The Austin Dam was built in 1909 to harness water from Freeman Run to power Paper Mill, the town's largest industry. Although many citizens of Austin who worked at the mill were grateful for their jobs, others questioned the dam's stability and worried about what would happen if it ever broke. On September 30, 1911, poor construction combined with torrential rain caused the dam to collapse. More than 400 million gallons of water were released, destroying everything in its path for eight miles, and at least seventy-eight people died. The disaster was the second worst flood disaster in Pennsylvania's history and the sixth worst dam failure in U.S. history. The remains of the dam still stand a century later, and the Austin Dam was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1987.