Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the
fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in
Northwestern Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
with a population of 94,831 at the
2020 census.
The estimated population in 2021 had decreased to 93,928.
The
Erie metropolitan area, equivalent to all of
Erie County, consists of 266,096 residents. The
Erie-Meadville combined statistical area had a population of 369,331 at the 2010 census.
Erie is roughly
equidistant
A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal.
In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is the ...
from
Buffalo and
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, each being about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away. Erie's manufacturing sector remains prominent in the local economy, though insurance, healthcare, higher education, technology, service industries, and tourism are emerging as significant economic drivers. As with the other Great Lakes port cities, Erie is accessible to the oceans via the
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
and
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
network in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. 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
The Erie people (also Eriechronon, Riquéronon, Erielhonan, Eriez, Nation du Chat) were Indigenous people historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian group, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvani ...
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
Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member
of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...
's
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
''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
The All-America City Award is a community recognition program in the United States given by the National Civic League. The award recognizes the work of communities in using inclusive civic engagement to address critical issues and create stronge ...
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
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
and
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...
.
History
![Erie, Pennsylvania 1922](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania_1922.jpg)
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
The Sommerheim Park Archaeological District includes a group of six archaeological sites west of Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States. The sites are in Sommerheim Park, one of the few undeveloped areas of the Lake Erie shoreline, in Millcree ...
in
Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania west of the city, includes artifacts from the
Archaic period in the Americas
Archaic is a period of time preceding a designated classical period, or something from an older period of time that is also not found or used currently:
*List of archaeological periods
**Archaic Sumerian language, spoken between 31st - 26th cen ...
, as well as from the Early and Middle
Woodland Period
In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...
, 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
Fort Presque Isle (also Fort de la Presqu'île) was a fort built by French soldiers in summer 1753 along Presque Isle Bay at present-day Erie, Pennsylvania, to protect the northern terminus of the Venango Path. It was the first of the French p ...
near present-day Erie in 1753, as part of their effort to defend
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
against the encroaching British colonists. The name of the fort refers to the peninsula that juts into
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, now protected as Presque Isle State Park. The French term ''
presque-isle
Presque-isle (from the French ''presqu'île'', meaning ''almost island'') is a geographical term denoting a piece of land which is closer to being an island than most peninsulas because of its being joined to the mainland by an extremely narrow ne ...
'' 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
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(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.
[''History of Erie County'', p. 503.]
Erie is in what was the disputed
Erie Triangle
The Erie Triangle is a roughly 300-square-mile (780-square-kilometre) tract of American land that was the subject of several competing colonial-era claims. It was eventually acquired by the U.S. federal government and sold to Pennsylvania so that ...
, 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
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
by the states of
New York,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
(as part of its
Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...
), and
. 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
The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New Y ...
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.
[Nelson, pp. 103−104.]
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
Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. (capital city of the United States) known today as the L'Enfant Plan (1791).
Early life ...
's survey of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
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. Initial settlement of the area began that year.
[''History of Erie County'', pp 505−506.] Lt.
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Seth Reed and his family moved to the Erie area from
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...
; they were Yankees from
Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, MA, Mendon, and named for the Marquess of Anglesey, Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located south ...
. They became the first European-American settlers of Erie, at what became known as "Presque Isle".
President
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
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 construction of four schooner−rigged gunboats and two brigs. Commodore
Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member
of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...
arrived from
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and led the squadron to success in the historic
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...
.
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
In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
s 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 Erie Gauge War (sometimes called the Erie Railroad War) was a conflict between the citizens of Erie, Pennsylvania, and two railroad companies over the standardization of the track gauge between Erie and the New York border. It started on Dec ...
, the citizens of Erie, led by the mayor, set fire to bridges, ripped up track, and rioted to try to stop the standardization.
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 city, before emptying into
Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is at an elevation of 571 ft (174 m) ...
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
The All-America City Award is a community recognition program in the United States given by the National Civic League. The award recognizes the work of communities in using inclusive civic engagement to address critical issues and create stronge ...
in 1972, and was a finalist in 1961, 1994, 1995, and 2009.
Geography
![Erie, Pennsylvania map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania_map.png)
Erie is situated in
Northwestern Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
at (42.114507, -80.076213),
on the southern shore of
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
across from the Canadian province of Ontario. It is northeast of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, southwest of
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, and north of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. Erie's bedrock is
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
and
siltstone
Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...
