USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 93
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But by far the greatest popularity of Massassauga Point was as a place of resort for picnics, and even in the times when the little steam yachts were the only means of transportation incredibly large crowds gathered there for a day's outing. Until there was a change of owner- ship of the property it is probable the largest of all these picnics were those of the Caledonian club, which then flourished. The braw hie- land chiefs in their kilts and feathered bonnets, marching to the shrill cadences of the bag-pipes, and their announcement of Scottish games and characteristic dances, drew immense crowds; so large that they could not all find means of tranportation home again before the "wee sma' hours ayont the twal."
A rival in popularity of the Caledonian club outing was the Har- vest Home of the farmers of Millcreek and near by-and of the farm- ers of the city. From town the people went up by the thousand ; from the country there were perhaps as many more, and the woods above and the space at the foot of the hill below were crowded with the farmers' teams. The country people and their cousins from the city always eagerly anticipated the Harvest Home, and it is a matter of record that during the many years this gathering was observed there never was unfavorable weather, not even to the extent of a fugitive shower. This was declared to be due to the prophetic eye of Frank Willis, who was esteemed as reliable a prognosticator, by the people of these parts, as ever Foster was or Farmer Dunn.
The property that included the Head, or as it was later known, Massassauga Point, was for a long time owned by Thomas Laird and his descendants. In 1879 Hon. William L. Scott, who had bought it, began the work of improving it, and expended a large sum of money in embellishing it and providing accommodations. He constructed a macadam roadway, by which it could be reached from above, built a fine hotel, a dancing pavilion and a substantial boat landing or dock. He also planted a number of elm trees and made an excellent road from the lake road down to the point where the descent to the picnic grounds began. Walks were laid out reaching to the lake beach, and Massassauga Point became one of the handsomest resorts in this por- tion of the state, famed beyond the borders of Erie. In this city it was deservedly popular. The hotel was opened in the summer of 1875 under the management of D. M. Johnson, then landlord of the Reed House, and it was a most attractive and admirably managed hospice. It did not, however, meet the financial expectations of Mr.
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Johnson, who declined to renew his lease, and it was then taken for a three years' term by Will B. Graham. Before his lease expired, how- ever, the hotel was burned to the ground, and then for a season the grounds of Massassagua Point was closed to the public.
Meanwhile the public of Erie, who had acquired the picnic habit, were hard put for a place at which to enjoy the brief summer outings, to which they had been accustomed. Many parties used the fine grove at Big Bend on the peninsula, which was especially in request by churches. So, also-was Crystal Point, another resort on the penin- sula, where Skipper Nesbit located as a squatter and was later suc- ceeded by Jake Geib. During the administration of Geib Crystal Point attained to considerable celebrity, as Geib set an excellent table, and his fish dinners, like those of Jake Graham, years before, were famous. Geib had also made the Lone Fisherman's Inn, on the shore at the Tracy farm, well known for his fish dinners. So, until a new deal could be made at the Head, the people had to be content with what the peninsula afforded.
The general public never knew the consideration that brought about the new order of things at Massassauga Point. There was a new hotel erected by Mr. Scott, but it was greatly inferior to that which had been burned.
The new hotel was built simply as a temporary expedient, for Mr. Scott was undecided as to the permanent location of a handsome hotel. His choice was the higher ground, in the midst of the fine chestnut grove, one of the most sightly spots in the neighborhood of Erie, commanding a magnificent panoramic view of the bay and peninsula and of the lake beyond. His idea was that it would prove especially attractive to the people of Pittsburg and other interior cities, and, obtaining patronage from abroad, which in the course of time, by proper management, would steadily increase in volume, would prove a benefit to the city and a permanency by reason of being a financial success. The people of Erie, however, demanded a hotel on the "point," and all sorts of pressure was brought to bear. Never abandoning what his business judgment had recommended, for the time being he yielded to the demands of the people, who had no other place for an outing, and erected the building that stands on Massas- sanga Point to this day. If Mr. Scott had lived, however, there can be no doubt but that he would have carried out his intention, and that, with a magnificent hotel Massassauga would be better known today than Cambridge Springs, and far more popular. For Mr. Scott's plans were on a splendid scale-he was never content with anything small or half-way, unless, as in the case of the second hotel at the Head, it was merely a make-shift. This enterprise of making Erie a famous summer resort is one of the things of great proportions that failed
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through the death of William L. Scott, and that would have been of vast benefit to the city.
