other religious societies, also two cathedrals. St. Paul’s, Protestant Episcopal, West Sixth Street, Gothic, stone, built, 1866, architect, St. John of Detroit, rose window by Tiffany, who also made some of the memorial windows; St. Peter’s Roman Catholic, Tenth and Sassafras Streets, Gothic; Medina New York red sandstone, trimmed with white sandstone from Amherst, Ohio, and Mercer County, Pennsylvania, built in 1893, architect, C. C. Keely, New York; contains statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, Carrara marble, made in Italy; stations and stained glass windows from Munich, Germany; other windows made in this country. Memorial windows are also in the First Presbyterian Church; St. Mary’s and St. John Kanty (Polish).

The State Soldiers and Sailors’ Home and Marine Hospital, built, 1867-68, brick and stone, is located on the lake front; on the grounds is a replica of the original blockhouse fort, where General Anthony Wayne died in 1796, after his conquest of the Northwest in 1795; he was buried here, until his body was removed in 1809 to St. David’s burial ground, Radnor. The blockhouse, showing plan of construction, was built in 1880, as memorial to General Wayne, it contains relics, and part of coffin lid with his inscription; these grounds were the reservation, on old City Plan of 1795, set apart for fortifications, in the most commanding position, for protection to entrance of harbor. Most of the military history of Erie is interwoven with the location between Parade and Wayne Streets, north of Fifth Street; here was the first white settlement, Presque Isle Village, and French fort in 1753. On bluff near Parade Street, blockhouses were erected, 1753-96-1813. Parade Street formed part of the old French road to Fort Le Boeuf, French garrison, 1753-59; English 1760-63, and in 1785 American 1795-1806, also 1812-13. Here in 1763 took place the hard fought two days’ battle of Presque Isle, with Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, who, with a vast force, simultaneously attacked all thirteen forts, and captured nine of them, including Presque Isle and Le Boeuf, and again this was the objective point of the Indians in 1794, when they were finally conquered by General Wayne.

Here Thomas Rees, first justice of peace, entertained in his tent at the mouth of Mill Creek, a French exile, the Duke de Chartres, subsequently Louis Philippe, king of France. At the foot of Peach and of Cascade Streets, granite blocks, with brass markers, note approximate positions where Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s ships were built, on which he won the victory of the “Battle of Lake Erie,” in 1813. The powder used to fight that battle was made at Du Pont’s, Wilmington, Delaware, and brought through Pennsylvania in Conestoga wagons. The second flagship of his fleet, the Niagara, is in Erie Harbor, having been raised from the sand of Misery Bay, where it lay for nearly a century; it was rebuilt by the state at a cost of $75,000 for the Perry Centennial in 1913; the first flagship, Lawrence, was raised and rebuilt for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876; also in Erie harbor is the United States warship Michigan, now named Wolverine and used as a naval militia training ship; built in 1844, it was the first iron warship, and brought to Erie in sections from Pittsburgh; the original engine is still intact and seaworthy; now oldest ironclad vessel in the world.

At foot of French Street, Commodore Perry’s fleet landed with the captured British squadron. This place was camping ground of the Pennsylvania militia; in War of 1812-13, the British fleet was drawn up in front of the harbor, to destroy Perry’s vessels while under construction; Captain Daniel Dobbins of Erie, commander of the Ohio, was the guiding spirit in building the fleet; 2500 soldiers encamped here, with cannon mounted, and such military preparedness as to forebode disaster to an enemy attempting entrance to the harbor. General Lafayette visited Erie in 1825, and a banquet was given him.

The Presque Isle peninsula, surrounding Erie harbor, has a state park, of more than 1500 acres, which is free to all; it gives Erie a large and thoroughly protected harbor; 100 acres were reserved for United States fortifications and dockyards; a life-saving station here, established in 1876, is place of interest. Presque Isle Bay is the finest natural harbor on the Great Lakes, four and one-half miles long, one and one-half miles wide. Lakeside Park, an irregular and sloping strip of land along the water front, from Mill Creek on east, to City line west, sixty-five acres, was laid out in 1888 by John L. Cully, landscape engineer; other open spaces are the Waterworks Park; the Reservoir; Erie, Trinty and Lakeside Cemeteries. Present city planner is John Nolan, of Massachusetts. Erie has also twenty smaller parks, of these the largest are Glenwood, between Sassafras and Cherry Streets, purchased by Erie Public Park Association in 1903, 114 acres, a natural forest with large stream of clear water and swimming pool; the Fish Hatchery, Twenty-third and Sassafras Streets, one of the most important in the state; Waldamere, four miles west on Lake Erie, and the State Normal School Grounds at Edinboro, sixteen miles south of Erie.

XXXI
VENANGO COUNTY

FORMED March 12, 1800, territory then recently acquired by treaties from the Indians, named from In-nan-ga-eh (a rude figure cut in a tree), Seneca language. A well-watered country, the Allegheny River meandering through rugged hills, about 400 feet high, presents places of rare scenic grandeur; into it flow several streams of considerable volume, among them Oil Creek, French Creek, and Big Sandy. For a number of years after the discovery of petroleum, in 1859, it continued to be the principal oil-producing field; now chief industries are manufacturing, refining of petroleum, lumbering, and agriculture.

Franklin, county seat, population 9970, named for Benjamin Franklin, was laid out by William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, state commissioners, in 1795, on a plateau where a few Seneca Indians were living in comparative security, with a lookout on the highest point of the highest hill, giving views up and down the two beautiful rivers. Being a conservative town, the original city plan has been closely followed, descendants of the early white settlers are living on their own lands from original surveys. Courthouse, Renaissance, brick, in center of a fine wide park, contains portrait of John Morrison, first town crier; near by is Soldiers’ Monument, marble shaft surmounted by an eagle; on the pedestal are carved names of Venango County soldiers killed in the Civil War; opposite is the Franklin News office, Renaissance, good modern construction.

Venango County