Erie's History and Memorabilia

In 1954, Erie’s Mayor, Thomas Flatley, was arrested — alongside several people in his administration, top brass at the police station, and members of the city’s crime syndicate — on charges of corruption, abuse of power, and illegal gambling, to which he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and violating his oath of office, leaving him to resign facing jail time and fines. Thomas W. Flatley, born September 5, 1890, in San Francisco, California, was the Democrat Mayor of Erie from 1952 to 1954. Arrested in October of 1954 and charged with taking part in a gambling racket, Flatley admitted to receiving payments and pleaded guilty; sentenced, on December 15, to one to two years in jail, and fined $1,000. Mayor Flatley’s downfall followed a Republican-inspired investigation of gambling in the city, involving the bribery of officials and employees of the City of Erie connected with gambling or the operation of the numbers racket in the city. The inquiry resulted in indi...

Louis J. Tullio, Born May 17, 1916, a Democrat, was the Mayor of Erie for eight terms from 1966 until 1989. He was the first Italian-American elected to this position. Tullio had a childhood goal of becoming Mayor of Erie. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, on a football scholarship, and received a master's degree in education from Boston University. After serving in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II, he opened a restaurant in Erie and became a high school teacher and football coach. He lost the 1965 Democratic primary for mayor to Mike Cannavino, who died 11 days before the general election. This allowed Tullio to replace Cannavino on the ballot and defeat Republican incumbent Charles Williamson. Although his victory was partly by chance he went on to become an Erie legend. As mayor, Tullio was credited with helping slowing, but not stopping, Erie's decline as a manufacturing town and preserving it as...