Erie, Pennsylvania, United States

🇺🇸 Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city was named for the Native American Erie people who lived in the area until the mid-17th century. Erie is the largest city in North-western Pennsylvania.

The Erie metropolitan area is equivalent to all of Erie County, and is part of the Erie–Meadville combined statistical area.

Erie is roughly equidistant from Buffalo and Cleveland, each being about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away. Erie's manufacturing sector remains prominent in the local economy, while insurance, healthcare, higher education, technology, service industries, and tourism are emerging as significant economic drivers. Like the other Great Lakes port cities, Erie is accessible to the oceans via the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River network in Canada. The local climate is humid, four-seasonal, and snowy but retains moderated winters thanks to the lakeside location.

The city was named for the Native American Erie people who lived in the area until the mid-17th century. It is known as the "Flagship City" because of its status as the home port of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship Niagara. It is also known as the "Gem City" because of the lake's sparkling appearance caused by the daylight. Erie won the All-America City Award in 1972. In 2012, Erie hosted the Perry 200, a commemoration celebrating 200 years of peace between Britain, America, and Canada following the War of 1812 and Battle of Lake Erie.

History Indigenous peoples occupied the shoreline and bluffs in this area for thousands of years, taking advantage of the rich resources. The Sommerheim Park Archaeological District in Millcreek Township west of the city, includes artifacts from the Archaic period in the Americas and the Early and Middle Woodland Period, roughly a span from 8,000 BCE to 500 CE.

Europeans first arrived as settlers in the region when the French constructed Fort Presque Isle near present-day Erie in 1753, as part of their effort to defend New France against the encroaching British colonists. The name of the fort refers to the peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, now protected as Presque Isle State Park. The French term presque-isle means peninsula (from the Latin paene and insula, both literally, "almost an island"). When the French abandoned the fort in 1760 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), it was the last post they held west of Niagara. The British established a garrison at the fort at Presque Isle that same year, three years before the end of the French and Indian War.

Erie is in what was the disputed Erie Triangle, a tract of land comprising 202,187 acres in the north-west corner of Pennsylvania fronting Lake Erie that was claimed after the American Revolutionary War by the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut (as part of its Western Reserve), and Massachusetts.

History: 18th century The Iroquois claimed ownership first, so a conference was arranged for on January 9, 1789, wherein representatives from the Iroquois signed a deed relinquishing their ownership of the land. The price for it was $2,000 from Pennsylvania and $1,200 from the federal government. The Seneca Nation separately settled land claims against Pennsylvania in February 1791 for the sum of $800. It became a part of Pennsylvania on March 3, 1792, after Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York relinquished their rights to the land and sold the land to Pennsylvania for 75 cents per acre or a total of $151,640.25 in continental certificates.

The General Assembly of Pennsylvania commissioned the surveying of land near Presque Isle through an act passed on April 18, 1795. Andrew Ellicott, who completed Pierre Charles L'Enfant's survey of Washington, D.C., and helped resolve the boundary between Pennsylvania and New York, arrived to begin the survey and lay out the plan for the city in June 1795. The initial settlement of the area began that year. Lt. Colonel Seth Reed and his family moved to the Erie area from Geneva, New York; they were Yankees from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. They became the first European-American settlers of Erie, at what became known as "Presque Isle".

History: 19th century President James Madison began the construction of a naval fleet during the War of 1812 to gain control of the Great Lakes from the British. Daniel Dobbins of Erie and Noah Brown of Boston were notable shipbuilders who led the construction of four schooner−rigged gunboats and two brigs. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry arrived from Rhode Island and led the squadron to success in the historic Battle of Lake Erie.

Erie was an important shipbuilding, fishing, and railroad hub during the mid-19th century. The city was the site where three sets of track gauges met. While the delays engendered cargo troubles for commerce and travel, they provided much-needed local jobs in Erie. When a national standardized gauge was proposed, those jobs, and the importance of the rail hub itself, were put in jeopardy. In an event known as the Erie Gauge War, the citizens of Erie, led by the mayor, set fire to bridges, ripped up tracks, and rioted to try to stop the standardization.

20th and 21st centuries On August 3, 1915, the Mill Creek flooded downtown Erie. A culvert, or a tunnel, was blocked by debris and collapsed. A four-block reservoir, caused by torrential downpours, had formed behind it. The resulting deluge destroyed 225 houses and killed 36 people. After the flood, Mayor Miles Brown Kitts had the Mill Creek directed into another, larger culvert, constructed under more than 2 miles of the city, before emptying into Presque Isle Bay on the city's lower east side.

Downtown Erie continued to grow for most of the 20th century, based on its manufacturing base. The city attracted numerous waves of European immigrants for industrial jobs. Erie was considered a wet city during the Prohibition Era in the United States. The city's economy began to suffer in the latter part of the 20th century as industrial restructuring took place and jobs moved out of the area, as it was considered part of the Rust Belt. The importance of American manufacturing, US steel and coal production, and commercial fishing began to gradually decline, resulting in a major population downturn in the 1970s.

