Ferncliff is located at the foot of Virginia Avenue, at the waterfront, the length of the property ending just east of Lincoln Avenue. According to documents at the Erie County Historical Society, Ferncliff dates back to 1893 and was incorporated as a development in 1903, giving people the right to build cottages on the water. One of the first cottage dwellers was, Charles Loesel, a tinsmith who built his own home out of tin nailed to an oak frame.
The Ferncliff lifestyle wasn't easily accessible in its early years because the only access was a steep wooden staircase off the bluff at the foot of Lincoln Avenue. Everything from building supplies to food had to be carried down the steps, water was derived from a spring that flowed without of the bank.
When the road was built in about the1930s, the stairs went unused, and in the 1960s, were abandoned. Many cottage owners raised their building on poles to prevent flooding during the high water, while others rebuilt on higher foundations to keep the rushing water out. Many of the cottage owners have remodeled their homes into year-round residences.
For many years the land on which the cottages are built was leased from the Erie Port Authority on a year-to-year basis. The future was very uncertain. All that changed in 1999, when the 21 owners agreed to buy the properties on which their buildings stood. The average price was $16,000 to purchase a parcel of the property that occupies 0.8 acres of land, with 350 feet of bay frontage. It was formerly part of the 16-acre public park known as Ravine Park, but is now privately owned.
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| Ferncliff Beach (1903) |
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| Ferncliff Beach (1903) |
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| Ferncliff Beach (1950s) |