Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, 41 mi west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and 70 mi east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County. As of 2008, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 144,319 which makes it one of the top 10 in the state.

History
Johnstown, settled in 1770, is perhaps most famous for its three floods which may have caused the decline in population and the reason to attract newcomers. The "Great Flood" of May 31, 1889 occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles (23 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. Other major floods occurred in 1936 and 1977.

1800s
Johnstown was formally organized as a town in 1800 by the Swiss German immigrant Joseph Johns (né Josef Schantz). The settlement was initially known as Schantzstadt, but was soon anglicized to Johnstown. From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. Johnstown was at the head of the canal's western branch, with canal boats having been transported over the mountains via the Allegheny Portage Railroad and refloated here, to continue the trip by water to Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley. Perhaps the most famous passenger via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842. By 1854, canal transport became redundant with the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which now spanned the state. With the coming of the railroads, the city’s growth did not miss a beat; in fact, the tempo was stepped up. Johnstown became a stop on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was connected with the Baltimore & Ohio. The railroads provided large-scale development of the region’s mineral wealth.

Iron, coal, and steel quickly became central to the town of Johnstown. By 1860, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Through the second half of the 19th century, Johnstown made much of the nation's barbed wire. Johnstown prospered from skyrocketing demand in the western United States for barbed wire. Twenty years after its founding, the Cambria Works was a huge enterprise sprawling over 60 acre in Johnstown and employing 7,000. It owned 40000 acre of valuable mineral lands in a region with a ready supply of iron, coal and limestone.

Floods were almost a yearly event in the valley during the 1880s. On the afternoon of May 30, 1889, following a quiet Memorial Day ceremony and a parade, it began raining in the valley. The next day water filled the streets and rumors began stating that a dam holding an artificial lake in the mountains to the northeast might give way. The dam gave way and an estimated 20 million tons of water began spilling into the winding gorge that led to Johnstown some 14 mi away. The destruction in Johnstown occurred in only about 10 minutes. What had been a thriving steel town with homes, churches, saloons, a library, a railroad station, electric street lights, a roller-skating rink, and two opera houses was buried under mud and debris. At least 2,209 people are known to have perished in the disaster. An infamous site of a major fire during the flood was the old stone Pennsylvania Railroad bridge located where the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh Rivers form the Conemaugh River. The bridge still stands today.

The Johnstown Flood established the American Red Cross as the pre-eminent emergency relief organization in the United States. Founder Clara Barton, then 67, came to Johnstown with 50 doctors and nurses and set up tent hospitals as well as temporary "hotels" for the homeless, and stayed on for five months to coordinate relief efforts.

The mills were back in operation within a month. The Cambria Works grew, and Johnstown became more prosperous than ever. The disaster had not destroyed the community but strengthened it. Later generations would draw on lessons learned in 1889.

1900s
Johnstown was a remarkably prosperous hard-working city during the inter-war years. In the early 20th century, the population reached 75,000 people. Its public transportation was considered one of the best of any small city in the United States. The city's first commercial radio station, WJAC, began broadcasts in 1925. The downtown boasted at least five major department stores, including Glosser Brothers, which in the 1950s gave birth to the Gee Bee chain of department stores. However, the St. Patrick's Day 1936 Flood combined with the gnawing effects of the Great Depression left Johnstown struggling again, but only temporarily. Johnstown’s citizens mobilized to achieve a permanent solution to the flooding problem and wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt pleading for Federal aid. Starting in August 1938, continuing for the next five years, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers gouged widened, deepened, and realigned 9.2 mi of channel in the city, and encased the river banks in concrete and reinforced steel. In a campaign organized by the Chamber of Commerce, thousands of Johnstown’s citizens wrote to friends and relatives across the country hoping to bring new business to the town. Professional hockey would find a home in Johnstown, starting in 1941 with the Johnstown Blue Birds for one season and returning in 1950 with the Johnstown Jets. The Jets later hosted an exhibition game against Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens on November 20, 1951. The memory of floods was virtually purged from the community’s consciousness. Newcomers to the town heard little about the tragic past. Johnstown proclaimed itself "flood-free," a feeling reinforced when Johnstown was virtually the only riverside city in Pennsylvania not to flood during Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

