Wednesday Jul 27th, 2022
As you walk through the Watson-Curtze Mansion, have you ever found yourself wondering about the story behind a particularly lovely decorative item or a piece of furniture that is on display?
Most of the gorgeous Provincial furniture that resides in the mansion’s parlor came from the estate of a pair of Erie sisters – Helen Taylor and Ethel Taylor Winder.
Wednesday Jul 20th, 2022
Let’s face it, we all like to eat. Maybe some more than others of us as our waistlines may show! We all must eat to live, of course, but how many of us produce what we eat? In the early days of life here in Erie County, it was imperative.
Wednesday Jul 13th, 2022
A few blogs ago, I wrote about the Greyhound bus station being on the site of the Park Opera House. What exactly was an Opera House and why did Erie have one for such a long time?
Friday Jul 8th, 2022
When I was a fourth-grade teacher, I introduced my students to a spelling game I called Ish Kabibble. The kids enjoyed playing the game and being the one who got the shout “Ish Kabibble” at the completion of the correct spelling of the given word. But Ish Kabibble was not a word I made up, it was actually a person’s stage name. The man known as Ish was Erie native Merwyn (Mern) Bogue and the great uncle of my husband, Jeff.
Wednesday Jul 6th, 2022
Last week I wrote a blog about the history of wedding dresses. As I was writing that one, I felt it would also be interesting to also go over other parts of a brides’ outfit.
Friday Jul 1st, 2022
In 1865, the men of Company “K” of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, who had been the official Army Presidential guards since their regiment arrived in Washington in 1862, gave President Lincoln’s son Tad (Thomas) a unique gift. A photo album with ninety-seven posed studio photographs of each member off the company. Obviously, the soldiers, known as “Bucktails” for the tail of a deer worn on their caps, were taken by the often precocious Tad. He was also taken by the soldiers.
Wednesday Jun 29th, 2022
With wedding season among us I thought it would be fun to talk about the history of the wedding dress. The most common, and highly debated part of dresses is their color. Were they always white? The answer, not at all.
Friday Jun 24th, 2022
In 1870 at the age of twenty Adolph Brugger left his home in Baden near the black forest in Southern Germany. He left not by choice but because he was under the threat of forced enlistment in the neighboring Prussian Army. He and his family decided it was better to leave than to fight in France for a cause in which he did not believe. Once the decision was made to leave for America Adolph knew he could never return. Not having enough savings of his own, his older brothers John and William helped pay for the journey. He sailed down the Rhine River towards the Netherlands and across the North Sea to Liverpool, England. There he negotiated passage to the United States aboard a four-mast boat. After a long journey at sea he arrived in Halifax, Newfoundland, and then traveled on to New York City. There he arrived at Battery Park and Castle Garden in a time before Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. After passing through immigration in Castle Garden, he made his way to Hudson River Train Station. He boarded the train bound for the west and his destination on the great lakes, Erie, Pennsylvania.
Wednesday Jun 22nd, 2022
“Erie can justly lay claim to being the incubator of the national sport.” This is according to John G. Carney’s 1957 book “The Saga of Erie Sports”. That is quite a statement! He writes that when the French arrived in the area in the mid-1700s, they found the native people playing the game of lacrosse. When the British later arrived, they played cricket. The combination of the two sports eventually turned into the game of baseball.
Friday Jun 17th, 2022
Born in Waterford, Pennsylvania, in 1837, Vincent was named Strong for his mother’s maiden name. The Vincent family moved to Erie when he was a boy. He worked for a time in his father’s iron foundry and then attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. It was at Trinity that Vincent met his future wife, Elizabeth Carter. After an altercation in which a man insulted Elizabeth and Vincent attacked him, Vincent moved to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to study law. After graduating in the middle of his class in 1859, he returned to Erie to “read law” in the office of William S. Lane on W. 6th Street. The house that was the office still stands today.
Our Hours:
Erie campus:
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am - 5 pm
Wednesday: 10 am - 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am - 5 pm
Friday: 10 am - 5 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday: 12 pm - 5 pm
*****Girard campus is open for special events only
