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“One of the best organized, best disciplined and most efficient fire departments in existence.”  This quote from the 1888 “A Souvenir of Erie, Penna. Illustrated” is true today I’m sure.  Without the brave men and women of our fire departments, and the state-of-the- art equipment maintained by them; our city would not be the safe, comfortable place it is to reside.  Let’s look at its history.

Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team on the Love Your Parks Tour, and publishers of Big Blend Radio & TV Magazine and Parks & Travel Magazine, for Big Blend Radio’s Vacation Station Travel Show,  broadcasting live from the historic Spencer House Bed & Breakfast in Erie, Pennsylvania.  

Carrie T. Watson, born September 4, 1853 would be celebrating her 167th birthday today!

I see it almost every day.  You have probably seen it yourself, either as a student going through the museum or as an adult touring.  That’s right…the Wayne pot.  Having seen it or not, you may not believe the story, but it is true.  As I retell it now, I must issue a warning though.  This story is not in my general theme of happiness and long life, but it is a good one and as far as I know, it is true.

On July 2, 1863, Colonel Strong Vincent was mortally wounded on the slopes of a rocky hill south of Gettysburg, called Little Round Top. At age 26, Vincent commanded a brigade in the Federal Army of the Potomac. A Harvard-educated lawyer before the outbreak of the Civil War, Vincent had no formal military training. He was a quick learner, however. It was Vincent that chose the spur of ground part way up the slopes of Little Round top-the military crest, not the topographic crest, that would allow his men to fall back to higher ground if forced to.

Erie County is home to many small villages and towns and each one has its own feel with completely different energy than the largest community in the County, the city of Erie.  The 1888 book that I refer to for this blog is strictly about the city, but I want to expand my discussion into the county a bit.  The first town I would like to talk about is Waterford.  

1960 was an election year. Just as we as Americans look to this November to vote again for a Presidential candidate, the people of the United States looked forward to choosing between the nominee of the Democratic Party, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, and the Republican nominee, Vice President Richard M. Nixon.

Something I think is fun to do as Curator of the Erie County Historical Society is to look at an object in our collection and just find out as much as I can about it.  I want to know who made it, where the factory was located, how it worked, and the people who made it. 

Presque Isle State Park is the most visited park in Pennsylvania, and to those of us privileged to live nearby, it is no surprise why.   The park is a relatively new concept for the peninsula, and I was fascinated to learn a little about its history.

This year there’s even an extra incentive for children, and adults, to visit the ECHS museums.