The immediate post-WWII years mark Johnstown's peak as a steel maker and fabricator. At its peak, steel provided Johnstowners with more than 13,000 full-time, well-paying jobs. However, increased domestic and foreign competition, coupled with Johnstown's relative distance from its primary iron ore source in the western Great Lakes, led to a steady decline in profitability. New capital investment waned. Johnstown's mountainous terrain, and the resulting poor layout for the mills' physical plant strung along 11 mi of river bottom lands, compounded the problem.

New regulations ordered by the EPA in the 1970s also hit Johnstown with its aging plant especially hard. A community with a lesser tradition might have reacted with despair. Instead, with encouragement from the steel company, the city fathers organized an association called Johnstown Area Regional Industries (JARI) and, within a year, raised $3 million for industrial development in the area. Bethlehem Steel, which was the major contributor to the fund, committed itself to bringing new steelmaking technologies to Johnstown because they were impressed by the city’s own efforts to diversify.

Extensive damage from the 1977 flood was heavy and there was talk of the company pulling out. Again, the city won a reprieve from the company’s top management, which had always regarded the Johnstown works with special affection because of its history and reputation. As the increasing amount of federal environmental regulations became more difficult to comply with and the issues with the aging manufacturing facilities, in 1982, steel companies began closing down plants all over the country, it looked as if Johnstown had exhausted its appeals. By the early 1990s, Johnstown abandoned most of its steel production, although some limited fabrication work continues.

2000s
In 2003, U.S. Census data showed that Johnstown was the least likely city in the United States to attract newcomers; however, what were previously relatively weak opportunities provided by the local manufacturing and service economies have more recently begun to burgeon, attracting outsiders. Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica, a Spanish wind energy company, opened its first U.S. wind turbine blade manufacturing facility near here in 2006. Several state-of-the-art operational wind turbines are sited on Babcock Ridge, the "eastern continental divide," along the eastern edge of Cambria and Somerset Counties. Lockheed Martin relocated a facility from Greenville, SC to Johnstown in 2008.

Companies like Concurrent Technologies Corporation, DRS Laurel Technologies, ITSI Biosciences, Kongsberg Defense and more throughout the region are embracing cutting edge technology and scientific progress to create products that make life easier, better and greener. Recent construction in the surrounding region, the downtown, and adjacent Kernville neighborhood—including a new 100000 sqft Regional Technology Complex that will house a division of Northrop Grumman, among other tenants—signal the increasing dependence of Johnstown's economy on the U.S. government's defense budget. The high-tech defense industry is now the main non-health-care staple of the Johnstown economy, with the region pulling in well over $100M annually in Federal government contracts, punctuated by one of the premier defense trade shows in the U.S., the annual Showcase For Commerce.

Johnstown remains a regional medical, educational, cultural, and communications center. As in many other locales, health care provides a significant percentage of the employment opportunities in the city. The region is located right in the middle of the “Health Belt”, an area stretching from the Midwest to New England and down the East Coast that has had massive growth in the health care industry. Incredible progress is being made at Memorial Medical Center and Windber Medical Center, especially at the Laurel Highlands Neuro-Rehabilitation Center and the John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute, with its advances in treating wounded veterans, and the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center’s focus on early diagnosis and advanced treatment.

