The Johnstown Food museum is located in the old library which was one of the first of more than 2,500 Carnegie libraries in the world today. The original library was destroyed in the 1889 flood and was rebuilt on the same spot. Its official opening was in 1892 and it served the community as a library until it became our tribute to the flood victims and heroes. A 26 minute film that won an Academy Award for best documentary (short subject) is shown every hour and a half in a specially-designed theater.
Some of the museums permanent exhibits are in an “Oklahoma house” which was the style building erected to shelter people who were left homeless by the flood and a multimedia relief map illustrating the path of the flood down the Conemaugh Valley. Light and sound effects illustrate the flood's timeline, from the time the rains began to threaten the dam until the waters began to subside.
Some of the museums permanent exhibits are in an “Oklahoma house” which was the style building erected to shelter people who were left homeless by the flood and a multimedia relief map illustrating the path of the flood down the Conemaugh Valley. Light and sound effects illustrate the flood's timeline, from the time the rains began to threaten the dam until the waters began to subside.