Out on a Rowboat on Lake Conemaugh

1879-1889

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Title
Out on a Rowboat on Lake Conemaugh
Date
1879-1889
Identifier
20180123-hpicjaha-0004
Description
A man rows a rowboat on Lake Conemaugh. The triangular structures in the water beside him are floating timbers, studded with nails or iron spikes, which were meant to keep the expensive fish that were stocked in the artificial lake from escaping down the spillway of the South Fork Dam. Just downstream of these logs, at the water's edge, an elevated screen of iron wire netting had been put into place, extending eighteen inches above a sill, and a heavier set of screens had been installed between the supports of the bridge which ran over the mouth of the spillway. Unfortunately, these fish screens clogged over time with debris, making it harder for water to escape. The presence of these screens contributed to the failure of the dam on May 31, 1889, the day of the Johnstown Flood, as less water was able to safely evacuate the reservoir as would have otherwise been the case.
Type
still image
Genre
photographs
Subject
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club (Johnstown, Pa.)
Men
Rowing
Boats and boating
Reservoirs
Geographic Subjects
Johnstown (Cambria County, Pa.)
Source
Ms. Virginia Cooper's Photography of Lake Conemaugh
Contributor
Johnstown Area Heritage Association
Collection
Louis Semple Clarke Collection
Rights Information
No Copyright - United States. The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/