Erie

Erie, the capital of Erie county, Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie, 88 miles SW. of Buffalo, and 95 NE. of Cleveland, is a port of entry, an important centre of trade, and connected by rail with New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and other cities. Its harbour, one of the largest and best on the lake, is formed by an island of 4 miles in length, which, under the appellation of Presque Isle (Fr., 'peninsula'), still preserves the memory of its having been once connected with the mainland. The belt of water thus sheltered is known as Presque Isle Bay, and forms a natural harbour for the city; it is now protected by a breakwater, is 3 to 4 miles long and 1 mile wide, and varies in depth from 9 to 25 feet. The Erie Extension Canal, connecting the city with the Ohio River, was abandoned in 1871; it had never paid half the interest of its cost, and was operated for some thirty-eight years at a loss. The town's important industrial works include oil-refineries, tanneries, iron-foundries, paper, flouring, and planing mills, factories for railroad cars, engines and boilers, &c. It is a Roman Catholic bishop's see. A natural-gas well was opened here in 1889. Pop. (1870) 19,646; (1890) 40,634.