, overlain by glacial
till
image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
s and
stratified drift. Stream drainage in the city flows northward into Lake Erie, then through Lake Ontario into the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
, 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 River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
s.
Lake Erie is about above sea level, while the city of Erie is about above sea level.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , with being land and the remaining , 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 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 , and the tallest building is
Renaissance Centre at . Erie has generally small ethnic neighborhoods, including a Little Italy. South of 38th Street, the grid gives way to curvilinear roads of post-1970 suburban development.
Millcreek Township and upper
Peach Street
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...
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
The Bayfront Convention Center is a convention center complex located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The center, which has views of Presque Isle Bay from three sides, includes a Great Hall with a seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of peop ...
is on Sassafras Pier next to Dobbins Landing. The
Bicentennial Tower
The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower located in Erie, Pennsylvania and features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie. The tower was built to signify the city's bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial o ...
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
Erie Maritime Museum is a maritime museum located on Presque Isle Bay which rests on the waterfront in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania. It is managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission ( PHMC). When it opened its doors on May 21, 19 ...
and the city's main library, and third-largest in Pennsylvania, host the
USS ''Niagara''. Docks and
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
s fill the freshwater shoreline in between.
Climate
Under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Erie falls within either a
hot-summer humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(''Dfa'') if the isotherm is used or a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(''Cfa'') if the isotherm is used. It is located in the
snow belt
The Snowbelt is the region near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores.
...
that stretches from
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
to
Syracuse and
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
; winters are moderately cold, with heavy
lake-effect snow, but also with occasional stretches of mild weather that cause accumulated snow to melt. The city experiences a full range of weather events, including snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and fog. The city's lakeside location helps to temper summer heat, with an average of 4 days of + highs annually, and the highest temperature ever recorded was on June 25, 1988. An average of 3 days have lows of or colder annually, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was on January 19, 1994, and February 16, 2015.
Erie is third on ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
''s list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging ; however, the 1981–2010 normal seasonal snowfall is . Average annual snowfall in the decade 2010-2019 was . The adverse winter conditions caused USAir Flight 499 to overrun the runway at
Erie International Airport
Erie International Airport Tom Ridge Field is a public airport southwest of Erie, in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Airline service at Erie faces stiff competition from the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto airports, al ...
on February 21, 1986, and caused
whiteouts that were responsible for a 50-car
pile-up
A multiple vehicle collision (colloquially known as a pile-up, multi-car collision, multi-vehicle collision, or simply a multi) is a road traffic collision involving many vehicles. Generally occurring on high-capacity and high-speed routes such ...
on
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
on January 25, 2007.
The coldest maximum temperature on record was in 1994 and the average coldest maximum between 1991 and 2020 was .
The warmest overnight low on record was once in 1918 and another time during the
1936 North American heat wave.
On average, the warmest low of the year is a quite muggy .
On December 24 and 25, 2017, Erie received of snowfall, breaking a record for the largest two-day snowfall anywhere in Pennsylvania. By the close of the 2017–2018 snow season, Erie had recorded of snow, its snowiest season on record, breaking the previous record of inches set in 2000–2001 by a large margin.
Demographics
As of the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, 101,786 people,
40,913 households, and 22,915 families were residing in the city. Its 44,790 housing units averaged a vacancy rate of 8%. Erie has long been declining in population due to the departure of factories and dependent businesses. The city has lost about 40,000 people since the early 1960s, allowing
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
to claim the position as Pennsylvania's third-largest city behind
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
.
Erie's population was spread evenly among all age groups, with the median being 34. About 13% of families and 19% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
. Most of the people who reside in Erie are of European descent.
Since the 1980s, the International Institute of Erie (IIE), founded in 1919, has helped with the resettlement of refugees from
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
,
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, Russia,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. The inclusion of refugees in Erie's community augments religious diversity and prompts community events such as cultural festivals.
Religion
In the early 20th century, Erie had a significant Russian immigrant community, many members of which worked in the
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
plants along the bayfront. Unusual for a Great Lakes city, a substantial number of these Russian immigrants were priestless (
''Bespopovtsy'')
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...
. In 1983, most of this community united with the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and Father Pimen Simon became an
Old Ritualist priest within the canonical
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
. Even today, the gold-domed Church of the Nativity, on the bayfront near the former heart of the Russian community, is an Old Ritualist church and home parish to the famed
iconographer
Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...
Fr.