With the advent of the automobile age after World War II and government subsidies for highway construction, thousands of residents left Erie for suburbs such as Millcreek Township, which now has 55,000 residents. This caused a decline in retail businesses, some of which followed to the suburbs. Reflecting this perceived decline, Erie is occasionally referred to by residents as "The Mistake on the Lake" or "Dreary Erie".

Erie won the All-America City Award in 1972 and was a finalist in 1961, 1994, 1995, and 2009.

Geography Erie is situated in Northwestern Pennsylvania on the southern shore of Lake Erie across from the Canadian province of Ontario. It is 100 miles (160 km) north-east of Cleveland, Ohio, 90 miles (140 km) south-west of Buffalo, New York, and 128 miles (206 km) north of Pittsburgh. Erie's bedrock is Devonian shale and siltstone, overlain by glacial tills and stratified drift. Stream drainage in the city flows northward into Lake Erie, then through Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence River, and out to the Atlantic Ocean. South of Erie is a drainage divide, beyond which most of the streams in western Pennsylvania flow south into the Allegheny or Ohio Rivers. Lake Erie is about 571 ft (174 m) above sea level, while the city of Erie is about 728 ft (222 m) above sea level.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.3 square miles (49.9 km²), with 19.1 square miles (49.4 km²) being land and the remaining 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), or 1.03%, being water. Presque Isle State Park (known to the locals as "The Peninsula"), juts into Lake Erie just north of the city limits and has 7 miles (11 km) of public beaches, wetlands, and fishing sites.

Erie is laid out in a grid surrounding Perry Square in the downtown area. The downtown buildings are separated from the waterfront by the Bayfront Parkway. The tallest structure in Erie is St. Peter Cathedral at 265 ft (81 m), and the tallest building is Renaissance Centre at 198 ft (60 m). Erie has generally small ethnic neighborhoods, including Little Italy. South of 38th Street, the grid gives way to curvilinear roads of post-1970 suburban development. Millcreek Township and upper Peach Street in Summit Township include the Erie metropolitan area's newer developments.

Most of the cityscape includes renovated and refurbished factory buildings, midrise housing, single-family homes, and office buildings. Erie's waterfront includes the Burger King Amphitheater and surrounding parkland, which hosts numerous festivals. The Bayfront Convention Center is on Sassafras Pier next to Dobbins Landing. The Bicentennial Tower is centrally located in the skyline when viewed from Presque Isle State Park, with the high-rise and midrise buildings flanking the higher ground behind and to the east and west sides. On the east end of the waterfront, the Erie Maritime Museum and the city's main library, and third-largest in Pennsylvania, host the USS Niagara. Docks and marinas fill the freshwater shoreline in between.

Economy Erie is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's primary access point to Lake Erie, the Great Lakes, and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The city emerged as a maritime centre after the American Revolution, then as a railroad hub during the great American westward expansion. Erie became an important city for iron and steel manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution and thrived well into the 20th century with firms such as Griswold Manufacturing, once the leader in cast-iron cookware.

Since the decline of large manufacturers in the later 20th century, a more diverse mix of midsized industries has emerged. This broader economic base includes smaller and more agile steel and plastic plants (with about 10% of tooling and molding located in the tri-state area) and vigorous service sectors: health, insurance, and tourism. The zip code 16501 covering some of the downtown areas is considered one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.

Erie is the corporate headquarters of the Erie Insurance Group and Marquette Savings Bank. Lord Corporation was founded and has major operations in Erie. Along with GE and Erie Insurance, major employers in the county include the county, state, and federal governments, as well as the Erie City School District.

Over 10% of the USA's plastics are manufactured or finished in Erie-based plastics plants. Erie is an emerging centre for biofuels and environmental research, producing over 45 million U.S. gallons of biofuel a year. Tourism plays an increasingly important role in the local economy with over 4 million people visiting Presque Isle State Park and other attractions. Shoppers from Ohio, New York, and the Canadian province of Ontario frequent the Millcreek Mall and Peach Street stores and attractions as a result of Pennsylvania's tax exemption on clothing.

Both UPMC Hamot and Saint Vincent Health System are also major employers in Erie. Although both of these hospitals had been stand-alone Erie entities, Hamot merged with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2011 and Saint Vincent, which affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic in 2012, merged with Highmark's Allegheny Health Network in 2013. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs operates the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center on East 38th Street. The Shriners International has operated Shriners Hospital for Children in Erie since 1927. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) is a fast-growing educator and provider of healthcare in the city. LECOM is located both in the city and in adjacent Millcreek Township.

Arts and culture Erie is home to several professional and amateur performing arts groups. The most significant is the Erie Philharmonic, in continuous existence since 1913 (except an interregnum during World War II). This group of professional musicians also has a full chorus and a junior philharmonic division that tours the area. The Lake Erie Ballet is a professional company that performs well-known programs throughout the year. The Erie Civic Music Association attracts, sponsors, and books performances by professional musicians, singers, entertainers, and ensembles from around the world.