The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Pennsylvania Highlands Community College both attract thousands of students to their contiguous modern campuses in Richland, five miles (8 km) east of Johnstown. Cambria-Rowe Business College, located in the Moxham section of Johnstown, offers concentrated career training and has continuously served Johnstown since 1891. The Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, a concert/theatrical venue at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, continues to attract high-quality performers. The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the recently-formed Johnstown Symphony Chamber Players provide classical music. The Pasquerilla Convention Center was recently constructed downtown, adjacent to the historic Cambria County War Memorial Arena at 326 Napoleon Street. Point Stadium, a baseball park where Babe Ruth once played, was razed and rebuilt. A recently-passed zoning ordinance created an artist zone and a traditional neighborhood zone to encourage both artistic endeavors and the old-fashioned "Mom and Pop" enterprises that had difficulty thriving under the previous code. The Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center offers many exhibitions, events, performances, and classes that celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Area. The Johnstown Chiefs hockey team managed to provide affordable family entertainment to the region for 22 seasons, the longest period a franchise of the league stayed in one city. The Chiefs were a member team of the ECHL, the premier "AA" hockey league in North America, and played their home games in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. The Chiefs decision to relocate caused a flood of public interest in the sport of hockey. As many as 4 leagues were interested in having a team in the War Memorial. In the end the city landed a deal with another ECHL team the Wheeling Nailers. The CJL Engineering Office Building at 232 Horner Street was awarded a LEED Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) on March 30, 2010. It is the first fully-certified LEED building in Johnstown. The recently-established ART WORKS In Johnstown! houses artist studios in some of the area's architecturally significant but underused industrial buildings. The ART WORKS in Johnstown project is projected to be a Non-Profit LEED-certified green building. The Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center opened in 2001 with the permanent exhibit America: Through Immigrant Eyes, which tells the story of immigration to the area during the Industrial Revolution. In June 2009, the Heritage Discovery Center opened the Johnstown Children's Museum and premiered "The Mystery of Steel," a film detailing the history of steel in Johnstown. The Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center, ART WORKS, and the Heritage Discovery Center are located in the historic Cambria City section of town, which boasts a variety of eastern European ethnic churches and social halls. This neighborhood hosted the National Folk Festival for three years in the early 1990s, which expanded into the Flood City Music Festival. Johnstown also hosts the annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally during the fourth week of June; the event has attracted motorcyclists from across the Northeast to the city of Johnstown since 1998. Well over 200,000 participants enjoyed the 2008 edition of Thunder In The Valley and the event continues to grow in size.

Significant and largely successful efforts have been made to deal with deteriorating housing, brownfields, drug problems, and other issues as population leaves the city limits and concentrates in suburban boroughs and townships. The Johnstown Fire Department has become a leader in developing intercommunication systems among first responders, and is now a national model for ways to avoid the communications problems which faced many first responders during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

2010s
The Ultimate Indoor Football League is a new indoor football league that has formed for the 2011 season. The leagues first team will call Johnstown home as announced by the Tribune Democrat in May 2010. A contest held through the Tribune named the team the Johnstown Generals. As announced on February 23, 2011 by the Tribune Democrat, professional baseball will be returning to the Point Stadium. The ownership of the team is the same as that of the Johnstown Generals. The league is titled the Ultimate Baseball League

Geography
Johnstown is located at °N, °W (40.325174, -78.920954).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km²), of which, 5.8 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (4.11%) is water. The Conemaugh River forms at Johnstown from its tributaries, the Stonycreek River and the Little Conemaugh.

Demographics
As of 2006-2008 Census Bureau Estimates, there were 20,312 people living in Johnstown. The racial makeup of the city was 84.0% White, 11.8% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and2.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.6% of the population.

As of the census of 2000, there were 23,906 people, 11,134 households, and 6,045 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,097.0 people per square mile (1,583.2/km²). There were 12,802 housing units at an average density of 2,194.0 per square mile (847.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.3% White, 10.71% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.59% of the population. 23.8% were of German, 10.0% Italian, 9.2% Irish, 7.7% Polish, 7.2% Slovak and 5.7% American ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 11,134 households of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.87.

The age distribution was 21.3% under 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,595 and the median income for a family was $28,279. Males had a median income of $26,163 versus $19,791 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,236. 24.6% of the population and 18.9% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 37.5% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The unemployment average is reported at 9%, though by some estimations it is upwards of 20%. Most of the jobs center around health care, defense, telemarketing and retail.

