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Before I moved to Erie in 2016, I lived in Fairfax County, Virginia for over 30 years. Fairfax County is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. During the Civil War the corridor between Washington and Richmond was a hotly contested battleground. Thus, the war played a heavy hand in Fairfax County from 1861-1865 and while I lived there, I visited many of its historic sites.  One of these was the Blenheim House near Fairfax Courthouse, about 17 miles west of Washington, D.C. The Blenheim House has an Erie connection which I will explain shortly. (Note: During the Civil War, the house was known as the Wilcoxon House. It was renamed Blenheim House in about 1900).

Today we will look at telephones and how they have evolved. Many might think of Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but that isn’t completely true. Yes, Bell has the first U.S. patent for inventing the telephone in 1876, however; in 1854, Antonio Meucci constructed a telephone-like device. Prior to Meucci there were other people inventing forms of communication which date back to 1672. If we went that far back though, this might become a multi-blog discussion.

This Memorial Day, “The Wall That Heals,” a portable version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. will visit Erie. In recognition of the visit of “The Wall That Heals,” the Hagen History Center will recognize the 59 servicemen from Erie County that are among the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in Southeast Asia. Each week, a few veterans will be featured on our social media. The week of Memorial Day, several servicemen will be honored.

It is wonderful to witness the reuse of many of the older buildings here in Erie.  One that most of us are familiar with and has had many different “lives” is the Cashier’s House located at 417 State Street.

This Memorial Day, “The Wall That Heals,” a portable version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. will visit Erie. In recognition of the visit of “The Wall That Heals,” the Hagen History Center will recognize the 59 servicemen from Erie County that are among the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in Southeast Asia. Each week, a few veterans will be featured on our social media. The week of Memorial Day, several servicemen will be honored.

I recently received my copy of “The Casting Call”, the newsletter of the Wagner and Griswold Society.  In it are photos of the 2021 Convention that was held in Little Rock, Arkansas that I did not attend.  I also see that the Griswold & Cast Iron Cookware Association Convention will be held in Florence, Kentucky in April and I will not be able to attend that either.  Instead of being sad, and missing all the cast iron fun, I have decided to focus a little on the cast iron collection here at the Hagen History Center.

This Memorial Day, “The Wall That Heals,” a portable version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. will visit Erie. In recognition of the visit of “The Wall That Heals,” the Hagen History Center will recognize the 59 servicemen from Erie County that are among the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in Southeast Asia. Each week, a few veterans will be featured on our social media. The week of Memorial Day, several servicemen will be honored.

Last week’s retelling of the burning of the Steamship Erie (please look for blog #82 if you missed it) had me looking through old newspaper accounts. When I saw the names of Henry and Israel Vosburgh who were employed on board as a cook and waiter respectively, I had heard of those names before and knew exactly where to look.  In 1996, the book “Journey from Jerusalem – An Illustrated Introduction to Erie’s African American History 1795-1995 by Sarah S. Thompson with additional research and essay by Karen James was published. In it is a wonderful account of this prosperous black family as well as many others. Unfortunately, the book has been out of print for a while. There is talk from time to time here at the Historical Society about reprinting, which I feel is important.

This Memorial Day, “The Wall That Heals,” a portable version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. will visit Erie. In recognition of the visit of “The Wall That Heals,” the Hagen History Center will recognize the 59 servicemen from Erie County that are among the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in Southeast Asia. Each week, a few veterans will be featured on our social media. The week of Memorial Day, several servicemen will be honored.