FEATURE: Imagine our surprise as we were paging through the Pennsylvania Magazine and came across a four-page spread on the Austin Dam and The Last Rock Show music festival!

The story, by John L. Moore, talks about the music festival and light show at the broken dam, and tells the history behind the dam and its tragic failure in 1911.

The Last Rock Show will be held Aug. 26 to 28, featuring “24 tribute bands paying homage to the music of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s.”

The event wasn’t held last year because of COVID, but in 2019, there were about 1,000 people in attendance.

The article also explained that the dam was built in 1909 to supply water to a downstream paper mill, but it burst two years later, claiming at least 78 lives and causing tremendous damage.

“According to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the dam’s failure triggered the ‘second worst single-dam disaster in Pennsylvania.’” The first is the Johnstown Flood in 1889, according to the article.

The E.O. Austin Home Museum is mentioned, along with its historical exhibits.

“In addition to the Last Rock Show, the park is the site of several other scheduled events this year, including a bluegrass and woodcarvers show in July, a pow-wow in September and a terrifying trail in October,” the article read.

The article is in the July/August issue. We would recommend picking up a copy. It’s a beautiful magazine, with photos from all across Pennsylvania.