Neighborhoods
The City of Johnstown is divided into many neighborhoods, each with its own unique, ethnic feel. These include the Downtown Business District, Kernville, Hornerstown, Roxbury, Old Conemaugh Boro, Prospect, Woodvale, Minersville, Cambria City, Morrellville, Oakhurst, Coopersdale, Walnut Grove, Moxham and the 8th Ward.

Of the suburbs, Westmont Boro, Southmont Boro, Brownstown Boro, Dale Boro, Ferndale Boro, Upper Yoder Twp, and Lower Yoder Twp form the West Hills. Richland, Geistown Boro, Lorain Boro and Stoneycreek Township are in the East Hills. East Conemaugh Boro, Franklin Boro, Daisytown Boro, Conemaugh Township, and West, Middle, and East Taylor Townships lie to the north of the city.

Johnstown in the arts and literature
"The River" (Bruce Springsteen song) mentions the Johnstown Company - "I got a job working construction, for the Johnstown Company, but lately there ain't been no work on account of the economy."

Two major motion pictures have been filmed in Johnstown, taking advantage of the city's atmosphere. The first is 1977's Slap Shot, directed by George Roy Hill and featuring Paul Newman as an aging hockey player/coach. The screenplay by Nancy Dowd was a parody loosely based on the real-life Johnstown Jets hockey team and its North American Hockey League championship in 1976. In the movie, Johnstown was rechristened "Charlestown" and the Jets as the Charlestown Chiefs. The film's premiere engendered some local controversy, as some thought Johnstown was portrayed in a less than flattering light. The name "Charlestown" itself is believed to be a reference to Charles Kunkle, an influential local businessman of the era. Slap Shot has since become the iconic movie about hockey and its foibles. Nancy Dowd would revive the fake town of "Charlestown" in her screenplay for the 1981 punk rock satire Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, but the film itself was shot in Canada.

The second major film was All the Right Moves, a high school football drama set in the fictional town of Ampipe and featuring Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson and Craig T. Nelson. Locations seen in the movie are the old Johnstown High School in Kernville, torn down shortly afterwards; the Carpatho-Russian Citizen's Club in East Conemaugh; the Franklin works of Bethlehem Steel; the Point Stadium; the Johnstown "Cochran" Junior High football practice field and the Johnstown Vo-Tech football locker room.

In 2000, major film Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. It is directed by Stephen Herek. It was shot almost entirely in and around Los Angeles, part of the film takes place in Pittsburgh and several scenes including the opening scene was filmed in Johnstown.

Historian David McCullough wrote what is widely regarded as the city's definitive history, The Johnstown Flood, in 1968. McCullough completed his research with the aid of the remaining flood survivors.

Author C. Coco de Young used her own family history to write about first-generation immigrants living in Johnstown during the Great Depression in her first novel, A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt (2000).

The film "The Johnstown Flood", written and directed by Charles Guggenheim, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject in 1989. The film was commissioned by the Johnstown Flood Museum Association, which later reorganized as the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, and is shown every hour at the Johnstown Flood Museum.

Mystery novel writer K.C. Constantine fictionalized many elements of Johnstown and its culture as "Rocksburg" in his novels, although the nearby city of Greensburg, Pennsylvania also provides some of the lore for Rocksburg.

In 2000, Kathleen Cambor published In Sunlight, In A Beautiful Garden. The novel followed its characters through the events leading up to and including the 1889 flood. Although the protagonists in the novel were fictional, several historical figures, such as Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick and Daniel Morrell were also depicted in the book.

The American death metal band Incantation currently call Johnstown their home.

Author James Patterson had his fictional serial kidnapper, Gary Soneji, from Along Came A Spider stopping at a convenience store on his way through Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Author David Morrell had his fictional character "Eliot" recruit two brothers from an orphanage in Johnstown to train as assassins in Brotherhood of the Rose.

