Pontoon bridge across Conemaugh river, Johnstown Flood, May 31st, 1889 – Antique Wall Art
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Pontoon bridge across Conemaugh river, Johnstown Flood, May 31st, 1889, preserved in this historic photograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
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Pontoon bridge across Conemaugh river, Johnstown Flood, May 31st, 1889
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A pontoon bridge over the Conemaugh River, photographed soon after the flood of May 31, 1889, shows how quickly Johnstown tried to reconnect its divided neighborhoods. That afternoon the South Fork Dam gave way, sending a wall of water down the valley that killed more than 2,000 people and swept away much of the town's homes and businesses. Floating bridges like this one were improvised to replace crossings destroyed by the flood. The print was made by Histed, a Pittsburgh photographer, and registered for copyright, so it is a commercial record of the aftermath.
| Created / published | c1889. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Genre | Photographic prints 1880-1890. |
| Notes | 17840U U.S. Copyright Office. Photographed and copyright by Histed, Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Subjects | Floods--Pennsylvania--Johnstown--1880-1890. Pontoon bridges--Pennsylvania--Johnstown--1880-1890. Disasters--Pennsylvania--Johnstown--1880-1890. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,229 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-151968 |
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