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==History== {{Main|History of Erie, Pennsylvania}} [[File:Battle erie.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Lake Erie]] in the [[War of 1812]], a key event in Erie's history]] Indigenous peoples occupied the shoreline and bluffs in this area for thousands of years, taking advantage of the rich resources. [[Sommerheim Park Archaeological District]] in [[Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=historic resources protection plan for the Lake Erie Coastal Zone as part of the implementation of the Pennsylvania Coastal Zone Management Program |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CZIC-f157-e6-w65-1983-pt-1/html/CZIC-f157-e6-w65-1983-pt-1.htm |access-date=April 15, 2021 |website=govinfo.gov}}</ref> Europeans first arrived as settlers in the region when the [[Kingdom of France|French]] constructed [[Fort Presque Isle]] near present-day Erie in 1753, as part of their effort to defend [[New France]] against the encroaching [[Kingdom of Great Britain|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. When the French abandoned the fort in 1760 during the [[French and Indian War]] in the [[Seven Years' War]], it was the last post they held west of [[Niagara River]]. 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.<ref name="warner-beers 503">''History of Erie County'', p. 503.</ref> Erie is in what was the disputed [[Erie Triangle]], a tract of land comprising 202,187 acres in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania fronting Lake Erie that was claimed after the [[American Revolutionary War]] by the newly formed states of [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Connecticut]], as part of its [[Connecticut Western Reserve|Western Reserve]], and [[Massachusetts]]. ===18th century=== {{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}} The [[Iroquois]] claimed ownership of present-day Erie. On January 9, 1789, a conference was arranged during which representatives from the Iroquois signed a deed relinquishing their ownership of the land<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=John |title=A Twentieth Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania |url=https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury01mill_0 |date=1909 |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury01mill_0/page/n81 60]}}</ref> in exchange for $2,000 from Pennsylvania and $1,200 from the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]. [[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.<ref name="nelson 103-104">Nelson, pp. 103−104.</ref> 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.<ref name="nelson 103-104"/><ref name="warner-beers 505-506">''History of Erie County'', pp 505−506.</ref> Lt. [[Colonel (United States)|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 in present-day Presque Isle. ===19th century=== {{Further|Battle of Lake Erie|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}} 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 Army|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]].<ref>"History of Erie County", pp. 299, 306.</ref> Erie was an important shipbuilding, fishing, and railroad hub during the mid-19th century. The city was the site where three sets of [[track gauge]]s met. While the delays engendered cargo troubles for commerce and travel, they provided much-needed local jobs in Erie. When a national [[standard gauge|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rhodes |first=James Ford |author-link=James Ford Rhodes |title=History of the United States from the compromise of 1850 |year=1900 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/historyunitedst20rhodgoog |volume=3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyunitedst20rhodgoog/page/n41 21]}}</ref> ===20th and 21st centuries=== [[File:Erie, Pennsylvania 1922.jpg|thumb|State and 9th streets in downtown Erie in the early 1920s]] On August 3, 1915, the [[Mill Creek (Lake Erie)|Mill Creek]] flooded downtown Erie. A culvert, or a tunnel, was blocked by debris and collapsed.<ref name="flood">{{cite web |title=Erie's Blackest Day & Other Accounts of Phenomenal Weather |date=October 2008 |publisher=Erie County Historical Society |url=http://www.eriecountyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/eriesblackestday3.pdf |access-date=August 29, 2010 |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724184032/http://www.eriecountyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/eriesblackestday3.pdf |archive-date=July 24, 2011}}</ref> A four-block reservoir, caused by torrential downpours, had formed behind it. The resulting deluge destroyed 225 houses and killed 36 people.