Noteworthy Firsts and Area Business Accomplishments
Sources:
*The People of Cambria County, by Dave Huber, ©2003
**IT Business Canada
The first successful use of the pneumatic process in making U.S. steel was made at the Cambria Iron Works located in Johnstown, PA. William Kelly developed the converter type blast furnace that transformed crude iron into steel creating a better, more efficiently made product.*
The first steel rails rolled on order in the U.S. were manufactured by the Cambria Iron Works, an industry leader in rolling mill technology in 1867.*
The first railroad tunnel built in America was part of the Portage Railroad. The Staple Bend Tunnel is located five miles north of Johnstown.*
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, came to Johnstown and directed relief operations after the Great Flood of 1889. The disaster, in which 2,209 victims perished, was one of the first major tests for the American Red Cross.*
Windber Research Institute serves as the first central data warehouse for storing demographic, molecular and clinical data about breast cancer tissue samples from infected individuals. The Institute hopes to use the information to develop a vaccine to stop the spread or reoccurrence of breast and other forms of cancer. **
Johnstown's Hiram G. Andrews Center is Pennsylvania's largest comprehensive rehabilitation facility for physically-challenged individuals.
Cambria County is the second largest potato producer in the state of Pennsylvania. Potato lovers can join in the annual PotatoFest held in Ebensburg in early October.
The "Gob" cake sandwich patent is owned by Tim Yost of Dutch Maid Bakery, Johnstown. Some folks know of them as "Whoopie Pies."
Johnstown is the site of the Johnstown Inclined Plane, "the steepest vehicular inclined plane in the world," according to the Guinness Book of World Records, (grade 71%).
The Johnstown Local Flood Protection Project became the nation’s second largest flood control of its type. Built and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the concrete-paved channel extends 9.2 miles along Johnstown’s three rivers.
Reilly Coal Mine opened in 1893 in the town of Spangler. That same year, Charles R. Jones opened the Reilly Mine company store, described in the well-known song, "Sixteen Tons," sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Source: Northern Cambria, by Sr. Anne Frances Pulling, 2000.
