USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > Erie > Erie; a guide to the city and county > Part 4
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The hunting party took it to a neighbor's home, dressed it and prepared for an epicurean revel. Hardly had the feast begun when another settler appeared and claimed that the boar was a pig, and his own pig at that, which had strayed off his premises a year ago. The killer insisted on his rights and a free-for-all fight followed. The minor riot was finally settled with the original owner receiving a quarter of the "wild boar" and the feast continued on its merry way.
Erie first attracted National attention in 1813, when Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry arrived to take command of the Great Lakes fleet. The period of the building of the fleet and immediately following the great victory in the Battle of Lake Erie can properly be called the golden era of Erie's history. The influx of sailors and militia gave a boom to the
32
Wood Storage, Hammermill Paper Co.
Pennsylvania Railroad grain elevator
Unloading ore, Pennsyl- vania Railroad dock
TALES AND LEGENDS
straggling town, and the intoxication of victory filled the air. The town became known as the "mother-in-law of the American Navy," and wed- dings and engagements were many.
The sailors were as quick to fight on land as on sea. Many disputes arose about the Battle of Lake Erie, after Perry's departure, and some questioned Captain Elliott's conduct during the engagement. Quarrels broke out between Perry's and Elliott's adherents, and many duels were fought. In one of the duels, Midshipman Senat, who commanded the Porcupine during the battle, was killed by Acting-Master McDonald. Some people maintained that the dispute was occasioned by the number of buttons on McDonald's suit, but most of their contemporaries agreed that the argument arose over Elliott's wisdom in hanging back with his large ship, the Niagara, leaving Perry's flagship, the Lawrence, to be riddled by the British.
Two marines were shot during this period for desertion, and a seaman was hanged to the yard-arm of the Niagara. James Bird was one of the marines tried for desertion and executed. A sergeant, Bird had been placed in charge of a storehouse, which post he deserted. He was found guilty by a court martial and the sentence approved by the President. The story goes that Perry, who had left Erie, ordered a pardon to stay Bird's execu- tion, but that it arrived after he was shot. One of the most popular of the flood of songs which followed Perry's victory was the Ballad of James Bird, a lugubrious ditty of Bird's heroism and sad end that was often recited at meetings and in barrooms.
One of the stories coming down from the period following Colonel Drake's discovery of oil in 1859 centered around "Coal Oil Johnny" Steele. Steele, an orphan, found himself rich overnight when oil was struck on his farm. He went on one of the most glorious spending sprees Northwestern Pennsylvania had ever seen. It was nothing unusual for him, so the story goes, when the proprietor of a hotel insisted that Johnny's party had become too boisterous, to buy the hotel and continue the party.
Another story deals with one of his unusual habits-hiring a cab and tacking ten dollar bills all over the upholstery. Driving to Erie, he would stop in front of a bar room, pluck a ten dollar bill from the upholstery, order a drink for everybody, have one himself, and drive off to another spot. At the close of the evening's roistering all money left in the cab was given to the driver. Steele soon found himself with neither friends nor money. But as luck would have it, he came on a forgotten $20,000 deposit in a bank, and having learned his lesson well began to lead a wiser and saner life.
33
NATIONALITY GROUPS
T
HE French village of 100 families established by French explorers near Fort Presque Isle in 1753 was abandoned six years later, ending the first European effort to colonize the Great Lakes area. The first American settlers arrived in the region in 1795, coming mainly from New England, New York, and southern Pennsylvania.
Foreign immigration began with the arrival of a large number of Ger- mans in 1830. The Finns came in 1850, followed by the Italians in 1860. In 1865 a few Poles began to arrive, driven from Europe by floods and low wages. Many of these immigrants were so poor that they had to depend upon relatives already in the country or upon steamship and land companies for their passage money. In the post-Civil War period, thou- sands of them were brought in to build railroads and work in coal mines. Although many of the newcomers were penniless, they represented a good investment to land speculators and industrialists. Immigrants con- tinued to arrive until 1914. Armenians, Hungarians, and Turks came in small numbers, but many Italians, Germans, and Poles arrived.
According to recent figures, the three largest National groups in Erie are the German, with approximately 30,000; Polish, with 20,000; and the Italian, with 18,000.
A city directory published in 1853 reveals that Germans predominated in the building trades. The Germans were quick to exert their influence on the city. Those of the Catholic faith banded together, breaking away from the business section then on French street, to concentrate in the vicinity of German and Parade Streets, between 8th and 9th Streets. They built a frame church there in 1833 and the present St. Mary's Church on the same location.
