Johnstown, Pennsylvania

== History == Johnstown was settled by Europeans in 1770.

=== 19th century === Johnstown was formally platted as Conemaugh Old Town in 1800 by the Swiss German immigrant Joseph Johns (born Josef Schantz).

The Johnstown community incorporated as Conemaugh borough January 12, 1831, but was renamed Johnstown on April 14, 1834.

From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal.

Perhaps the most famous passenger who traveled via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842.

By 1854, canal transport became redundant with the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which now spanned the state.

By 1860, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

In addition, the city has hosted several incarnations of a minor-league baseball team, the Johnstown Johnnies, beginning in 1884.

The Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, occurred after the earthen South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles (22.7 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains.

After the successful merger of six surrounding boroughs, Johnstown became a city on April 7, 1890.

Cambria-Rowe Business College, located in the Moxham section of Johnstown, which offered concentrated career training and had continuously served Johnstown since 1891, closed in...

Before 1900, the town of Windber, was a neighborhood of Johnstown, until its incorporation.

Famous Coney Island Hot Dogs – Founded in 1916, this eatery is synonymous with Johnstown culture.

=== 20th century === In 1923, Johnstown Mayor Joseph Cauffiel ordered the expulsion of all African Americans and Mexicans in Johnstown who had lived in Johnstown for less than ...

The city's first commercial radio station, WJAC, began broadcasts in 1925.

Another major flood occurred in 1936.

In August 1938, the U.

== Sports == Johnstown has been home to a long succession of minor league hockey franchises dating back to 1940.

Professional ice hockey found a home in Johnstown, starting in 1941 with the Johnstown Blue Birds for one season.

Since 1944, Johnstown has been the host city for the AAABA Baseball Tournament held each summer.

It returned in 1950 with the Johnstown Jets.

The Jets later hosted an exhibition game against Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens on November 20, 1951.

Streetcars (or "trolleys") operated in Johnstown until 1960, and trolley buses from 1951 until 1967.

Pasquerilla Plaza (the Crown American Building) Peoples Natural Gas Park Point Stadium Silver Drive-In – first opened in 1962.

Johnstown proclaimed itself "flood-free", a feeling reinforced when Johnstown was virtually the only riverside city in Pennsylvania to avoid flooding as a result of Hurricane Ag...

Until 1976, local transit service was operated by a private company, Johnstown Traction Company.

Despite a pledge by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to make the city flood free, and despite subsequent work to do so, another major flood occurred in 1977.

As steel companies began closing down plants all over the country, by 1982 it looked as if Johnstown had exhausted its appeals.

The team made their debut in January 1988 with the All-American Hockey League, joining the league midway through the season.

The organization also has its own Hall of Fame instituted in its 50th anniversary year of 1994.

Johnstown also hosts the annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally during the fourth week of June; the event has attracted motorcyclists from across the Northeast to the cit...

Morawska, Ewa (1999).

The Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center opened in 2001 with the permanent exhibit "America: Through Immigrant Eyes".

The last team to play as the Johnnies, as a part of the Frontier League, left the city in 2002.

=== 21st century === In 2003, U.S.

While other such facilities in the area have closed over the course of years, the Silver survived through public outcry over proposals to close and demolish it, making a comebac...

wind turbine blade manufacturing facility near here in 2006.

Lockheed Martin relocated a facility from Greenville, South Carolina, to Johnstown in 2008.

In June 2009, the Heritage Discovery Center opened the Johnstown Children's Museum and premiered "The Mystery of Steel", a film detailing the history of steel in the region.

=== 2010 census === As of the 2010 census, there were 20,978 people, 9,917 households, and 5,086 families residing in the city.

For the period 2011–2013, the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $23,785, and the median income for a family was $32,221.

A full-time tenant arrived in 2012, when the Johnstown Tomahawks of the junior North American Hockey League began play.

Jeschonek, Robert (2014).

=== 2015 Kraft Hockeyville USA contest === On May 2, 2015, Johnstown was announced as the winner of the 2015 Kraft Hockeyville USA contest and was awarded $150,000 toward impro...

But in 2017 it was reported to be the third-fastest shrinking city in the U.S.

In 2018, Johnstown was ranked 169th among "The Best Small Places For Business And Careers" in the U.S., by Forbes.

WPKD-TV 19, the CW's affiliate in Pittsburgh licensed to Jeannette, began operations in Johnstown and later moved to serve the Pittsburgh area, but would continue to be availabl...

Located 57 miles (92 km) east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Johnstown metropolitan area, which had 133,472 residents in 2020.

The Johnstown Mill Rats, a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League, have played at the Point Stadium since 2021.

== Crime == Per WJAC; in the year 2022, Johnstown has had 12 homicides as of August.

Thunder in the Valley held its last event in 2023, but the inaugural "Rumble Through the Valley" will host its first rally in June 2025.

hdl:2027/nnc1.ar52159507.