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...

The Stone House at 3506 East Lake Road, near Lawrence Parkway, was built by the Crowley family and was believed to have been on the Underground Railroad Circuit. A member of East Erie’s first pioneer families, the Crowley family were very wealthy and owned considerable property and built the stone house as their family homestead. Beautifully manicured, the grounds of the house, at one time, boasted a diverse orchard and lush gardens. Emigrating from Ireland, Thomas Crowley Sr., born in 1789, came to Erie in 1821 or 1822, as did his brother Michael, in 1826. Thomas and his wife Ellen (Ahern) Crowley had several children in Ireland, and several more in Pennsylvania, as late at 1836. The families of these two brothers, Thomas Sr., and Michael, were among the richest landowners in the Erie region through the 1800s. They donated the land and funds to build St. Patrick's Church in the 1830s. In 1827, Michael Crowley, Thomas’ younger brother, bought 399 acres of land ...

The Presque Isle, North Pierhead Lighthouse, also known as the, Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light, is one of the three lighthouses near Erie. The light, situated at the far eastern end of Presque Isle State Park, helps mariners as they traverse the narrow inlet between Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay. Originally constructed as a wooden tower in 1818, that light was swept away by a schooner in 1855, it was powered by whale oil, and had to be constantly attended. When mariners were approaching the channel, many times they had difficulty spotting the pier light until they were right on top of it. To help solve this problem, in 1854, the light was equipped with a new sixth-order Fresnel lens, so that the beacon could be more easily seen. This apparatus had an illuminating arc of 270 degrees, which was a great improvement from the former light. In an inspection report of 1837 it was noted that Erie’s Harbor was served by a lighthouse and a beacon. The lighthouse was the Erie Land Ligh...

Presque Isle Lighthouse is located on the north shore of Presque Isle State Park at Lighthouse Beach in Erie. The construction of the lighthouse began in September of 1872 and was completed in July of 1873. Initially the square brick tower was only 40 feet high so an additional 17 feet were added to the tower in 1896 to enhance the projection of the light from the Fresnel Lens out into the lake. The Presque Isle Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1983, as part of a group listing of lighthouses and light stations operated by the United States Coast Guard on the Great Lakes. Erie Land Lighthouse was the first lighthouse at Erie, also the first American lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It was constructed on a mainland bluff in 1818, not far from the site of Fort Presque Isle. In 1870, plans were begun for a lighthouse on the north shore of the Presque Isle peninsula that would replace Erie Land Lighthouse on the mainland. This new light would be s...

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 fo...

The Younger Brothers' roots go back to 1962, when Paul Yoculan formed The Fabulous Epics. In 1963 The Epics moved to New York City and became the house band at the world-famous Peppermint Lounge. Years later Tom Hanks would call them "The Wonders" and tell their story in his film That Thing You Do. Singer Paul Yoculan and Vinny Frazini formed The Fabulous Epics while living in Erie. The Band performed routinely at the Sons of Italy, which had a club at 621 West 18th Street. After a little over a year the Epics moved to New York, where they quickly won a slot as house band at The Peppermint Lounge. The Peppermint Lounge opened in 1958 at 128 West 45th Street in Manhattan, New York. It had a lengthy mahogany bar running along one side, lots of mirrors and a dance floor at the back, with a capacity of just 178 people. The club had a gay and celebrity clientèle. Celebrities swarmed into the Peppermint Lounge: Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, ...