34
NATIONALITY GROUPS
The Protestant group organized St. John's Lutheran Church in 1835 and, two years later, the Salem Evangelical Association for Germans in America was founded. A German language newspaper, the Zuschauer, came out in 1851. This paper became, in turn, the Freie Presse, the Tage- blatt, and the present (1938) Deutsche Zeitung. In 1862 the Erie Lieder- stafel, the first German singing society, was formed; six years later a Turnverein was organized.
At first the German people favored the neighborhood of German and Holland Streets, between 9th and 10th Streets. Now they are spread throughout the city, predominating in the East and West 26th Street districts. Many of their stores originally were community centers, where only the German language was spoken. Societies were established, and after considerable agitation, a German Free School was built. The school was abandoned when the public school system had become firmly en- trenched in the city.
The Civil War did much to break down the barriers of misunderstand- ing and distrust among nationality groups. There was a prompt response on the part of Germans to the call to arms and a regiment went from Erie, commanded by Colonel Schlaudecker, with several German officers. The patriotic spirit of the Germans in the war was the most important single factor in welding together the nationalities. A German, P. A. Becker, was elected mayor in 1883. Two of his outstanding acts in office were the introduction of electricity in street lighting and the construction of a new City Hall.
The Italian influx began in 1860, but did not become pronounced until 1914. They came from Abruzzi, Campobosso, and Naples in the south; and from Rome, Pisa, and Tuscany in the north; with some from Sicily and Calabria. Many of the Italians from southern Italy and Sicily are concentrated in the district between 15th and 18th Streets, west of State Street; and between Myrtle and Raspberry Streets. Those from northern Italy have settled along East 25th, 26th, and 27th Streets and from Penn- sylvania Avenue to the southern city limits.
The census of 1870 lists but 18 Poles, a figure which was increased in 1930 to 20,000. St. Stanislaus Church, East 13th and Wallace Streets, one of the outstanding religious edifices in the city, was begun in 1883. It is attended largely by persons of Polish extraction and is a center for their community activities. The largest group of Poles is near St. Stani- slaus Church. A second group is in the section from East Avenue to the eastern city limits, between 6th and 12th Streets, while a third group is in St. Hedwig's parish on East 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Streets.
Other nationalities are scattered throughout the city: Russians largely around East Front Street, and on Parade Street, between 2nd and 3rd
35
ERIE: A GUIDE TO THE CITY AND COUNTY
Streets; the Slovaks on Pennsylvania Avenue from 8th to 12th Streets; and the Greeks on 12th, 14th, and Peach Streets.
Citizenship and literacy classes conducted in various night schools have done much toward the assimilation of the foreign born. So successful has this been that the second and third generations are completely American in speech and manner.
Erie's population in 1930 was 115,967. The number of foreign born and of first generation Americans in Erie in 1936, according to records of the International Institute, is shown in the following table:
Armenian
149
Polish
20,000
Canadian (includes French Canadians)
2,48 1
Roumanian
550
Chinese
9
Russian
1,175
Czech
91
Scotch
500
Danish
362
Slovak
2,512
Dutch
104
Spanish
61
English
1,831
Swedes
3,126
Finns
280
Swiss
161
Germans
30,000
Yugoslavia (includes Croa-
Greek
201
Hungarian
700
Irish (Free State and Nor- thern Ireland)
3,310
ians, Egyptians, Assyr-
Italian
18,000
ians, Flemish, Maltese,
Lithuanian
221
Letts, Welsh, and French
199
Mexican
95
Total
87,050
Norwegian
181
tians, Serbs, Slovenes, Albanians)
All others-Brazilians, Arab-
192
Portuguese
550
36
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
E RIE ranks third among cities of from 100,000 to 500,000 population in the diversity of its manufactured products. In 1936 it had 277 manufacturing plants, with an invested capital of more than $58,176,000. The value of the yearly output was more than $97,643,800, with 21,078 employes and an annual payroll totalling $29,129,100.
Among the principal manufactures are power shovels and power ham- mers; electric and steam locomotives; writing, printing, and roofing papers; machine and hand tools; rubber specialties; boilers, boiler con- trolling equipment; sterilizers for hospitals; electrical specialties; building hardware, plumbing supplies; heating equipment; kitchen equipment; and castings of iron, steel, and non-ferrous metals. Erie imports pulpwood from Canada; crude rubber from the Far East; linens from Ireland; and other articles for direct consumption from virtually every country of the world.