The reopening of Massassauga Point was hailed with delight by everyone in Erie, and from the beginning of the summer season to the end, there was not a day without its crowd in attendance, enjoying the many attractions the place afforded. It was not long before the means of transportation had become ridiculously inadequate, and the year 1880 witnessed a most important new departure. The Knobloch brothers that spring brought out the handsome little steamer Lena Knobloch, and at the same time (only a few days apart), Captain Hunter brought to Erie the trim and swifter steamer Massassauga. Both were new boats, built for Presque Isle bay service at Buffalo. A little later two more boats were added, the Harry G. Barnhurst, owned by Mr. Kelly and his sons, and the Kate White, owned by Captain Thomas White. Both were built by Loomis, of Erie. Together these boats could carry in one trip, nearly 2,000 people, and yet at times there were hundreds who could not get aboard, but were compelled to wait until there should be another arrival. There were numerous instances where the boats did not stop at all. In spite of the protests of the captain and notwithstanding the boat continued in motion seeking a place at which to tie up, the people risked life and limb to climb aboard, and when the boat was turned away from the dock, unable to make a landing, she had more passengers than the law allowed. But what was the captain to do? The people were in a frenzy. The public dock at the foot of State street and for a consid- erable distance each side was fairly packed with people, and a boat load taken from the mass made little or no impression.
Those were the palmy days for steamboating on the bay, and the harbor then presented about as lively an appearance as at any time in its history. There was no lagging. As fast as the boats could move from point to point they did so, and it was none too fast to suit the eager passengers. This condition endured for several seasons, and to this day the captains of that time look back to it as to a golden era.
What wrecked the steamboat business ?
The trolley car. Steamboating was struck by lightning. At first the people were satisfied to ride to the entrance on the lake road and walk from there to the grounds, but in the course of time the energetic railroad company obtained the right to build a branch down to the resort. Utilizing a beautiful little glen, at the mouth of which a trestle was begun that extended to a point near the shore, it was pos- sible to make direct connection with Massassauga Point. Then steam- boating was dead. Some of the vessels were sold and went to other ports. Others were reduced to fishing tugs. The trolley cars are somewhat more expeditious. But yet, one of the greatest charms of a visit to Massassauga Point-the exhilaration of the breeze from the
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lake; the moving panorama of the water and the shore ; the strains of the music, either from boat or shore, always softened by the distance, and tempered by the'surrounding or contiguous woods; the freedom to move about ; the facilities for conversation; the opportunities af- forded for social groupings; the chances for participating in the rivalry of the boats ; the gaiety of the bunting and flags upon festive occasions-all these went with the steamboats.
Massassauga Point is no more. We see the people crowding the cars for Waldameer, and we forget the old-time favorite in our eager- ness to join the merry crowd that is seeking the woods by the shore. And yet it is as the child of yesterday to the place that so long was famous. Massassauga was regretted for a single season. Today, with its caroussel, its vaudeville and its cafe (all French), Waldameer (that's German) has blotted from recollection almost the good old aboriginal name of Massassauga.
Massassauga Point is no more. Stand where we stood that August afternoon in '64 and look about. To the west? There is no view possible now of pond with sedgy border or dunes of sand. An impenetrable thicket of willows and alders shuts off the view. To the north? The growth of reeds and bulrushes and cat-tail flags has cut the prospect in half. To the east? The docks piled high with moun- tains of ore or the intricate structure of hoists and cranes and trestles, with giant ships that ride at anchor or are moored beside the piers, obstruct the range of vision. To the south? The wall of sylvan ver- dure is there with but little change except where the roadway like a railroad cut has made a cruel gap in its shady charm. It is not the scene it was 45 years ago, and its story is all behind it. Even the Red Bank, from which we viewed the picnic party as it passed by, is no longer to be found. Time, and the storms of a generation have trans- formed it into an unsightly ravine, where none would seek to go, or finding themselves there, would expect to behold, even upon a lan- guid August day a scene to induce dolce far niente.
