Biohazard Cleanup Near Moxham Johnstown, PA

Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, set in a deep valley where the Little Conemaugh River and Stonycreek River meet to form the Conemaugh River, about 57 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Johnstown was founded in 1800 by Swiss immigrant Joseph Johns - born Joseph Schantz - and grew around the Cambria Iron Company's mills into a major steel town.

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam collapsed above the city and unleashed some 20 million tons of water on Johnstown, killing 2,209 people in one of the deadliest disasters in American history.

Clara Barton arrived days after the 1889 flood to direct relief work in Johnstown, in one of the first major disaster responses of the American Red Cross.

Johnstown's nickname is 'Flood City' - destructive floods struck the city again in 1936 and 1977, long after the catastrophe of 1889.

Built in 1891, the Johnstown Inclined Plane climbs Yoder Hill at a grade of about 72 percent and holds the Guinness World Record as the steepest vehicular funicular in the world.

The inclined plane was designed not just for commuters but as an escape route to high ground, and it carried residents to safety during the floods of 1936 and 1977.

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial preserves the remains of the South Fork Dam, while the Johnstown Flood Museum downtown screens an Academy Award-winning film about the disaster.

Grandview Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in Pennsylvania, holds the remains of 777 victims of the 1889 flood who could never be identified.

Johnstown had 18,411 residents at the 2020 census, down from 20,978 in 2010.