Although Erie has few consumer-goods industries, it has long been a great producer of heavy or durable goods. Its steam boilers and engines, electric locomotives, forgings, power equipment, gas meters, gasoline pumps, and oil well supplies are shipped to all parts of the world. It has a large traffic in iron ore, grain, and coal, and is a leading fresh water fishing port.
The first industry established in what is now Erie was a sawmill, built at the mouth of Mill Creek in 1796, by Capt. Russell Bissell of the United States Army. The mill supplied lumber for barracks which were built to house troops sent here to protect the settlers. The mill dam was just east of Parade Street near East 4th Street.
A second sawmill was built in 1800 by John Cochran near 16th and State Streets. Cochran added a gristmill in 1801, the first in Erie. In 1806
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ERIE: A GUIDE TO THE CITY AND COUNTY
Robert Brotherton built a sawmill on Hill Road, also near State Street, and in 1807 or 1808 another sawmill was erected on Mill Creek, at the intersection of E. 8th Street, by Thomas Forester and William Wallace. About 1810 Rufus S. Reed, later to become Erie's first citizen, built a gristmill nearby; somewhat later, he constructed a distillery, the first in the city.
More gristmills and sawmills were built during the early 1800's, and several woolen mills were erected in the 1830's. Today no sawmills, and only two gristmills are operating in Erie. Textile mills are no longer an important part of the city's economic life.
A brickyard was built in 1803 just east of Parade Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Bricks from this yard were used in the construction of the first brick house in Erie County, still standing on German Street be- tween Front and 2nd Streets. Other brickyards were established later, but only one is still in operation.
Early in the 19th century a tannery was built by Ezekiel Dunning, on Holland Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Later known as Sterrett's tannery, it continued in operation until 1852. In 1805 another tannery was built, and for years the tanning business was carried on extensively, but by 1900 the industry had ceased to exist in Erie.
A brewery was built in 1815 by Maj. David McNair on Turnpike Street, and a distillery was added in 1823. Many breweries were built later, of which only two remain in business. At one time small distilleries were found in almost every neighborhood of Erie, but in 1830 a great temperance wave swept through the county, and whisky became un- popular. Erie distilleries thereafter disappeared rapidly; there are none in the city now.
The industry that launched Erie on the road to industrial importance was an iron foundry, established in 1833 by Hinkley, Jarvis & Company on the west side of State Street at 11th Street, and later known as the "Old Furnace." The foundry smelted iron from bog ore mined near the head of Presque Isle Bay, transported it by wagons to Waterford, and from there to Pittsburgh by river boats. Castings, principally for stoves and plows, and sawmill machinery were also manufactured. The industry continued under various names until it became part of the Germer Stove Company.
The manufacture of engines and boilers, important in the development of Erie's economy, was begun in 1855 at the Presque Isle Iron Works, on E. Ioth Street between Holland and German Streets. In 1905 the plant was acquired by the Erie City Iron Works.
With the discovery of oil at Titusville in 1859, a number of refineries were established, 15 having been in operation at one time. This business
38
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
gradually fell away in the 1870's, because of various factors, perhaps the most important being a lack of cooperation by the transportation com- panies.
The building of Great Lakes boats in Erie dates from the sailing vessel, Washington, in 1798, and later many large steamboats were constructed. John D. Paasch began building vessels in 1866 at the foot of State Street, and the business is still carried on by his son, Frederick.
Fishing has long been one of the leading industries of Erie, and the annual catch frequently exceeds that of any other port on the Great Lakes. Thousands of tons of blue pike, white fish, and perch are shipped annually. Ciscoes, once caught in large quantities, are now quite rare.
Lumber was an important factor in lake trade for years; today it has been superseded by the coal, grain, iron ore, coke, and pulp-wood trade, and by an extensive package freight business. Boatloads of automobiles arrive in the early spring for transhipment to eastern markets. Erie has adequate and modern equipment for handling these products, including several grain elevators and package freight warehouses.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE
Approximately 2,000 retail establishments in Erie have a gross business of about $50,000,000 annually. The retail area, within a radius of 50 miles, contains a population of 300,000 persons, and the city's retail stores com- pare favorably in variety of merchandise with establishments in other American cities of like size. There are approximately 160 wholesale business places, with estimated sales of $30,000,000 annually.