Hard by Massassanga Point, there came into existence at about the same time another resort, depending in a measure for its patronage, as the side show does upon the bigger circus, upon the principal picnic ground, or the crowds attracted there. It was located at the point where a picturesque glen debouched upon the shore of the bay and a plot of level ground of some little area had formed. There a rude building, very similar to the first at the Head, had been erected, and of this "Jake" Geib became the guardian spirit. He named it The Lone Fisherman's Inn. It was a picturesque spot, the rustic inn par- tially buried in the trees, and a rude landing for boats extending out into the water. In the course of time the shrubbery and underbrush that originally covered the ground thickly was cleared off. and a
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good lawn, well shaded, was produced, which was provided with ac- commodations by which it could serve as an open-air banqueting hall. Geib was an excellent caterer. As the manager and director of the Arcade, a restaurant that he established and that became famous in Erie, he acquired fame as a chef, and not less famous was his service at the Lone Fisherman's Inn. Indeed, it was that place of refresh- ment that established his reputation, a reputation that stuck to the place when other chefs arose, succeeding "Jake" at the Lone Fisher- man's. By various terms of succession Jake Graham, Louis Schu- macher, and John Schaffer came to be mine host at the inn. At first the only way by which it could be reached was the water route, and an indifferent sort of a path from the Head. Mr. Schumacher, how- ever, had an excellent road built from the Lake road, winding down the ravine, under the shade of the grand old hemlocks, oaks and chest- nuts to the grounds by the shore, and the popularity of the place was in consequence greatly increased. In January, 1892, however, the establishment was burned. and in the smoke of that conflagration went up the ghost of the Lone Fisherman's Inn.
In the winter succeeding the owner of the property, Mr. D. D. Tracy, erected a far more pretentious hotel of two stories, and greatly improved the grounds, providing the necessary adjuncts to make it a highly attractive resort. It was taken by Max Raedsch in the spring of 1893 and operated successfully until 1895, when it was leased by a German social organization called the Sommerheim Association, and it became a country club. The association had for its officers, Fred- erick Brevillier, president ; P. Henrichs, vice-president ; P. A. Meyer, secretary ; E. C. Siegel, treasurer, and F. Brevillier, Chas. S. Marks, William Reifel, E. C. Siegel, Wm. B. Flickinger, P. A. Meyer and P. Henrichs, governors. Sommerheim was successfully operated by the association for five years.
In 1900, a lease of the property was taken by the Yacht Club, when it became known as Station No. 1, at Tracy Point. The club house was remodeled and refurnished to meet the requirements of yachts- men, and became very popular with the members, and exceedingly useful. Unfortunately the main building was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1901-2. Tracy Point is now the summer, or country, home of Mr. E. G. Germer.
In the year 1887 J. J. Lang and C. Rabe bought a tract of land at the mouth of Four-mile creek. It was an old orchard, planted many years before by Mr. Crowley, and the purpose of the new owners was to establish a new resort for pleasure to the east of the city. It is a beautiful location, fronting upon the open lake and filling the end of a somewhat broad valley, elevated several feet above the level of the lake, but yet considerably lower than the bluffs to the east and west.
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It was taken in the spring and temporary structures were erected, a good road was built, winding along the right bank of the stream down from the Lake road, and a pier or dock was constructed, extend- ing out into the deeper water of the lake. It became immediately popular, and so successful was the first season that in the winter of 1887, a commodious hotel was built. Subsequently, as succeeding seasons proved it to be established in popularity additional buildings were erected to meet the requirements of the patrons, including a little theatre. At first it was reached only by conveyances over the road and, when the weather was favorable, by boat. It is not situated to render the water route at all dependable, fronting on the open lake and on a most dangerous coast-the "iron bound coast" of Lake Erie traditions. This defect was remedied, however, when the Motor Com- pany built a line out to Grove House Park, and the regular trolley car service has ever since proved mutually profitable. In the spring of 1902 the property came into the possession of A. P. Lang, who added many improvements, but on the night of Labor Day, 1902, the hotel was burned to the ground. It has not been rebuilt, but an enlarged casino, a practically new theatre and other betterments have ensured its popularity as a place of resort.
