Judy D.J. Ellich
Daily American reporter
The giant turn-of-the-century water meter displayed at the Quemahoning Reservoir’s family recreational area is “symbolic of the immense impact that the dam has had in the region,” said James Greco, Cambria Somerset Authority chairman.
The 40-foot-long pipe-like device measured the flow of billions of gallons of water to the Johnstown steel mills for nearly 100 years without a single failure, he said at a dedication ceremony Friday for the Venturi Meter Historic Display and Museum. To produce one ton of steel, it took 271 tons of water.
The museum houses photographs, documents and multimedia displays detailing the construction and history of the dam. Greco called the displays the first generation. Members of the Cambria Somerset Authority, the owners of the Que, hope that visitors will add to the display with more pictures and artifacts.
On Friday more than two dozen county officials and business representatives strolled down the hill from the pavilion where the dedication ceremony had been held. Numerous families were setting up campsites nearby. Adults and children laughed and called to each other as they frolicked in the roped-off water area or soaked up the sun on the small beach.
“On Memorial Day we counted 85 kids at one time in the water at the beach,” Greco said.
Last summer there were 15,000 visitor days, and this year it looks like that number may be surpassed, he said.
Greco called projects like the meter and museum a “critical draw” for visitors to the historic and recreational area.
Greco and Somerset County Commissioner Jim Marker spoke at the dedication, along with John M. McGrath, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, who produced the meter and museum multimedia display.
In the early 1900s the Venturi Meter was used to measure the water flowing to Johnstown’s mills. At that time it was the largest meter built on the East Coast. It was designed to operate with no moving parts, he said. At its greatest diameter, the meter is as tall as the average American woman, or 64 inches.
“There are so many layers of history,” McGrath said of the reservoir.
The six layers begin with the Native Americans, who named the area, which translated means “the lick in the pines,” he said. Other layers include early settlers, steel mills and the building of a water resource for industrial and recreational growth and for increasing the quality of life for local residents with quality drinking water, he said.
“The last layer is probably the most promising because it is open ended,” McGrath said.
Marker agreed, stating that “the best history of this dam lies in the future.”
He said the reservoir will continue to be an economic generator for the area.
The meter and museum cost approximately $40,000, with funding donated by 1st Summit Bank of Johnstown, the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, Cambria Somerset Authority, Summer’s Best 2 Weeks, Somerset Trust Co. and L.R. Kimball, the Ebensburg engineering firm.
The Somerset County Tourism Grant Program also contributed to the financing of the project. Representatives of all the contributors attended the dedication.
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