In 1978's haunting film Dawn of the Dead, a character mentions that they are flying over Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and quips that the people are actually entertained by the zombie outbreak. George A. Romero filmed the majority of the zombie movie at the Monroeville Mall, some 50-odd miles away.

In 2007, singer-songwriter Will Hawkins released a song entitled "Johnstown" on his album Ghost Town. The song's protagonist was a reservist returning home from the Iraq War and coming to terms with a life without a limb. The song was inspired by actual reservists from Johnstown whom Hawkins met during a USO sponsored performance at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C.

In addition to international radio play, the song was also featured prominently in John Murtha's 2007 re-election campaign for the seat he held in the House of Representatives for almost 30 years. Hawkins toured extensively raising funds and awareness for the Intrepid Fallen Heros Fund that donated directly to injured soldiers who were left without health benefits.

Education
Colleges Secondary Education
 * University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
 * Pennsylvania Highlands Community College
 * Cambria-Rowe Business College


 * The two schools located in the City of Johnstown are Greater Johnstown High School and Bishop McCort High School.
 * Richland Senior High School, Westmont Hilltop High School, Conemaugh Valley High School, Ferndale Area Senior High School, and Forest Hills High School are high schools located in the Greater Johnstown area.

Libraries
 * The Cambria County Library is located at 248 Main Street, Johnstown PA 15901.
 * The Highland Community Library is located at 330 Schoolhouse Road, Johnstown PA 15904.

Economy
Major employers in the area include:
 * American Red Cross
 * AmeriServ Financial
 * Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
 * Atlantic Broadband
 * Berkshire Hathaway—Penn Machine
 * Concurrent Technologies Corporation
 * Conemaugh Health System
 * Crown American
 * DRS Technologies
 * Galliker's
 * Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica
 * Gautier Steel
 * Höganäs AB
 * Intelligent Security Technologies
 * JWF Industries
 * Johnstown Wire Technologies
 * Kongsberg Gruppen
 * Lockheed Martin
 * Martin-Baker
 * Metropolitan Life
 * National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC)
 * Northrop Grumman
 * Pepsi Bottling Group
 * Thomas Honda of Johnstown
 * Whemco
 * Zamias Services, Inc.

Newspapers and magazines

 * The Tribune-Democrat
 * Johnstown Magazine
 * Our Town Johnstown - "Johnstown's Community Newspaper"
 * MyJohnstownPA.com - "Your link to Everything Johnstown!"
 * Do Johnstown - "A guide to things to do in and around Johnstown, PA"
 * Johnstown Macaroni Kid Calendar of family related activities in Johnstown and the surrounding area

Radio
The Johnstown market is the 191st largest radio market in the country. The following box contains a list of radio stations in the area.

Television
The Johnstown/Altoona/State College market is the 101st largest in the country. The following box contains a list of television stations in the area.

Highways
The main highway connecting Johnstown to the Pennsylvania Turnpike is US 219. In addition, there is also State Route 56, which is an expressway from 219 until Walnut Street. From there, it provides a connection to US 22 to the north of Johnstown, which connects to Pittsburgh and Altoona.

Airport
The local airport is the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport and is served by United Airlines.

Rail
Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak's daily . The city is located on the former mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Norfolk Southern operates (60-80) trains daily on these rails.

Mass transit
CamTran operates the local bus service, and the Johnstown Inclined Plane. Until 1976, local transit service was operated by a private company, Johnstown Traction Company. Streetcars (or "trolleys") operated in Johnstown until 1960, and trolley buses from 1951 until 1967.

Sports
Johnstown has been home to a long succession of minor league hockey franchises dating back to 1940. The most recent manifestation, the Johnstown Chiefs, were named for their Slap Shot counterparts. The team made their ECHL debut in 1988. The team announced in February 2010 that they would be leaving Johnstown for a location in South Carolina. In April 2010 it was announced that the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL would call Johnstown home for 10 games during the regular season and for one of their preseason games. They will be returning once again for the 2011-12 season.