The real park spirit did not take possession of the people of Erie, or any portion of the community, until the summer of 1891. It is true that in the laying out of the town of Erie certain areas were set apart for public grounds and these obtained, in time, the name of parks; but though they developed into the semblance of parks, with trees, lawns, walks and shrubbery, they are mere breathing places; not fitted for recreation; and while they are decided municipal em- bellishments they are not at all calculated to meet the requirements of real parks. There was also an effort made by councils to supply the need of parks by devoting Front street to that purpose, and plant- ing the slope with trees and lawns, and shrubbery, and considerable progress has been made both by the city and the Commissioners of Water Works toward making a park of Front street. And there was an ordinance passed in 1873 authorizing the acquisition of sixty acres of land east of the city between the Lake road and the railroad for park purposes-a proposition was made by Charles M. Reed at about that time to donate a park to the city. But, as has been stated there was no definite movement made toward actually acquiring park land until the summer of 1891. Then something was done. The move- ment was inaugurated by J. F. Downing, and it came to a head in August of that year when the organization of Glenwood Park Asso- ciation was effected.
The purpose of the association was to secure a tract of land, de- sirable for the purpose, while it was in the market and could be had Vol. I-55
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at a reasonable figure. The prime movers in the enterprise were J. F. Downing, A. K. McMullen, W. J. Sands, W. H. Nicholson, George Carroll, F. F. Adams and W. A. Galbraith. The land selected lay in the valley of Mill creek, and upon each side, being part of the farms of Conrad and Robert Evans, John Eliot and H. C. Shannon. It ex- tended on both sides of the Waterford plank road and the Shunpike, from a short distance south of the southern city boundary line about to the bridge at the old woolen mill, which is the entrance to the Happy Valley. The organization was perfected and the land secured, and subsequent purchasers increased the area to full one hundred acres. The association carried this property until 1902, when, there being an unpaid balance of the purchase money amounting to $16,000 due upon it, the entire tract was offered to the city in consideration of the payment of that balance. This offer was accepted by the city councils and Glenwood Park is now a possession of the city, and is being improved. The park was annexed to the city by ordinance in 1903.
Front street, a space of varying width, including, besides consid- erable space on the level ground above the slope or bluff of the north- ern front of the city, was, in 1885, devoted to public use as a park, and immediately the first section of it was laid out in walks and lawns and trees were planted. Steadily the improvement of this strip of ground has been extended east and west, the water commissioners caring for the section from Myrtle street to a point west of Chestnut and adding a fine little park on their dock property below. In 1909 the improved portion of Lakeside Park, as it is called, extended from Hol- land street to beyond Chestnut, a distance of between five and six squares.
There are, too, the parks for the dead-the cemeteries of the city ; beautiful for situation, splendidly maintained, and a delight to visit. They are not as were the old-time burial places. The Gods-acre of today is no longer the graveyard, a visit to which gets on one's nerves, and if his sensibilities are of the tender kind, brings on an attack of the horrors. They are truly parks, as fit for the living as they are to be the resting place of the beloved dead.
The burial places of old Erie were graveyards in the old-time sense of the word. The first of them was hard by the old French fort, on Front street east of Parade, but, in 1813, because of the additional demands made upon it, due to the effects of the war, it was extended to the west from Parade street. It lay along the top of the bluff, and, when in the work of constructing the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, material for filling was taken from the bluff, the graveyard was en- croached upon until the remains of bodies interred were exposed.
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This resulted in a prompt movement to pay proper respect to what remained of the brave soldiers and sailors who had served during that period of war. In the summer of 1859 the bodies, or what was left of them, were all exhumed and there was a military funeral of the most imposing character with a public ceremonial under command of the Adjutant General of the State, attending their removal to and in- terment in Erie cemetery.
The old French graveyard was laid out in 1753. The United Presbyterian graveyard, adjacent to the church, at the corner of French and Eighth streets was opened in 1811. The Presbyterian graveyard on Seventh street near Myrtle, dated from 1825, and the Episcopal graveyard on Eighth street west of Myrtle, from 1830. All of these were closed in 1851, when Erie cemetery was ready for use. The Lutherans established a cemetery on Sassafras street between Twenty- second and Twenty-third at the time the square of which it is a part was deeded to St. John's church by Conrad Brown, and, because it was a condition of the deed that part of the land was to be used as a burial ground, it was continued in use long after Erie cemetery was opened, and even to this day, in order to comply with conditions, a small lot in the center of the square is fenced in, enclosing two or three graves.
