South Fork Dam

For the structure in Nevada, see South Fork Dam (Nevada).
A modern view of the South Fork Dam. The large gap overlooked by the two wooden terraces pictured is the breach that caused the Johnstown Flood.

The South Fork Dam was an earthenwork dam forming Lake Conemaugh (formerly Western Reservoir, also known as the Old Reservoir and Three Mile Dam, a misnomer),[1] an artificial body of water near South Fork, Pennsylvania, United States. On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed catastrophically and 20 million tons of water from Lake Conemaugh burst through and raced 14 miles (23 km) downstream, causing the Johnstown Flood.[2]

  1. ^ "Sailboats on the mountain", The Johnstown Flood, by David McCullough; Simon & Schuster; New York, NY, USA; p. 25. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Johnstown" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 475.