The Austin Dam

When we go to camp, we travel a course that we call "The Scenic Route", through State game lands, miles of forest, mountains, and many creeks full of fish. There are camps all over the place, people fishing, sitting by a campfire, playing, doing all the things someone on vacation does. It's a fabulous ride and really gets us psyched for our vacation. One of those roadside Historic Landmark sites we pass is the Austin Dam. It 's located just outside of the town Austin, Pa. (Potter County) on a small stream called Freeman Run. I know sometimes you can blow right on by those landmarks without even reading the sign but this one definitely gets your attention. The terrain is a deep valley bordered by many hills.

 The Austin Dam was built by a paper company to supply water to their mill. The dam was completed in December, 1909. It stood 50 feet high, was more than 550 feet long, held approximately 265 million gallons of water and was 40 feet deep. It was the largest concrete dam in Pennsylvania. The dam failed on September 30, 1911, and 78 people died. It was a terrible tragedy. As a result of this disaster Pennsylvania laws regarding safety standards of building dams were written & Pa. became one of the first states to initialize dam construction safety laws. They now have a Memorial Park on the site with a road that parallels the main highway on the opposite side of the valley which takes you down to the dam ruins. It's very moving standing at the bottom of the dam and thinking of all the lives and homes that were lost.

 Information above regarding the dam was gathered from the Pennsylvania DEP website, a Coudersport based site (Coudy.Com) and the Austin Dam Memorial Association's Newsletter. If you want to read more about the dam check out these pages:

Pa DEP water management / Austin Dam