Lake View Farm

In the early morning hours of May 31, 1889, Colonel Elias J. Unger, president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, noticed that the level of Lake Conemaugh had risen considerably during the night. He made a quick calculation and estimated that the water was rising 4-6 inches per hour. This scene alarmed Unger and around 10:00 a.m. he ordered 10-20 Italian laborers to start digging a spillway on the west end of the dam and to try to heighten the top of the breast. Colonel Unger supervised the group of laborers in a desperate attempt to save the dam. Defeated by the waters, Unger trudged back up the hill to his house and collapsed from exhaustion.

Lake View House

Unger built this farmhouse in the mid-1880s. From here he had a commanding view of the club's lake and dam. Unger managed hotels along the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Seventh Avenue Hotel in Pittsburgh.

The aging Lake View House and property were added to Johnstown Flood National Memorial in 1981 to help preserve the historic scene. The house had been abandoned for more than a decade, but the National Park Service was able to save most of the house and return it to its 1889 appearance. Restoration work was completed in 1989, 100 years after the great flood. The house serves as staff offices and is not open to the public.

Unger Barn

The Visitor Center was built to look like the barn that sat on Colonel Elias Unger's property on the hill above the South Fork Dam. Unger originally owned over 200 acres and operated a working farm and hired people to help with the operation.

The original barn was built sometime in the early to mid 1880s. It was two and a half stories tall and had four windows. The roof was originally constructed with wooden shingles and contained two cupolas. The original barn collapsed in 1975. The National Park Service purchased the property on the hillside in 1981.

The Visitor Center opened on the 100^th anniversary of the Johnstown Flood on May 31, 1989. When viewing the hillside from the remains of the dam, it looks very similar to what it looked like on the day of the flood.

Spring House

The spring house sits next to Unger's farmhouse. It was also known as the summer house. In the photo above, taken in 1889, the original spring house was much larger than it is today. It was two stories and had a central chimney and is estimated to be double the size of the rebuilt spring house. However, there are descriptions of the spring house that describe the structure as it looks today. The first floor and basement were a single room. There was a concrete trough for spring water. The color of the spring house appears to be a light color and may have matched the farm house.

In the mid-1980s, the original spring house was in poor condition. Part of the structure totally collapsed.