Theodore Jurewicz
Fr. Theodore Jurewicz (russian: Феодор Юревич; born 1953, Erie, Pennsylvania) is a Polish-American Orthodox old-rite priest and artist specializing in painting Byzantine icons and frescoes. Father Jurewicz is also an archpriest of th ...
.
![Mercyhurst2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Mercyhurst2.jpg)
The Erie
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community is over 150 years old.
Temple Anshe Hesed
Temple Anshe Hesed is a Reform Judaism, Reform synagogue located at 5401 Old Zuck Road in Erie, Pennsylvania. The congregation is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism.
History
Anshe Hesed, once spelled as Anschai Chesed,Samuel Penniman ...
, a member of the
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...
, is served by its spiritual leader, Rabbi Robert Morais. Congregation Brith Sholom (Jewish Center) is affiliated with the
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...
, and Rabbi Leonard Lifshen has been its spiritual leader since 1989.
Erie is home to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie
The Diocese of Erie ( la, Dioecesis Eriensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western Pennsylvania. It was founded on July 29, 1853. It is one of seven suffragan dioceses in Pennsylvania that mak ...
, covering 13 counties—at , it is the largest in the state in area. Its diocesan seat is
Saint Peter Cathedral in Erie, which has a central tower flanked by two towers. Since October 1, 2012,
Lawrence T. Persico
Lawrence Thomas Persico (born November 21, 1950, Monessen, Pennsylvania) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania since 2012.
Biography Early life
Lawrence Persico ...
has been the bishop of Erie;
Donald Trautman
Donald Walter Trautman (June 24, 1936 – February 26, 2022) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Western Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bish ...
is the
bishop emeritus
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...
of the diocese.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, Erie County had a total population of 280,843 people in 2000, of which 103,333 claimed affiliation with the Catholic Church, 40,301 with mainline Protestant houses of worship, and 12,980 with evangelical Protestant churches.
Economy
![Eriefactory01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Eriefactory01.jpg)
Erie is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's primary access point to Lake Erie, the Great Lakes, and the
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
. The city emerged as a maritime center 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
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and thrived well into the 20th century with firms such as
Griswold Manufacturing
Griswold Manufacturing () was an American manufacturer of cast iron kitchen products founded in Erie, Pennsylvania, in business from 1865 through 1957. For many years the company had a world-wide reputation for high-quality cast-iron cookware. To ...
, once the leader in cast-iron cookware.
Since the decline of the large manufacturers in the later 20th century, a more diverse mix of midsized industries has emerged. This broader economic base includes not only smaller and more agile steel and plastic plants (with about 10% of tooling and molding located in the tristate area), but also 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
Erie Insurance, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a property and casualty insurance company offering auto, home, business and life insurance through a network of independent insurance agents. , Erie Insurance Group is ranked 347th on the 2021 Fortu ...
and
Marquette Savings Bank
Marquette Savings Bank is a bank headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1908 by a consortium of 38 local businessman, under the name of Marquette Building and Loan Association. Marketed as "Erie's only hometown ba ...
.
Lord Corporation
LORD Corporation is a diversified technology and manufacturing company that develops adhesives, coatings, motion management devices, and sensing technologies for industries such as aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, and industrial. With world he ...
was founded and has major operations in Erie. Along with GE and Erie Insurance, major employers in the county include the county,
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, and
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
governments, as well as the
Erie City School District
The Erie City School District is the school district that serves Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a member of the Northwest Tri-County IU 5.
Serving the Erie School District are two high schools, three middle schools, and ten e ...
.
Over 10% of the USA's plastics are manufactured or finished in Erie-based plastics plants.
Erie is an emerging center for
biofuels
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
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
The Millcreek Mall or Millcreek Mall Complex is a one-level shopping center southwest of downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, between Peach Street and Interstate 79, in Millcreek Township. The mall is the tenth largest shopping complex in the United S ...
and
Peach Street
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...
stores and attractions as a result of Pennsylvania's
tax exemption
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
on clothing.
Both
UPMC Hamot and
Saint Vincent Health System
Saint Vincent Health System, commonly known as simply St. Vincent's, is medical facility located in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is one of the largest employers in the Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Er ...
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
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and do ...
in 2011 and Saint Vincent, which affiliated with the
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...
in 2012, merged with
Highmark
Highmark is an American non-profit healthcare company and Integrated Delivery Network based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a large individual not-for-profit health insurer in the United States, which operates several for-pro ...
