Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Saturday 10 May 2008

Right on time, Heather was at the hotel ready to take me on a tour of Johnstown. The first thing I wanted to do was to visit the “Inclined Plane” which, according to their promotional material, was built in 1891 in the aftermath of the 1889 flood. They claim it is the World’s Steepest Vehicular Incline and is listed on the National Register of historic places. The other good thing about it is that there’s a restaurant at the top where we were due to meet Jill for lunch. True to form, Jill had caught an accessible bus into the city so she could zap around on her motorized scooter, and was actually at the top when by the time we got there.

There was a breathtaking view out over the hills and valleys, including the Conemaugh River which had been one of the funnels for the three major floods that Johnstown is renowned for. The first one, in 1889, destroyed Johnstown and killed more than 2,000 people. One in three bodies couldn’t be identified and are buried in a local cemetery in an area signed as the “Unknown Plot”. Two more floods followed in 1936 and 1977 but were far less destructive. Anyone buying a house in the valleys of Johnstown is required to take out flood insurance, although it’s surprising that they can even get it under the circumstances. Houses in these areas can be bought for as little as $30-$40,000 USD. Apparently, ‘Johnstownians’ are considered to have high work ethics and resilience as a result of their adverse history. Sound familiar?

The area was largely settled by Eastern Europeans and there are numerous churches for each of there respective religions – mainly orthodox. At the turn of the 20th century, these immigrants made their way to Johnstown to work in the steel industry. There was also coal being mined in the area with 190 million tons of coal being produced between 1890 and 1962. The nearby town of Windber houses the Coal Heritage Center and is also close to the Flight 93 Memorial. This flight was significant in the 9/11 tragedy as the plane destined to be crashed into either the White House or the Capitol building. However, the passengers on the flight managed to gain some kind of control and instead, the highjackers ended up crashing the plane into a field.

We visited the Flood Museum where we viewed a film on the 1889 disaster, and then headed to the Unknown Plot. I had made mention that I hadn’t really seen any shopping centres since we’d been in the USA, so Heather took me to one close by so I could look at all the stuff I didn’t want. Mind you, she ended up buying a bargain-priced top on the last day of a sale, so the trip wasn’t in vain. We then popped in to a supermarket for some pre-prepared food to take back to Jill for dinner and I said my farewell. Heather had been a fabulous tour guide and I learned a lot.

Jill had left us after lunch to meet up with Jan Goodard who had offered to show her around the Heritage Discovery Center. Unfortunately, Jill was a bit anxious about her scooter being low on charge and not having a huge amount of time before getting herself to the bus stop, so they just found a place to chat over coffee and recharge the battery. I’m sure Jill will talk all about it in “Jill’s Jottings”.

On returning to the hotel, our new friends at the John P Murtha Institute had one final 'gift' for us and that was a zero room charge. My contact, Barbara Duryea, explained that it was all part of their 'International Relations and Cultural Exchange'. How fortunate are we?

Some things I was made acutely aware of on my tour were:
- Water everywhere - dripping taps, toilets that flush forever (no dual systems here), and people watering down their driveways and washing cars. It was really hard not cringe at the seeming waste considering our dire circumstances in Melbourne and other parts of Australia.
- The comparative lack of Afro-Americans to other parts of the USA that we have visited.
- No formal fencing around houses. Apparently that sends a message that you don’t like your neighbours. Personally, I believe a little privacy never hurt anyone!
- Lots of American flags in front of houses – supposedly because it was the day before ‘Mother’s Day’. Any excuse for a flag-fly, it seems.
- Speaking of ‘Mother’s Day’, everyone was wishing each other a happy one at every given opportunity. Although we recognise it, being a “Mom” seems to be much bigger business here than in Australia.
- Oh, and don’t refer to your ‘partner’ unless you are in a gay relationship. Mind you, there’s no real substitute unless you use the term ‘significant other’. A bit clumsy, I thought, so why not abbreviate it to ‘SO’. Then you can talk about your ‘SO and SO’. I don’t know, in some instances I guess marriage can simplify things considerably!

Tomorrow we drive back to Pittsburgh for a flight to New York. Start spreading the news . . .