible, on the southern bank, the remnants of the slope wall that protected the fill of the Old Portage roadbed from the ravages of the river.
From No. 6 Bridge the course of the river is for a short distance in a southerly direction to the junction of Clapboard run, which, rising in Richland township, flows through Cone- maugh township, uniting its waters with those of the Little Conemaugh at the upper end of Franklin borough. From this point the course is southwesterly to Peggy's run, just above the Ninth ward, there commencing a right curve opposite the Elev- enth ward, and then another long gentle curve, more to the westward, down to a couple of hundred yards below the Lincoln bridge, where another bend to the northwest reaches to The Point-the original course as marked on Pomeroy's map being west of north.
The following figures taken from a profile of the Old Por- tage by Antes Snyder, civil engineer of the Pennsylvania rail- road, will give a pretty correct idea of the various elevations of different points on the Little Conemaugh and the South Fork Branch :
Feet.
Elevation head of Plane No. 6-highest point on Old Portage 2,341
Elevation foot of Plane No. 4, on a level with
Bear Rock run, Lilly 1,906
Elevation foot of Plane No. 3-near mouth of Benscreek 1,756
Elevation foot of Plane No. 2-Little Cone- maugh, near Portage 1,613
Elevation at Wilmore 1,573
Elevation at Summerhill 1.536
Elevation. basin of reservoir 1,546
Elevation of ordinary water in reservoir 1,615
Elevation of water when dam broke
1,618.4
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Feet.
Elevation of channel of Little Conemaugh-
after the Flood-at South Fork. 1,464
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at viaduct. 1,385
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at Mineral Point 1,365
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at No. 6 Bridge. 1,265
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at Conemaugh .. 1,147
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at Johnstown Station 1,154
Elevation of Little Conemaugh at Stone Bridge. 1,147
Flood line at Stone Bridge. 1,179
Miles.
Length of river from reservoir to Conemaugh. . 13.9
Length of river from reservoir to Johnstown Station 16.3
Length of river from reservoir to Stone Bridge 16.6
Sq. Miles.
Area of territory drained by reservoir 32
THE STONYCREEK AND ITS BRANCHES.
This noble stream, which from the extent of its drainage area, about two-thirds the size of Cambria county, and its size, should have been denominated a river, probably owes its present appellation to the rendering into English in Colonial times of its Indian name-"Sinne-hanne," or "Achsin-hanne,"- "hanne" meaning "stream," especially a swift mountain stream. Had the noble red men dignified it with "Sinne sipu" we would now doubtless be calling it "Stony River."
A neatly-walled spring on the lot of Mr. Samuel Heffley, in Berlin, Somerset county, is the accredited source of Stonycreek. About a quarter of a mile westward another rivulet rises, the two streams flowing in a northeasterly direction for about three- fourths of a mile, where the first bends to the left and the second to the right and unite in one stream, which runs in a course nearly north northeast for about three miles, and then, deflecting gently to the northward, receives from the east the united waters of Buttermilk run, formed by the union of three rivulets, one of which rises close to Berlin. The second is formed by the mingling of the waters of two rivulets which rise, as do the others, in Brothersvalley township. After uniting, the augmented stream flows into Stonycreek township in a direction almost due north, where it receives from the east a large run
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
formed by the junction of two rivulets that rise near the crest of the Allegheny mountain.
The first confluent of note of the Stonyereek from the west rises in the northwestern part of Brothersvalley township, and receiving the waters of runs from both north and south, enters Stonycreek township and unites with the Stonycreek, which here makes a long, gentle curve of about three miles in length to Shanksville.
From Berlin to Shanksville, a distance of about ten miles, the broad valley is so gently undulating that the fall is said to be only about twenty-seven feet from the source of the creek to the breast of Speicher's dam at Shanksville. Many fine farms, with large and substantial buildings, are to be seen in all directions.
At Shanksville is located the grist mill and sawmill first built by Jacob Shank about three-quarters of a century ago. The old-fashioned burrs are still in use in the grist mill, while there is now not a great deal of use for the sawmill.
At Shanksville, the volume of Stonycreek is greatly in- creased by the accession of Calendar run, of which Rhodes' creek is a tributary. Calendar run rises in the northern part of Stonyereek township, near Buckstown, and is augmented by the waters of Clear run.
On Rhodes' creek is situated the sawmill of Josiah Walker, at which a considerable quantity of lumber is still cut.
At Shanksville, the valley of the Stonycreek suddenly be- comes rugged, and high hills loom up on the western bank. The course of the stream from this place to a stream called by some of the people of the vicinity Foos creek is a curve, the general direction of which is northwesterly.
Further down the stream Wells' creek, rising in Somerset township, not far from Geiger's Station, on the Somerset & Cambria railroad, finally merges its waters with those of the Stonycreek at Mostoller Station. Its valley affords a route for the Somerset & Cambria Railroad, which below this point follows the valley of the Stonycreek. Here is located the new- process flouring mill of E. G. Mostoller.
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