The Erie Art Museum is the city's main art gallery, located in the Old Customshouse on State Street. Its collection has an emphasis on folk art and modern art and it hosts a popular blues and jazz concert series. The Erie Art Museum also works on public art projects to revitalize and improve the city. In 2000, the Erie Art Museum created a project entitled GoFish, similar to CowParade; 95 fiberglass fish were decorated by Erie artists and placed throughout the city. Patrons paid $3,000 for a fish and the proceeds went to Gannon University's scholarship fund and the Erie Public Art endowment fund. The Erie Art Museum created a similar public art project in 2004 that involved frogs rather than fish. In 2012, the Erie Art Museum began a project to create 40 artistic and functional bike racks, designed and created by local artists. The museum intends to add color and interest to downtown Erie and to promote bicycling, encourage healthy lifestyles, and provide environmental awareness.

Downtown Erie's historic and ornate Warner Theatre hosts a range of performances. Renovated in the 1980s and again in 2007, the Warner is the hub of Erie's Civic Center. The downtown area is the home of the Erie Playhouse, one of the leading community theaters in the country, and the third-oldest community theater in the U.S. Erie is also home to several other community theatres, including Dramashop, PACA, and All an Act Theatre. In addition to regular performances, Erie has many festivals including motorcycle rallies. Since 2007, the annual Roar on the Shore motorcycle rally has taken place in Erie, although in 2019, it moved to the Lake Erie Speedway.

Along West 6th Street is Millionaires Row, a collection of 19th-century Victorian mansions. The John Hill House is one of the notable residences. First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, a well-known landmark, is also located here. The Watson-Curtze Mansion, one of the most notable residences on this street, is also home to the Erie County Historical Society. Permanent and rotating exhibits showcase the life of some of Erie's influential founders and the development of Erie.

The Erie Land Light stands at the foot of Lighthouse Street. The lighthouse was built in 1818 and replaced in 1867.

The Bicentennial Tower, on Dobbins Landing at the foot of State Street, was built in 1995−96 to celebrate the city's bicentennial. It is 187 ft (57 m) tall and gives a panoramic view of Lake Erie and downtown. The Blasco Library and Erie Maritime Museum are its neighbors to the east. Presque Isle Downs opened on February 28, 2007, and was the fourth slots parlor in the state and the first in Western Pennsylvania. Table games opened at the casino on July 8, 2010.

Erie has been the location for many movies, including the hometown for the fictional band The Wonders in That Thing You Do! featuring Tom Hanks. It is mentioned in the film Wall Street as the location of the fictional company Anacott Steel. Erie is the hometown of Train lead singer, Patrick Monahan. Erie is also the hometown of Marc Brown, the author and illustrator of Arthur books and TV series.

Libraries There are five Erie County library system branches in Erie, and a bookmobile. The Main Library opened in 1996, and is the third-largest library in Pennsylvania. It is connected to the Erie Maritime Museum, and has waterfront views of the Presque Isle Bay. The Main Library contains an art collection and provides internet access to patrons. The four remaining libraries are the Edinboro Branch Library, Iroquois Avenue Branch Library, Lincoln Community Center Branch Library, and Millcreek Branch Library.

Sport Erie plays host to several semi-professional and professional sports teams. The Erie SeaWolves play AA baseball in the Eastern League as an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Erie Otters play hockey in the Ontario Hockey League. Hockey games are played at Erie Insurance Arena, while Minor League Baseball games are held at UPMC Park.

Gannon University, Mercyhurst University, Edinboro University, and Penn State Behrend have active NCAA collegiate sports programs. The local high schools compete in PIAA District 10 sporting events. Additionally, Cathedral Preparatory School hosts the annual high-school basketball tournament featuring top national teams, called the Burger King Classic since 2010. Scholastic and intramural sports are held at school and park facilities around the city. The Mercyhurst Ice Center, JMC Ice Arena, Erie Sports Park, and Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium are many sports arenas and stadiums available in and around the city.

Parks and recreation The region grows grapes and produces the third-largest amount of wine in the United States.

Downtown Erie is surrounded by Presque Isle State Park, a National Natural Landmark. The Seaway Trail runs through downtown Erie along the lakefront. The Tom Ridge Environmental Center, at the foot of Presque Isle, features 7,000 sq ft (650 m²) of exhibit space.

Other tourist destinations include the Bayfront Convention Center; the Bicentennial Tower that overlooks Lake Erie; Dobbins Landing, a pier in downtown Erie; the Erie Land Light, and the Erie Maritime Museum, the home port of the Niagara. The 2,600,000 sq ft (240,000 m²) Millcreek Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the United States, is located on Peach Street in nearby Millcreek Township. The indoor waterpark Splash Lagoon, in Summit Township, is the largest indoor waterpark on the East Coast and third-largest in the United States. Waldameer Park, located at the base of Presque Isle, is the fourth-oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, and the 10th-oldest in the US.