Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

Page 25 text:

lW THE SPECTATOR The Head Ok Plane No. 6, Old Portage Railroad Tho hoad of this plane was at the top of the mountain east of Cresson. From Johnstown on the west to the top of the mountain there were live planes and six levels: from the top of the mountain to Hollldaysburjr there were five planes and five levels boats were moored and freight was transferred is the site of buildings of the Gautier Department of Bethlehem Steel Company. We think of transportation in the terms of the railroad and the automobile. It is true that the railroad offers speed, efficiency and luxury, but it does not inspire the traveler with a spirit of comradeship. The passengers on the train have neither the time nor the opportunity to mingle in the leisurely fashion that was part of the charm of travel on the canal described as, “A placid, even stream whose traffic ran quietly, softly, lazily.” [21]

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I .-----— r» --- f |U ItU. ... , 1 THE SPECTATOR •Ulcghmy Portage St ail Road ' The Commonwe th of Pennsylvania TO £ fo2 r. JDK 1889. ✓ r For «Service»] rcnd cd ns fmmStf . aZjtlr bt-C to J tsSO, (bolli (lays inclusive)— 2 days at 8 per diem. | o2S l. Dolls. Cents. 0-- • V C ; ’ Received, yA— 1S39, from JOHN SJfCDGs ASS Superintendent ot Motive Power on :lic Allegheny and Portage rail vtny,©£ -«r et - c e ' ° ars cents, in full of the above bill. A Bill For Services Rendered the 1‘orthRe Rnilroad by John V. Geary, afterwards «inertior of Pennsylvania In the early years of the canal the locks were in the care of keepers. These keepers usually had lodges by the locks. These lodges became the meeting places of the people of the surrounding community, and were often the scenes of corn husking and apple butter making. The lodge was a good place of refuge from storms. A stranger was always welcome, for to the keepers, strangers meant new tales and in- teresting adventures. But soon after the Pennsylvania Railroad Company bought the canal the lock keepers were removed. As the canal ceased to be profitable, the railroad drew more and more of the business and the canal was discontinued about 1863. During the time the canal was in operation, Johnstown, because of its position at the beginning of the portage, was the scene of great activity. Besides the transfer of goods from canal to railroad, or vice versa, the boats carried pig iron, coal and some manufactured goods from the growing city westward, and brought back mer- chandise and building materials. The wharf was the meeting place of passengers and townspeople awaiting the incoming and outgoing boats and trains. There were often from twenty to forty boats in the basin at one time. Today all traces of the route of the canal through the city have disappeared and the great basin where the [20]

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 7HE SPECTATOR ,. . INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT Frances Witt At the time when Joseph Johns received a charter for Conemaugh Old Town, tfie only profitable industry, outside of actual farming, was the building of .flat boats, and the operation of the same when the water was of sufficient volume in the streams. These boats were used mainly to transport iron to Pittsburgh. Many warehouses were built along the north side of the Stonycreek for receiving and sending out goods. One of the most important warehouse owners was Isaac Proc- tor, who also owned a store on the corner of Main and Franklin streets. It is interesting to note from Mr. Proctor’s account books the prices of some of the most important commodities. According to his accounts, coffee, pepper and ginger sold for fifty cents per pound, and salt for five dollars per pound. There were only two sawmills in the early history of Johnstown. The one was the Horner Mill, situated on Solomon’s Run, owned and operated by John Horner, who built his mill in the fall of 1797. The other was Jacob Stutzman’s mill on Cheney’s Run and built about 1792. These sawmills were used to make lumber for buildings and boats. About 1810 the first grist mill was built. The construction of the Pennsylvania Canal, finished in 1832 opened an era of prosperity, because Johnstown became one of the most important ports on the canal, second only to Pittsburgh in the western part of the state. The iron industry began during the canal days. As early as 1807 or 1808 Shade Furnace was built. It did not materially help the town, but its establishment Cambria Iron Works, 1871 [22]