's Allegheny Health Network in 2013. The
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...
operates the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center on East 38th Street. The
Shriners International
Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Shriners International describes itself ...
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 quality healthcare in the city. LECOM provides stakeholders and assets to the community as part of its mission. LECOM is located both in the city and adjacent Millcreek Township.
Arts and culture
![Bostonstore, top](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Bostonstore%2C_top.jpg)
Erie is home to several professional and amateur performing-arts groups. The most significant is the
Erie Philharmonic, in continuous existence since 1913 (with the exception of an
interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
). This group of professional musicians also has a full
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
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
Erie Art Museum is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Museum holds a collection of more than 8,000 objects, with strengths in American art pottery, American ceramics, Tibetan art, Tibetan paintings, Arts and entertainment in India#Sculpture, Indian ...
is the city's main
art gallery, located in the
Old Customshouse on State Street. Its collection has an emphasis on
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
and
modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
and it hosts a popular blues and jazz concert series. The Erie Art Museum also works on public art projects in an effort to revitalize and improve the city. In 2000, the Erie Art Museum created a project entitled GoFish, similar to
CowParade
CowParade is an international public art exhibit that has featured in major world cities. Fiberglass sculptures of cows are decorated by local artists, and distributed over the city centre, in public places such as train stations, important avenu ...
; 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
Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA D ...
'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's intentions are 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
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...
. The downtown area is the home of the
Erie Playhouse
Erie Playhouse is a historic theatre located in Erie, Pennsylvania.
History
The Erie Playhouse was established as the "Peoples Theatre" by 1882, and was incorporated as the Erie Civic Theatre Association in 1916.
The troupe performed at the H ...
, 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 A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycling, motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Association#Iron Butt Rally, Iron Butt Rally invo ...
has taken place in Erie, although in 2019, it moved to the Lake Erie Speedway.
![Flagship-Niagara-Dobbins-Landing-Erie-July4-2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Flagship-Niagara-Dobbins-Landing-Erie-July4-2009.jpg)
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
The Erie Land Light, also known as the Old Presque Isle Light, is a lighthouse on the shore of Lake Erie in Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania. It is one of the three lighthouses in Erie, along with the Presque Isle Light and the Erie Harbor N ...
stands at the foot of Lighthouse Street. The lighthouse was built in 1818 and replaced in 1867.
The
Bicentennial Tower
The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower located in Erie, Pennsylvania and features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie. The tower was built to signify the city's bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial o ...
, on Dobbins Landing at the foot of State Street, was built in 1995−96 to celebrate the city's bicentennial. It is 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
Presque Isle Downs & Casino is a casino and horse racing track near Erie, Pennsylvania, owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc.
History
The developer, MTR Gaming Group, broke ground in October 2005 for the new facility, which opened on February ...
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 fictional band The Wonders in ''
That Thing You Do!
''That Thing You Do!'' is a 1996 American comedy film co-starring, written, and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s one-hit wonder pop band, and sta ...
'' featuring
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
. It is mentioned in the film ''
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
'' as the location of the fictional company Anacott Steel. Erie is the hometown of
Train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
lead singer,
Patrick Monahan
Patrick Monahan (born February 28, 1969) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has collaborated with multiple artists and recorded a solo album, ''Last ...
. Erie is also the hometown of
Marc Brown, the author and illustrator of
''Arthur'' books and TV series.
Libraries
![Brig Niagara behind museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Brig_Niagara_behind_museum.jpg)
There are five branches of the Erie County library system in Erie, and a
bookmobile
A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...
.
The
Main Library opened in 1996, and is the third-largest library in Pennsylvania. It is connected to the
Erie Maritime Museum
Erie Maritime Museum is a maritime museum located on Presque Isle Bay which rests on the waterfront in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania. It is managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission ( PHMC). When it opened its doors on May 21, 19 ...
, and has waterfront views of the
Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is at an elevation of 571 ft (174 m) ...
. 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.
Sports
![ErieUht](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/ErieUht.jpg)
Erie plays host to a number of semiprofessional and professional sports teams. The
Erie SeaWolves
The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...
play AA baseball in the
Eastern League as an affiliate of the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
. The
Erie Otters
The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North Am ...
play hockey in the
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...
. Hockey games are played at
Erie Insurance Arena
Erie Insurance Arena (originally known as Erie Civic Center and later, Louis J. Tullio Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the downtown area of Erie, Pennsylvania. It is home to the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League and was the forme ...
