Kelly Urban
kurban@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
Marge Rishell has a piece of Johnstown history and she’s ready to sell it.
For the past 20 years, the 8th Ward resident has been holding on to a register from the Cambria Club House, a downtown Johnstown hotel that housed guests of the Cambria Iron Co. The ledger spans from 1882 to 1891.
The hotel, which was located where the Main Street West Parking Garage is today, was built in 1879 and later became the Capital Hotel.
“I bought (the register) at a charity auction at the Community Arts Center and I thought it was a unique find,” Rishell said while leafing through the book. “I think a family probably had it and didn’t know what to do with it so they gave to the auction.”
In an attempt to make some extra money, she has put the 229-page ledger up for sale on eBay with and is asking for a starting bid of $999. She also is including a postcard of the hotel that shows it immediately after the 1889 Flood, before the building was remodeled.
“I’d like to see (the register) in a museum or historical society, so I hope someone in Johns-town will buy it and donate it if they wish,” Rishell said.
Although hesitant to say what she paid for the register, Rishell said that at the same time she also bought three property ledgers containing real estate transactions that belonged to Cambria Iron Co.
The earliest record is from 1807.
“I just like collecting old papers and postcards, and anything dealing with the city and genealogy is interesting to me,” she said.
The hotel entry for May 31, 1889, is marked across the page with the words “FLOOD, FLOOD” in bold blue lettering.
“I don’t know where the register was kept, but it must have been in a safe or someplace where the water didn’t reach it, because the postcard states the floodwaters reached the third floor,” Rishell said.
Signatures show that the hotel hosted visitors from countries including England, the former Czechoslovakia, Austria, Norway, Belgium, Scotland, China, Japan and Mexico as well as many local, state and U.S. guests.
Richard Burkert, president of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, said the register is a great source to work with because of its research value.
“It sounds pretty good and it would be interesting to extract information from it and see what can be learned,” he said.
“If it does go outside of the area I’d be willing to photocopy it so we can have it accessible to us.”
Burkert said he comes across pieces like the register on occasion and said they are important because they represent local history.
“The Club House was a significant building and a top hotel in Johnstown and attracted people from all over who were coming to visit the steel complex,” he said.
Rishell plans to keep the ledger on eBay through Monday and said she will most likely repost it if there are no bids.
