Erie's History and Memorabilia

The US Brig Niagara , built in Erie during the War of 1812, along with most of the warships that served in the war, was sunk for preservation in Misery Bay, in 1820. Raised in April of 1913, it was reconstructed by local shipbuilder William Paasch for the occasion of the centennial celebration of the Battle of Lake Erie. The reconstructed ship then sat for more than two decades at the foot of State street, until rescued as a Works Progress Administration project by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This second reconstruction effort stalled though in the postwar era, hampered by the lack of funds caused by the after-effects of the Great Depression. Eventually it was finished in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1963. After the celebration the ship sat in a concrete cradle at the foot of State Street, a neglected old naval icon. In the mid-1980s the Flagship Niagara League, with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, begun the task of making Niag...

In September of 1910 the Interstate Board of The Perry’s Victory Centennial Commissioners was organized to create a permanent tribute to Commodore Perry and enable a worthy celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie, and of course do it in grand style. From Milwaukee to Buffalo over a dozen Port cites and ten states planned events and then participated in the Battle of Lake Erie Centennial Celebration. Erie’s participation begun long before the Celebration; without it, there wouldn't have been the fleet of ships that brought Perry to victory. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 Erie was a frontier settlement of a few dozen buildings and about 400 settlers. It was first settled in 1795, shortly after the federal government decided a land dispute between New York, Pennsylvania, and other states over the Erie Triangle — a triangular tract of land that fits roughly over present-day Erie county. The residents were mostly farmers, and merchants and sailors dealing ...

If the U.S. Navy could control the waterways comprising much of the border between the United States and British Canada, then American forces would have ready-made avenues for invasion. Conversely, the lakes and rivers could just as easily serve as invasion corridors for the enemy-vulnerable passageways allowing the British to slash through to the soft underbelly of the United States. Whoever wielded control over the lakes possessed a powerful strategic and tactical advantage. As a result, the northern lakes arena witnessed the hardest and bloodiest fighting of the war. The British, unhindered by the U.S. Navy, used the lakes as transportation routes for troops and supplies during the early months of the war. But the U.S. leadership recognized that warships were needed to form a protective shield along the country's northern and northwestern border, and by late 1812 a furious shipbuilding program had been inaugurated. By the summer of 1813, through new construction...

The US Brig Lawrence’s namesake James Lawrence was born in Burlington, New Jersey, on October 1, 1781. Educated in the field of law, Lawrence chose to enlist in the newly formed U.S. Navy instead, in September 1798. He served as a Midshipman aboard the Ganges and Adams during the undeclared war with France, as a Lieutenant aboard the schooner Enterprise during the War with Tripoli, and was second in command during the expedition to destroy the frigate Philadelphia in the Tripoli Harbor. Later in the Tripolitan War he commanded the Enterprise and a gunboat in battles with the Tripolitans. He subsequently served as First Lieutenant of the frigate John Adams , 1805 commanded Gunboat Number 6 during a voyage across the Atlantic to Italy, and commanded the warships Vixen , Wasp and Argus . Promoted to the rank of Master Commandant in 1810, he took command of the sloop Hornet the following year and sailed her to Europe on a diplomatic mission. Lawrence was still in c...