The city also has a rich history in amateur and professional baseball. Since 1944, Johnstown has been known as the host city for the AAABA Baseball Tournament held each summer. Several Major League Baseball players have played on AAABA teams over the years, including Hall-of Famers Al Kaline and Reggie Jackson and current Major League managers Joe Torre and Bruce Bochy. The organization also has its own Hall of Fame instituted in its 50th anniversary year of 1994.

In addition, the city has hosted several incarnations of a Minor League Baseball team, the Johnstown Johnnies, beginning in 1884. The last team to play as the Johnnies, as a part of the Frontier League, left the city in 2002.

Johnstown also hosts the annual Sunnehanna Amateur golf tournament at its Sunnehanna Country Club. The invitational tournament hosts top amateur golfers from around the United States.

Johnstown is home to the Flood City Water Polo team. Established in 2005 by Zachary Puhala, the team takes its name from the history of floods in the area. FCWP is part of the American Water Polo Organization.

Landmarks

 * Cambria Iron Company is a National Historic Landmark located near the downtown area. Johnstown's city seal has an image of this facility.
 * Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center
 * & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center'' - includes several attractions: "America: Through Immigrant Eyes," a permanent exhibit about immigration to the area around the turn of the 20th century; the Johnstown Children's Museum, a 7000 sqft children's museum; and the Iron & Steel Gallery, a 3-story gallery that includes "The Mystery of Steel," a film about the history of steel in Johnstown.


 * Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown is one of Pennsylvania's largest cemeteries: With more than 65,000 interments, Grandview is home to over 47 burial sections and more than 235 acre of land. Grandview also holds the remains of the 777 victims of the 1889 Johnstown Flood who were not able to be identified.


 * Johnstown Flood National Memorial - the National Park Service site that preserves the remains of the South Fork Dam and portions of the Lake Conemaugh bed.
 * Johnstown Flood Museum'' - shows the Academy Award-winning film "The Johnstown Flood" as part of the museum experience.


 * Johnstown Inclined Plane is the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane.
 * Plaza'' (The Crown American Building)


 * Staple Bend Tunnel is the first railroad tunnel constructed in the United States, and a National Historic Landmark.


 * Stone Bridge is a historic railroad bridge over the Conemaugh River.

Notable people
Notable Johnstowners include:
 * Carroll Baker—actress, whose Hollywood movie career spanned five decades.
 * Donald Barlett—journalist and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
 * Frank Benford (1887–1948)—physicist
 * Edward R. Bradley (1859–1946)—racehorse breeder: owner of four Kentucky Derby winners
 * Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881–1946)-composer
 * Charles E. Capehart (1833–1911) Medal of Honor winner
 * Henry Capehart (1825–1895)-Civil War General and Medal of Honor winner
 * D. C. Cooper—heavy metal singer
 * Pat Cummings—professional basketball player, '79 through the late '80s
 * Steve Ditko—American comic book artist and co-creator of Spider-Man
 * Pete Duranko—Notre Dame and Denver Broncos football player
 * Jim Gallagher, Jr.—PGA Tour golfer
 * Count Grog-profesional wrestling manager/promoter
 * Jack Ham—Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker
 * Carlton Haselrig—All- professional offensive guard with Pittsburgh Steelers
 * Artrell Hawkins—professional football player. Former starting Strong Safety for the NFL's New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, and Cincinnati Bengals.
 * Andrew Hawkins—professional football player. Wide Receiver for the NFL's St. Louis Rams and star of Spike TV's "4th and Long"
 * Incantation - Death metal band formed in New York City relocated to Johnstown in the mid-1990s.
 * E. Snapper Ingram, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1927–33
 * Tim Kazurinsky—comedian and actor, of television's Saturday Night Live and the Police Academy movies
 * Natalia Livingston—General Hospital actress
 * Terry McGovern (1880–1918) — Hall of Fame boxer
 * Charles T. Menoher (1862–1930) — World War I general
 * John Murtha (1932–2010)-U.S. Congressman
 * David Noon–composer
 * Michael Novak—author, philosopher, Roman Catholic theologian and United States diplomat. Novak is currently George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. He was the 1994 recipient of the Templeton Prize.
 * Joe O'Donnell (1922–2007) — documentarian, photojournalist and a photographer for the US Information Agency
 * Joe Pass (1929–1994) — jazz guitarist
 * Tara Rehar — environmental scientist and philanthropist
 * Ray Scott (1920–1998) — sportscaster
 * Russell Shorto—acclaimed author of "Island at the Center of the World" and "Descartes Bones"
 * Edward A. Silk (1916–1955)-Medal of Honor winner
 * Geroy Simon—professional football player. Slotback for the CFL's BC Lions. 2006 CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award
 * Mark Singel—Former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, as well as former acting governor from June 14, 1993, to December 13, 1993.
 * Emil Sitka (1914–1998) — actor, whose famous line "Hold hands, you lovebirds!" earned him the moniker as the fourth of the Three Stooges
 * Frank Solich—football coach
 * Michael Strank (1919–1945) — World War II hero and one of the six U.S. Marines pictured in the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo, from Johnstown suburb of Franklin
 * LaRod Stephens-Howling—professional football player. Running Back for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals
 * BIG Brian Subich-World Ranked competitive eater, competed in the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest.
 * John J. Tominac (1922–1998)-Medal of Honor winner
 * Pete Vuckovich—Cy Young Award winning pitcher
 * John Walker—organist
 * Michael Walzer—philosopher and political scientist born in New York but raised in Johnstown.
 * Ian Williams—guitarist and instrumentalist from rock bands, Don Caballero (from 1992–2000) and Battles

