Erie's History and Memorabilia

Betty Jean Klem of Jamestown, New York had a very unusual experience at Presque Isle State Park on Sunday, July 31, 1966. Her boyfriend's car became stuck in the sand off of Beach 6 where they waited for help till after sunset. "We saw a star move. It got brighter. It would move fast, then dim. You could see it come down. It was metallic, sort of silvery. It landed between two trees. It came straight down. The car vibrated," said Klem in a report published in the Erie Morning News on August 1, 1966. Klem also reported seeing a dark, featureless creature and hearing something walking on the roof of the car. Betty's boyfriend, Douglas Tibbets, of Greenhurst, New York, witnessed the entire episode from the front seat of his car. He related his account to Peninsula Patrolmen Ralph E. Clark and Robert Loeb, Jr. when the officers responded to Tibbets and Klem's call for help. " Air Force Launches Probe of Erie UFO ." ran in the Erie Morning News on August 2. ...

Lewis Earle Sandt is known regionally as a suburb aviator and an aeronautics pioneer, but he did not begin his life with an interest in aviation. Born May 18, 1888, in Brookville, Pennsylvania, Sandt moved to Erie in 1908 with his brother, Walter. The two brothers purchased a storage garage at 609-613 French Street, where they repaired automobiles and motorcycles. Sandt developed an interest in the mechanics of aviation through his work on automobile and motorcycle engines, and his interest in flying led him to attend a flight-training course in Hammondsport, New York, in September 1911. After a difficult start, Sandt’s flying career truly took off . Once receiving six weeks of training from Glenn Curtiss, an aviation pioneer known for having produced and sold the first private aircraft in the United States and instructing Blanche Stuart Scott — the first American female pilot, Sandt purchased his first airplane from the Curtiss factory for $4,500. His first public fl...

Big Band leader Guy Lombardo was in the city on March 20, 1946 to help Father Francis J. Schlindwein to break ground for the new Saint Boniface School that was to be erected at 9363 Wattsburg Road. Father Schlindwein had all sorts of celebrities that came to Erie to help with fund raising and special events, he personally knew many of the celebrities that would come to Erie to aid his efforts. He met Guy Lombardo in New York City in 1943. After the ground-breaking ceremony at the site where St. Boniface school was to be erected, Guy Lombardo had dinner at the Amity Inn located at 1334 West 26th Street with the local dignitaries. The men in the photo (from left to right) are: Erie Mayor Charlie Barber, Father Schlindwein, Guy Lombardo and Joseph Ferraro. Mr. Ferraro owned the Amity Inn. The identity of the woman seated at the table is not known  

Cranberries were quite plentiful at one time on Presque Isle. They were abundant at one spot in particular at the center of the peninsula. Problems though soon arose over cranberry picking. Cranberry Day was the beginning of the open season for cranberry picking on the peninsula. The act passed by the state legislature on March 27 in 1841 declared it to be contrary to the peace and dignity of the commonwealth and subversive of the good order of the community as well as of the great state of Pennsylvania for any person to pick cranberries on the peninsula of Presque Isle between the first of July and the first Tuesday in October of each year, and the first Tuesday of October was therefore a day of great rejoicing and a holiday to the dwellers in Erie: It was Cranberry Day. Anyone violating this law had to pay a fine of 10 to 25 dollars, plus the estimated value of the cranberries that were poached. Half of the money collected was donated to the Erie County Poorhouse. For 25 years it was...

Located at 12th and French Streets, the 12th Street Market opened in 1927 and operated until it was destroyed by fire in 1951. People came from all around the city to shop at the 12th Street Market. They also came in droves to the market’s conflagration, when it was struck by lightning. Eleven fire department companies fought the consuming fire. Twelfth Street was jammed with people, almost from curb to curb, as the many clubs in the area were emptied of their members; and the late movie had just ended at nearby theaters. Daylight brought even more people to the scene. About 15 policemen were on duty keeping thousands of curious people out of the gutted structure. Traffic on 12th Street was in a continual snarl due to motorists who drove by to see the burned-out shell of a building. The Massive East 12th Street Market Fire. An aerial view of the market after the fire. The market after the fire at the corner of 12th and French Streets. The market after the fire at the...

The Market Houses of the past were the near equivalent of a modern Farmer's Market. They served as a market place for local Farmers and Vendors to sell their goods to the general public, as well to local restaurants and businesses. Some were two story structures and their upper floor or floors would be used for public or civic functions — this style of a Market Building was developed in rural England and spread to the colonial territories of Great Britain, including Ireland and New England in America. Erie had several markets houses, all located downtown. The first one built in 1814. They were all easy to get to by the turn-of-the-century, in 1900, by riding the trolley. The trolley spanned throughout all of Erie County and was not only the most important transportation artery for the community but the life’s blood for the market house. The trolleys not only brought shoppers and commercial buyers from throughout the county, but some of the locally produced goods as well. The Fishmo...

In 1897, Jacob Lang and Christian Rabe purchased 13 acres of the Crowley apple orchard on the bank of Lake Erie, on the east side of Four Mile Creek, in the township of Lawrence Park. Here they built the elegant Grove House Park hotel that provided its guests with beautiful views of  the lake, with all the amenities of a first class hotel. Five years later, in 1902, Alfred Lang would inherit the hotel, after it was burnt to the ground. Alfred Lang created Four Mile Creek Amusement Park in 1902. The park was a popular destination, it was the era of temperance and unlike their competitor Waldameer , the park allowed the consumption of alcohol beverages. Their Outdoor theater offered vaudeville and burlesques shows that were performed every afternoon and evening, except for Monday afternoons, and when they were available they would also show moving pictures. The Dance Hall was on the bank of Lake Erie, adjacent to Four Mile Creek, where patrons would enjoy the lake’s br...