The first retail store in Erie, a two-story log building, was erected in 1796 by Col. Seth Reed at the southwest corner of 2nd and Parade Streets. The Reeds conducted a store and tavern in the building until it was destroyed by fire in 1799. Rufus S. Reed, son of the founder, then rebuilt the structure and maintained the business there for many years.
Third Street was the main business thoroughfare until the early 1820's, when it was superseded by French Street, which, until the 1860's, con- tinued to be the busiest thoroughfare in the city, its importance having been enhanced by the fact that the post office, the leading business houses, and the principal hotels were convenient to it.
Today, the retail business center is on State Street between 7th and 14th Streets. Peach and French Streets and the intervening cross streets from 7th to 14th are part of the principal downtown trading district. The next most important business sections are Parade Street from 7th to 13th Streets, and from 24th to 28th Streets; and Peach Street from 6th to 14th Streets and from 18th to 26th Streets.
39
TRANSPORTATION
EARLY as 1753 the advantages of Erie in regard to transportation were recognized by the French, who sent an expedition from Montreal to build a fort that was to be a vital link in a chain extending to the Ohio Valley. Erie's calm, landlocked harbor, which Duquesne's letter of July 6, 1755, to the French Minister of Finance, described as one that the largest vessels could enter in safety, is still the central and determining factor in the city's transportation system.
Erie Harbor is protected by a natural breakwall, which provides a harbor of adequate depth and anchorage facilities for the largest of Great Lakes carriers. Loading and unloading facilities are modern; a network of tracks makes possible the immediate conjunction of water and rail traffic. Three unloading machines expedite the handling of ore from boats-a 10,000-ton boat can be unloaded in less than 10 hours. During 1935 more than 600 freight-carrying boats entered and left Erie harbor, carrying mostly iron ore, coal and coke, wheat, package freight, and pulp wood.
Erie is the division headquarters of two large railroad systems-The New York Central, and the Pennsylvania-and is a key point for pas- senger and freight traffic of the Nickel Plate R. R. and the Bessemer and Lake Erie R. R. Erie is also the headquarters of one large inter-state trucking concern and a distribution point for a number of others. Its location makes it an important point in lake and rail shipments. Large ore boats bring cargoes from the upper lakes to Erie, whence the ore is shipped by rail to the Pittsburgh and Youngstown steel districts. Coal shipped here by rail from the Pennsylvania mines is transported up the
40
TRANSPORTATION
lakes by boats; and package freight from all sections of the country is brought to Erie by rail, to be transported by way of the cheaper medium of water to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo, and Canadian ports.
EARLY MODES OF TRAVEL
The first road was built in 1753 by the French from Fort Presque Isle to Fort LeBoeuf. Known as the French Road, it was the only one in the section for more than 40 years. In 1796 Maj. Andrew Ellicott surveyed the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike from LeBoeuf to Curwens- ville, in Clearfield County, by way of Meadville and Franklin, so that a continuous road from Erie to Philadelphia could be built. In 1797 Judah Colt built a road from Freeport on Lake Erie to Colt's Station, the first in the county after the American occupation.
In Erie's early years all articles of commerce were landed on the beach near the mouth of Mill Creek, where three storehouses were erected in 1815. In the early days of steam navigation, boats landed freight and passengers at the lighthouse piers at the channel entrance to save time.
In common with other sections of the United States, the region was a dense forest at the time the first settlers arrived. The first mode of travel was by foot, horseback, or water. The roads were rough and muddy until about 1810, when they were widened and gravelled. Then came the two-horse wagons, crude affairs covered with cotton cloth stretched over hickory ribs and furnishing shelter for family and goods. In 1812 supplies for Perry's fleet were transported in flat boats from Pittsburgh to Waterford, and from there by way of the turnpike to Erie. Another mode of travel was by ice. It was not unusual for the early astute business man to buy a barrel of whisky at Buffalo and haul it over the lake ice on a sled.
The Erie and Waterford Turnpike (a toll road), now US 19, was completed in 1809. The first toll gate was near the southern city limits of Erie, the second on the summit between Erie and Waterford. A toll road from Erie to Meadville by the way of Edinboro was completed in 1852. This road, now State 99, was floored with planks. The Erie and Waterford plank road, now State 97, had been constructed over an en- tirely new route in 1851.