, while
Minor League Baseball games are held at
UPMC Park
UPMC Park, formerly known as Jerry Uht Park, is a baseball park located in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is the home of the Double-A (baseball), Double-A Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, the city's Minor League Base ...
.
Gannon University
Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA D ...
,
Mercyhurst University
(Seize the day)
, former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012)
, established =
, type = Private university
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)
, endowment = $31.8 million
, faculty = 136 full-time
, administrat ...
,
Edinboro University
PennWest Edinboro is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University, a multi-campus public university in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Edinboro, the campus has more than 4,600 enrolled students.
History
Edinboro University was founded a ...
, and
Penn State Behrend
Penn State Behrend (PSB) is a satellite campus of Pennsylvania State University and it is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. PSB is a four-year campus with over 5,000 students and over 250 faculty, in five academic programs: the Schools of Business, E ...
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
The Burger King Basketball Classic, formerly known as the McDonald's Classic from 1983 to 2010, is a four-team boys high school basketball invitational tournament held each year since 1983 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Since its inception in 1983, the B ...
since 2010. Scholastic and intramural sports are held at school and
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
facilities around the city. The
Mercyhurst Ice Center
Mercyhurst Ice Center is a 35,280 square foot, 1,500-seat hockey rink in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Mercyhurst University Lakers Men's and Women's ice hockey teams. The center was the first privately funded ice rink in ...
, JMC Ice Arena, Erie Sports Park, and
Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium
Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium is a football and soccer stadium located in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It was built in 1924 with the 1920 Academy High School building (the current Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy) overlooking it ...
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 National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...
.
The
Seaway Trail
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail, formerly named and commonly known as the Seaway Trail, is a National Scenic Byway in the northeastern United States, mostly contained in New York but with a small segment in Pennsylvania. The trail consists of a se ...
runs through downtown Erie along the lakefront. The
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center is a center on the grounds of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. Named after former Pennsylvania Governor and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, the center opened on 26 May ...
, at the foot of Presque Isle, features of exhibit space.
Other tourist destinations include the
Bayfront Convention Center
The Bayfront Convention Center is a convention center complex located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The center, which has views of Presque Isle Bay from three sides, includes a Great Hall with a seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of peop ...
; the
Bicentennial Tower
The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower located in Erie, Pennsylvania and features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie. The tower was built to signify the city's bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial o ...
that overlooks Lake Erie;
Dobbins Landing
Dobbins Landing is a popular tourist area located at the edge of Presque Isle Bay at the terminus of State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. Consisting of a wharf and adjoining facilities, the landing includes the Bicentennial Tower, the Sheraton Erie ...
, a pier in downtown Erie; the Erie Land Light, and the Erie Maritime Museum, the home port of the ''Niagara''. The 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
Waldameer & Water World is an amusement park and water park in Erie, Pennsylvania located at the base of Presque Isle. Waldameer is the fourth oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, the tenth oldest in the nation, and one of only thirteen trol ...
, located at the base of Presque Isle, is the fourth-oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, and the 10th-oldest in the US.
Government
![Erie City Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Erie_City_Hall.jpg)
The city of Erie is incorporated as a
third-class city under Pennsylvania law.
[''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6–5.] Incorporated under an "optional charter", the city is governed by a
mayor–council government
The mayor–council government system is a system of local government that has a mayor who is directly elected by the voters serve as chief executive, and a separately elected legislative city council. It is one of the two most common forms of loc ...
. The government consists of a mayor,
treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
, and
controller
Controller may refer to:
Occupations
* Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position
* Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage
* Air traffic controller, a person ...
, and a seven-member
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
. They are elected to four-year terms, with the terms of the council designed to be overlapping.
The mayor is
chief executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and the city council prepares legislation and conducts oversight. The city council meets in Mario S. Bagnoni Council Chambers at City Hall.
Joseph Schember
Joseph Schember (born November 13, 1950) is an American banker and politician and serving as the 48th mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania. Schember previously served as a vice president of PNC Bank and as a member of the Erie City Council between 2006 an ...
