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With a large group of men off to war during WWII, women were joining the workforce to aid in the war effort. The typical role of the American woman up to this point was to be married, have children and be a homemaker while her husband was at work. Though not all women followed this path, it was the expectation.

It is not often that I learn something about a topic I really enjoy in Erie history, but it happened!  I have been reading John Nolen’s “Plans and Reports for the Extension and Improvement of the City” and the section “railroads” caught my eye.  If you have been a regular reader of this blog, you may realize that I like trains.  I learned that in 1913, five railroads went through the city:  Lake Shore & Michigan Southern; Philadelphia & Erie; Pittsburgh, Bessemer & Lake Erie; New York, Chicago & St. Louis and the Erie & Pittsburgh.  The tracks were located in four places in town: 14^th Street, 15^th Street, 19^th Street, and the west half of 12^th Street then going down along the waterfront towards the docks.

Would you be surprised to know, Erie had a cruise ship tethered to the Public Dock, known today as Dobbins Landing? First, a little background on the ship itself.

John Nolen was hired in 1913 to improve the city of Erie for a prosperous future and begins his recommendations by telling us what we did right.  His first topic were the streets. 

Theodore Maximilian Nagle, namesake of the Nagle Engine and Boiler Works of Erie, Pennsylvania, was born in Germany in 1840. In 1923, he penned a short book entitled Reminiscences of The Civil War. The book is a detailed account of Nagle’s regiment, the 21^st New York Volunteers in the Civil War. In 1914, Nagle also penned a small booklet or pamphlet detailing the regiment’s role in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia in December, 1862.

As I continue this series on all things that make for living a long and happy life in Erie County, I have stumbled across a book that I have been wanting to read for many years.  Although the title may scare away a casual reader of local history, I am sure that readers of this blog will find the contents fascinating.  It is called “Plans and Reports for the Extension and Improvement of the City” written in 1913 by City Planner John Nolen (1869-1937).  I mentioned Mr. Nolan in Blog #94 on GE and Lawrence Park.  I have read that he was the first American to identify himself as a “city planner” and studied landscape architecture under Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (who designed New York City’s Central Park among other places).  Nolan consulted on plans for more than 25 cities in the country and Erie was one of them. 

Little is known about the Native American tribe that gave its name to Erie, Lake Erie and a county in three states. They were gone when the first settlers of European descent arrived in the region. What happened to the Erie or Eriez tribe?

The first thing I do when I walk into my office each morning is turn on the lights.  I don’t care if a little sunlight is coming through my small window or not, I mindlessly turn them on and go about my day.  Today though, I thought about Thomas Edison and his connection to Erie when I turned on my lights and then did a little research.