The first of the Catholic burial grounds was that of St. Patrick's, on Third street near the corner of German, bought in 1835; and the next, that of St. Mary's on Ninth street, where St. Benedict's academy now stands, in 1837. In 1848 Father Steinbacher of St. Mary's bought a piece of ground on Chestnut street between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth, and in 1852 Father Dean of St. Patrick's, bought five acres on Sassafras between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth. To these two adjacent squares the bodies were removed from the earlier graveyards, the belief being that the new cemeteries were so remote they would never be encroached upon by the city. That this was a mistaken idea was proved, when, in 1869, Trinity cemetery was con- secrated.
The movement to acquire a tract of land for cemetery purposes, sufficiently large in area and favorably located, originated in 1846, but did not become effective until 1849, when enough subscriptions were secured, to acquire 75 acres of ground, bounded by Chestnut and Cherry, Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth streets. Thirty-one names were secured to the articles of agreement and the signers became the corporators in the charter that was granted by the Commonwealth to The Erie Cemetery. It is a perpetual corporation, the charter pro- viding that all vacancies that may occur shall be filled, "from among the lot owners." The first managers under the charter were, Charles M. Reed, George A. Eliot, William Kelley, John Galbraith, Elijalı Bab- bitt, William Himrod and A. W. Brewster. George A. Eliot was
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elected president ; William A. Brown, secretary, and J. C. Spencer, treasurer.
The survey of the grounds was made by H. Daniels, and he, assist- ed by Samuel Low, laid out the cemetery, sparing, as far as possible the magnificent trees which occupied the wooded portions and plant- ing trees, mostly maples and elms, on that part which had been under cultivation. Work was not begun until December, 1850, and the inclement weather of the winter greatly retarded proceedings, but on May 20, 1851, the dedication exercises took place, the opening address by George A. Eliot, Esq., president of the board, and the dedicatory
ENTRANCE ERIE CEMETERY.
address by Rev. George A. Lyon, D. D. A strange and significant circumstance is, that the first burial in the new cemetery was that of Alexander W. Brewster, a member of the board of managers, and the most active worker to secure the organization of the corporation. It is also worthy of note that before the annual meeting in January, 1852, two others of the corporators, W. Windham Reed and John Hughes, were also buried in Erie cemetery.
The superintendents of Erie cemetery have been: Samuel Low, from the time of its opening until his death in June, 1869 ; Cassius W. Low, his son, until December 4, 1871; Joseph Vance, until October 1, 1889; Henry W. Hay, until his death in 1892, and from that time until the present, his widow, Mrs. E. E. Hay. has filled the position with
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exceptional ability, introducing much that is generally approved in the conduct of cemeteries elsewhere, and removing features that were harsh and even repulsive in connection with old time burials. She gives personal attention so far as possible to the work, and the develop- ment of the cemetery in orderliness, and beauty and in keeping with the tenets of the landscape gardener's art is in marked degree.
The handsome mortuary chapel was erected in 1888, and exper- ienced cemetery managers have declared it unsurpassed by anything of its nature in the country. The cemetery was, early, surrounded by a high iron fence, the entrance provided with massive cast iron orna- mental gates, beside which there stood the porter's lodge, covered with woodbine, and it was necessary on Sundays that visitors should ex- hibit a ticket before they would be permitted to pass in. The ticket abomination was remedied years ago-just how long since none can tell. The gates, flush with the line of the street, and the little lodge, octagonal, and like the frustrum of a tower, gave place in 1896 to a handsome entrance, the supports great square columns of brown stone, the gates wrought iron of artistic design and recessed. The new lodge, built the same year, is commodious enough to be the office, a place of meeting for the corporators, and a convenient resting place in case of need. In 1908, the main drive from the entrance to Walnut avenue was macadamized, and ever and always, new shrubbery, new flowers, new lawns and new driveways and walks are being added, while, on the part of the lot owners, the monuments erected are in keeping as to taste, with the work of the managers.
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