(
D) is the mayor of the city of Erie and was first elected in 2017. , the Erie City Council consists of:
* Liz Allen
* Michael Keys
* Ed Brzezinski
* Jasmine Flores
* Chuck Nelson
* Maurice "Mo" Troop
* Mel Witherspoon
Erie is the largest city in
Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district is located in Northwestern Pennsylvania. It contains all of Erie County, Crawford County, Mercer County, and Lawrence County, as well as part of Butler County. The district is represented by Republic ...
and is currently represented in Congress by
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Mike Kelly, who was elected in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. Republican
Dan Laughlin of the
49th District represents Erie in the
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...
. The city of Erie is split by the
1st and
2nd Districts of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
and is represented by
Democrats Patrick Harkins
Patrick J. Harkins (born December 22, 1963) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for 1st District and was elected in 2006.
Early life and education
Harkins grew up in Erie, Penns ...
and
Robert E. Merski
Robert Merski (born May 14, 1975) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District.
Personal
Merski was born and grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. He attended Cathedral Preparatory School and gr ...
, respectively.
Education
Erie Public Schools enroll 12,527 students in primary and secondary grades. The district has 23 public schools including elementary, middle, and high schools, with one charter school. Other than public schools, the city is home to more than 40 private schools and academies. Erie public schools are under frequent criticism for education quality, school rankings, and abnormally high teacher salary.
The City of Erie is served by two public high schools,
Erie High School and
Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy
The Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (abbreviated NPCA), or just Collegiate Academy or Academy High School, is located in midtown Erie, Pennsylvania. The school is housed in the former Academy High School building, which reopened in Septe ...
, plus three Catholic high schools:
Cathedral Preparatory School,
Mercyhurst Preparatory School
Mercyhurst Preparatory School, commonly called Mercyhurst Prep or MPS, is a Catholic, coeducational secondary school located in Erie, Pennsylvania. In the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, the school is located behind Mercyhurst University on East ...
, and
Villa Maria Academy.
![LECOM Erie campus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/LECOM_Erie_campus.jpg)
Erie is home to several colleges and universities, including
Gannon University
Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA D ...
located in downtown Erie, and
Mercyhurst University
(Seize the day)
, former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012)
, established =
, type = Private university
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)
, endowment = $31.8 million
, faculty = 136 full-time
, administrat ...
in the southeast part of the city. Other notable colleges in the Erie area include
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Penn State Behrend (PSB) is a satellite campus of Pennsylvania State University and it is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. PSB is a four-year campus with over 5,000 students and over 250 faculty, in five academic programs: the Schools of Business, E ...
,
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) is a private medical school in Erie, Pennsylvania, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Bradenton, Florida, DeFuniak Springs, Florida and Elmira, New York. Founded in 1992, LECOM confers medical (D.O.) ...
(LECOM, a large medical school), and
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Erie is also home of the
Barber National Institute
The Barber National Institute (formerly the Barber Center) is a nonprofit, multi-faceted organization that provides services to more than 6,300 children, adults, and families who are faced with autism, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral ...
and its Elizabeth Lee Black School, which provides services and education for children and adults with mental disabilities. Erie is home to its main campus, and it provides services in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Achievement Center also serves the needs of children from birth to age 21 with physical and mental health disabilities.
Community college
After years of advocacy on the issue, Erie County Council approved sponsorship of the Erie County Community College on June 28, 2017. Council Chairman Jay Breneman and colleagues Andre Horton, Kathy Fatica, and Fiore Leone voted in favor of sponsoring the community college, which was later signed by County Executive
Kathy Dahlkemper
Kathleen Ann Dahlkemper ( née Steenberge; born December 10, 1957) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 2013 and served as the U.S. representative for ...
. The county executive's administration took the lead in presenting the proposal to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education for approval, supported by a cross-section of business, civic, labor, and community leaders.
Media
![Erietimes2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Erietimes2.jpg)
Erie is served by ''
Erie Times-News
The ''Erie Times-News'' is a daily morning newspaper in Erie, Pennsylvania. It has a daily circulation of about 47,385 and a Sunday circulation of about 58,378.
The beginning
The newspaper was founded as the ''Erie Daily Times'' on April 12, 188 ...
'', the city's daily newspaper, as well as ''
Erie Reader
The ''Erie Reader'' is an Erie, Pennsylvania alternative newspaper
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigati ...
'', an alternative weekly newspaper.
The
Nielsen Company
Nielsen Holdings plc is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide.
The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and use ...
ranks Erie as 152 out of the 210 largest television markets in the United States, as of the 2019−2020 report. The market is served by stations affiliated with major American networks, including
WICU-TV
WICU-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by SJL Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Lilly Broadcasting, owner of CBS/ CW+ affiliate a ...