These roads crossed swamp areas, and, in order to make them passable in bad weather, they were "corduroyed." This paving consisted of half logs, roughly squared, laid side by side across the road. The chinks were filled with small poles and gravel. Though quite rough according to modern standards, this kind of road made possible the transportation of freight in the region. Plank roads, a refinement of the corduroy, were
41
ERIE: A GUIDE TO THE CITY AND COUNTY
made of heavy planks eight inches wide by three inches thick, laid cross- wise of the road on supporting sills of heavier timbers or logs. Plank roads were considered more durable and cheaper to maintain than ma- cadam roads.
Toll roads were abandoned because of their unpopularity with farmers who had to use them to haul their produce to market. They boycotted the roads by constructing trails and bypasses, and, in one instance, a group pulled down the toll gates. The gates were not rebuilt, and the last toÎl road, the Erie and Waterford, was turned over to the township in 1868.
A weekly mail route, covered by horseback, was opened in 1801 be- tween Erie and Pittsburgh by way of Waterford and Meadville. In 1806 a weekly mail route was started between Buffalo and Erie. The stage left Buffalo on Saturday noon and reached Erie on Monday at 6 p. m., requiring 54 hours to make the 90-mile journey. In 1827 a line of four- horse coaches was placed in daily operation between Cleveland and Buffalo, by way of Erie.
An incident of transportation in those days is related in Sargent's Pioneer Sketches about Judah Colt, who later became superintendent of the Erie and Pittsburgh Canal. When a young man, Colt was traveling through Herkimer County, N. Y., and was stopped near Praker's Bridge by Colonel Praker, who told him he must not travel on Sundays; that it was his duty to arrest Colt if he continued the journey.
" 'Well,' said Colt, 'If I have to stop, I must; but I would like to get on three or four miles farther to some friends, where I expect to stop, as I am about to be taken down with the smallpox and I already feel symp- toms of its coming on.'
'What!' said the old Dutchman, 'You coming down mit de smallpox?' 'Yes.'
'Vall, den you must not stop here.'
'Then you'll have to give me a pass.'
'Yes, but I write no English. You write de pass in English and I sign it in German.'
Colt wrote a check for $1,000 and Praker signed it. The next morning Colt went to the bank, where the check was promptly paid, and resumed his journey to Erie.
Two weeks later Praker went to town, and the banker said, 'Mr. Praker, we paid your check for $1,000.'
'My check for $1,000! I does not know about that.'
'Come in, it will show for itself.'
The check was produced, Praker scrutinized it and exclaimed, 'I see, it be that d -- d Yankee's smallpox pass!'
In that day there were no telegraphs or railroads, and Colt was un- molested."
The author's piece de resistance in a summary of the situation follows:
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TRANSPORTATION
"And onward thus Colt travels for Erie,
Through forest, o'er hill, valley and stream, not weary.
But this man Colt was a sharp undertaker
In playing his smallpox game with Dutch Praker.
$1,000 was a big fortune at that day,
$1.25 per acre for land to pay. Across the State Line into Pennsylvania he crosses, At Erie he stops to raise young Colts and horses.
Large streams from little fountains grow,
From this $1,000 rich did Colt grow.
It has been said, and it must be so, That there are tricks in trades, you know."
The transportation of salt was a leading industry until 1819. Salt was mined at Salina, N. Y., hauled to Buffalo in wagons, then shipped by vessel to Erie. From Erie it was sent to Waterford by ox teams, and then transported on flatboats down French Creek and the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh-the same course the French followed in 1753 (see HISTORY).
LAKE NAVIGATION
The first sailing vessel on Lake Erie was the Griffon, 60 tons, built in 1679 on the Niagara River by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who sailed the vessel to Green Bay, Wisconsin. No record has been found of any other sailing vessel on the lake until about 1766, when the British launched four small ships used chiefly for carrying troops and army supplies.
In 1795 the only sailing vessel on the south shore of Lake Erie belonged to Capt. William Lee of Chippewa, N. Y. This ship made infrequent trips from Buffalo to Erie. Oars were auxiliary equipment. The first sailing vessel built on the south shore of Lake Erie was the 36-ton sloop Wash- ington, constructed in 1798 at the mouth of Four Mile Creek, east of Erie. The Good Intent, built by Capt. William Lee and R. S. Reed at the mouth of Mill Creek in 1799, was the first vessel launched at Erie.
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