<ref name="flood"/> After the flood, Mayor Miles Brown Kitts had the Mill Creek directed into another, larger culvert, constructed underneath more than {{Convert|2|mi}} of the city, before emptying into [[Presque Isle Bay]] on the city's lower east side. Erie continued to grow for the first half of the 20th century, due to its strong 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. The Erie region is considered to be part of the [[Rust Belt]]. The importance of American manufacturing, US steel and coal production, and commercial fishing began to gradually decline,<ref name="mary">{{cite web |publisher=City-data.com |url=http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Erie-History.html |title=Erie Detailed History |access-date=June 22, 2007}}</ref> resulting in a major population downturn in the 1970s.<ref name="mary"/> 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, Erie County, Pennsylvania|Millcreek Township]], which now has 55,000 residents.<ref name="mary"/> This caused a decline in downtown 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".<ref>{{cite web |date=October 1, 2013 |title=From the Editors |url=http://www.eriereader.com/article/from-the-editors-37 |work=ErieReader.com |publisher=Flagship Multimedia, Inc |access-date=December 17, 2013 |quote=We complain about the weather. Or that there's no culture here. Or that Erie's just plain ugly. The mistake on the lake. Dreary Erie. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219001205/http://www.eriereader.com/article/from-the-editors-37 |archive-date=December 19, 2013}} *{{cite web |author=Miller, Jamie Lynn |date=December 2013 |title=A Cactus Story |url=http://www.saltmagazinenc.com/?page_id=517 |work=SaltMagazine.com |access-date=December 17, 2013 |quote=Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania — Dreary Erie, says Ron, the Mistake on the Lake — his nursing career led him to Kentucky ... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219022722/http://www.saltmagazinenc.com/?page_id=517 |archive-date=December 19, 2013}} *{{cite web |author=Wheaton, Kristan J. |date=June 21, 2013 |title=Erie's top competitor? The answer may surprise you |url=http://www.iismu.org/news-and-events/eries-top-competitor-answer-may-surprise-you |work=IISMU.org |publisher=Institute for Intelligence Studies At [[Mercyhurst University]] |access-date=December 17, 2013 |quote=No, for us it is 'dreary Erie' or 'the mistake on the lake.' We don't talk, much less brag, about how we've changed and adapted to a difficult and complex world ... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710180832/http://www.iismu.org/news-and-events/eries-top-competitor-answer-may-surprise-you |archive-date=July 10, 2013}}</ref> Downtown Erie has undergone a resurgence in the early 2020s with the opening of Flagship City Food Hall and Flagship City Public Market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/watch-flagship-city-food-hall-now-open/|title=Watch: Flagship City Food Hall now open|date=November 22, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eriereader.com/article/flagship-city-public-market-opens|title=Flagship City Public Market Opens|first=Erie|last=Reader|website=www.eriereader.com}}</ref> Erie won the [[All-America City Award]] in 1972 and was a finalist in 1961, 1994, 1995, and 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Frederick |first=Robb |title=Erie falls in award contest |newspaper=Erie Times-News |date=June 20, 2009 |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090620/NEWS02/306199871 |access-date=November 22, 2009 |archive-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630065559/http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090620/NEWS02/306199871 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners of the All-America City Award |publisher=[[National Civic League]] |year=2011 |access-date=February 3, 2011 |url=http://www.allamericacityaward.com/past-winners-of-the-all-america-city-award |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717070153/http://www.allamericacityaward.com/past-winners-of-the-all-america-city-award |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 17, 2012}}</ref> In 2012, Erie hosted the Perry 200,<ref name="Perry 200">{{cite news |last1=Speggen |first1=Ben |title=Out of the Mist: The Perry 200 Commemoration Begins |volume=2 |url=http://www.eriereader.com/article/out-of-the-mist-the-perry-200-commemoration-begins |access-date=January 1, 2017 |publisher=Erie Reader |issue=9 |date=May 2, 2012 |ref=84}}</ref> a commemoration celebrating 200 years of peace between Britain, America, and Canada following the [[War of 1812]] and [[Battle of Lake Erie]]. {{Panorama | image = File:Erie PA Panorama c1912 LOC 6a14402u.jpg | height = 150 | caption = [[Panorama]] of downtown Erie in 1912 looking West along the 15th Street tracks; the tallest steeple to the north of the tracks is [[St. Peter Cathedral (Erie, Pennsylvania)|St. Peter Cathedral]]. | alt = }}
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