12 (NBC),
WJET-TV
WJET-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WFXP (channel 66) under a local marketing agreement ...
24 (ABC),
WFXP
WFXP (channel 66) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of ABC a ...
66 (FOX),
WSEE-TV
WSEE-TV (channel 35) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. It is the flagship television property of locally based Lilly Broadcasting, and is a sister station to NBC affiliate WICU-TV ...
35 (CBS), and
WSEE-DT2 35.2 (
CW).
WQLN 54 is a member station of
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
and also broadcasts in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
. Cable companies available for Erie include Charter Spectrum, DirecTV, and Dish Network.
Erie is served by several AM and FM radio stations based in the city, and dozens of other nearby station broadcasts can be heard.
In August 2019, Erie was the subject of a new television show, ''
Undercover Billionaire
''Undercover Billionaire'' is an American reality television series that is broadcast on the Discovery Channel. The show premiered on August 6, 2019 and the final episode of the first season aired September 24, 2019. The show follows billionaire ...
'', from the Discovery Channel. In this show, a wealthy businessman,
Glenn Stearns
Glenn Bryant Stearns (born 1963) is an American businessman, and the founder of Stearns Lending. He is the star of the Discovery Channel's show Undercover Billionaire, and subsequent founder of Underdog BBQ in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Early life
Ste ...
, travels to Erie under a fake name, Glenn Bryant. He starts with $100, a cell phone, and an old pickup truck. He is then asked to make a business worth over $1 million in 90 days. If he fails, he has to put $1 million of his own money into the business. Stearns makes the now prosperous business of UnderDog BBQ. Although he only gets the company valuation around $750,000, it is still a successful business to date. He gave everyone who helped him big roles in the company's future and also invested the $1 million he owed.
Infrastructure
Transportation
![Lastdc9ERI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Lastdc9ERI.jpg)
Erie is well connected to the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
. Six "Erie exits" are along
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
, a major cross-country thoroughfare running from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. Erie is the northern terminus of
Interstate 79, which travels south to Pittsburgh and, ultimately,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
. The western terminus for
Interstate 86, also called the "Southern Tier Expressway", is at Interstate 90 near
Harborcreek, between Erie and
North East. Interstate 86 continues east through New York to
Binghamton
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
. The
Bayfront Connector
Pennsylvania Route 290 (designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as SR 290) is a state highway located in the environs of Erie, Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at Interstate 79 and Pennsylvania Route ...
runs from Interstate 90 in Harborcreek to the
Bayfront Parkway and downtown Erie, along the east side of the city, then connects to Interstate 79 on the west side of the city. Major
thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by
extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...
s in the city include
12th Street,
26th Street, 38th Street, and Peach Street. Peach is also a part of
U.S. Route 19
U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie.
The highway's southern ...
, whose northern terminus is in Erie and continues south, eventually reaching the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. Other major routes running through Erie are
Pennsylvania Route 5
Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) is a westward continuation of New York State Route 5 (NY 5) in Pennsylvania. It runs from North East, Pennsylvania at the New York-Pennsylvania border to Springfield Township in western Erie County, for a total of ...
, known as the
Seaway Trail
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail, formerly named and commonly known as the Seaway Trail, is a National Scenic Byway in the northeastern United States, mostly contained in New York but with a small segment in Pennsylvania. The trail consists of a se ...
and is made up of parts of 6th Street, 8th Street, 12th Street, and East Lake Road in the city,
U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
, which is 26th Street in the city. The city is divided between east and west by State Street.
![EMTA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/EMTA.jpg)
The
Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority
The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) is the Municipal Authority that owns and operates the public transport system in Erie County, Pennsylvania which includes the 'e', the area's transit buses; LIFT, the county paratransit service; and Ba ...
operates the city's
transit bus
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
system, known as the 'e'. Buses run seven days a week in the city, with trips out to other parts of the county occurring a few times a week.
Intercity buses providing transportation between Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh are operated by
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...
. Service between Buffalo and Cleveland is also provided by
Lakefront Lines. Both companies operate out of the Intermodal Transportation Center, which opened in 2002 at the foot of Holland Street.
The former "Water Level Route" of the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
travels directly through Erie. It is now the mainline for
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
freight train
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...
s. The mainline of the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
, originally built by the
Nickel Plate Railroad
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylva ...
