The Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood

From Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson

May 31, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the Johnstown Flood of 1889 and the failure of accountability for the wealthy members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

May 30, 2026 The members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were wealthy and influential, The Club took control of a Pennsylvania reservoir created by damming a river, and enjoyed it for sport, but it had no drainage system, Perched high above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a factory town, members of the club gave little thought to the people living there, On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed in a torrential storm, 2,208 people died in the Johnstown Flood, the largest loss of civilian lives in the US to that time, The survivors who hoped to hold the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club accountable were disappointed, The four lawsuits that were launched against the club failed. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson This is a public episode. If…

People in this episode

Host: Heather Cox Richardson

Topics covered

  • disaster
  • accountability
  • history
  • civilian casualties
  • infrastructure failure

Keywords

  • Johnstown Flood
  • South Fork Dam
  • 1889 disaster
  • civilian deaths
  • infrastructure
  • lawsuits

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club

Places: Pennsylvania, Johnstown

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