May 31, 1889

It was the wrong day for a visit, John R. Day and his daughter Grace in Johnstown, Pennsylvania the day the dam burst. 20 million tons of water ran through the town in 45 minutes. A lot of the debris piled up at the railroad viaduct at the end of town and burned, with the water still running underneath and the towns-people trapped in the wreckage of their houses, or tangled in the miles of barbed wire released when an upstream wire mill was swept away. Or maybe they weren't visiting, maybe they lived in Johnstown before the flood and the surviving family members couldn't stand the thought of living in Pennsylvania anymore, so they moved to Harford County and brought their dead loved ones with them. Who knows? I don't. All I know is that all history really is local, if you know where to look.