, also travels through Erie. At one time, Norfolk Southern trains
ran down the middle of 19th Street, but were removed in 2002. Passenger rail service is provided by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's ''
Lake Shore Limited
The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity rail, intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two Section (rail transport), sections east of Albany, New York, Albany. The train bega ...
'' out of
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
at 14th and State Streets. The ''Lake Shore Limited'' stops twice daily—one eastbound towards New York City or Boston, and one westbound towards Chicago.
Erie International Airport and Tom Ridge Field (
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
code: ERI;
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
code: KERI) are located west of the city and host
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
, charter, and
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
service. Destinations with nonstop flights out of Erie include
Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...
via
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. ,
Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport ( IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles we ...
via
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
, and
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primary ...
via
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
(Currently suspended). Erie International is in the midst of an $80.5 million runway extension. The extension is slated to increase the runway's length by , for a total runway length of , "to meet safety requirements" and allow the airport to accommodate larger aircraft.
The Port of Erie is located on Presque Isle Bay, a natural harbor formed by Presque Isle. It offers some of the finest port facilities for cargo shipping on the Great Lakes, with direct rail access. The Erie−Western Pennsylvania Port Authority provides
water taxi
A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...
service in the summer between Dobbins Landing and Liberty Park in downtown Erie, and the Waterworks ferry landing on Presque Isle.
Utilities
The
Erie Water Works
The Erie Water Works was incorporated in 1865 as the Erie Water and Gas Company to provide drinking water and fire hydrant water for the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. The Water Works, also known as the Erie City Water Authority, replaced the Erie W ...
, which was incorporated in 1865 as the Erie Water and Gas Company, includes a reservoir, two water-treatment plants, and an elaborate water works and pipe network that provides water for most of the city and suburbs. Penelec, a subsidiary of
FirstEnergy, supplies electricity to the region, as well as the
Northwestern Pennsylvania Rural Electric Cooperative.
National Fuel Gas Company provides residents with natural gas.
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
became the region's
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
provider, after taking over
Adelphia, and also provides digital phone and high-speed internet to the region. Local telephone and high-speed internet service is also provided by
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
.
Sewage service in Erie is provided by the Erie Sewer Authority, and many outlying townships have partnerships with the Sewer Authority for service. The authority cleans about 30 of wastewater every day.
The
time and temperature
A speaking clock or talking clock is a live or recorded human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observ ...
number in Erie is 452-6311 and was originally discontinued by Verizon in October 2008 before being restarted by a private individual two years later. The city of Erie and northwest Pennsylvania is located in
area code 814. On December 16, 2010, the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is the public utility commission in Pennsylvania. It is composed of five commissioners, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the state Senate. The PUC oversees public utility and services opera ...
(PUC) voted to split the area code, which was to take effect February 1, 2012. The
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international callin ...
decided that northwest Pennsylvania would receive the new code of
582. A local grassroots coalition began organizing an opposition to the plan, and generated numerous petitions for reconsideration. The PUC immediately voted to review their decision and ordered additional public-input hearings and technical conferences as a response to the strong public outcry. In January 2011, the PUC announced that it was placing the entire area code split plan on hold as NEUSTAR pushed the projected exhaustion date back two years to 2015.
Public safety
The
Erie Police Department has 173 sworn personnel.
The Erie Fire Department is a full-time fire department and employs around 150 uniformed personnel. The city currently has six fire stations and protects about . The city has five engine companies, including two rescue engines, one
tower company, and one water-rescue unit. The city provides mutual aid to fire departments of Millcreek Township, Summit Township, and East County.
Sister cities
Erie has four official
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
as designated by
Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of "sister cities" ...
:
*
Dungarvan, Ireland (2007)
*
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
, Poland (1999)
*
Mérida,
Yucatán
Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...
, Mexico (1973)
*
Zibo
Zibo (, ) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou to the ...
,
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
, China (1985)
Notable people
*
List of people from Erie, Pennsylvania
The following is a list of notable persons who were born, or who have lived a significant part of their lives, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Art and Literature
* Richard Anuszkiewicz, founder and foremost artist of Op Art movement
* Moses Billings, earl ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Erie Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
{{Authority control
Cities in Erie County, Pennsylvania
Cities in Pennsylvania
County seats in Pennsylvania
Inland port cities and towns of Pennsylvania
Old Believer communities in the United States
Pennsylvania populated places on Lake Erie
Populated places established in 1795
Ukrainian communities in the United States