Political jurisdictions in the Johnstown MSA
Adams Township | Addison Borough | Addison Township | Allegheny Township | Allegheny Township, Somerset County | Ashville Borough | Barr Township | Benson Borough | Black Township | Blacklick Township | Benson Borough | Brothersvalley Township | Cambria Township | Callimont Borough | Carolltown Borough | Casselman Borough | Central City Borough | Chest Springs Borough | Chest Township | Clearfield Township | Conemaugh Township, Cambria County | Conemaugh Township, Somerset County | Confluence Borough | Croyle Township | Daisytown Borough | Dale Borough | East Carroll Township | East Conemaugh Borough | East Taylor Township | Ebensburg Borough | Ehrenfeld Borough | Elder Township | Elk Lick Township | Fairhope Township | Ferndale Borough | Franklin Borough | Garrett Borough | Geistown Borough | Greenville Township | Hasting Borough | Hooversville Borough | Jenner Township | Indian Lake Borough | Jefferson Township, Somerset County | Jennerstown Borough | Larimer Township | Lincoln Township, Somerset County | Lorain Borough | Lower Turkeyfoot Township | Lower Yoder Township | Meyersdale Borough | Middlecreek Township, Somerset County | Middle Taylor Township | Milford Township, Somerset County | Nanty Glo Borough | New Baltimore Borough | New Centerville Borough | Northampton Township, Somerset County | Northern Cambria | Ogle Township | Paint Borough Paint Township, Somerset County | Patton Borough | Portage Borough | Quemahoning Township | Richland Township | Rockwood Borough | Salisbury Borough | Scalp Level Borough | Seven Springs Borough (partial) | South Fork Borough | Shade Township | Shanksville Borough | Somerset Borough | Somerset Township, Somerset County | Southampton Township, Somerset County | Southmont Borough | Stoneycreek Township, Cambria County | Stonycreek Township, Somerset County | Summerhill Borough | Stoystown Borough | Summerhill Township | Summit Township, Somerset County | Susquehanna Township | Upper Turkeyfoot Township | Upper Yoder Township | Ursina Borough \ Vintondale Borough | Wellersburg Borough | West Carroll Township | West Taylor Township | Westmont Borough | White Township | Wilmore Borough | Windber Borough