The
Erie County Regional History Center
complex is operated by the Erie
County Historical Society. The two-building
complex contains the Museum of Erie
County History, which features Voices
from Erie County History,
an interactive exhibit offering
selective views of Erie County's
rich heritage from pre-settlement
to present day, the Admiral
Curtze Maritime Hall,
an exhibit presenting the region's
ongoing maritime legacy, the Kovacs
Kids Korner
children's area filled with captivating
educational, fun activities, and
much more! Changing exhibits are
found in the Temporary
Exhibit Room located
in the History Center.
The
Cashier's House, adjacent to the
History Center, is a beautifully
restored 1839 Greek Revival style
townhouse displaying 19th century
furnishings and featuring changing
exhibits of the period.
Cashier's
House parlor and northeast bedroom.
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Voices
From Erie County History
"Voices" is located in the
primary exhibit gallery. It is an
exhibit offering selective views of
our rich heritage from pre-settlement
to present day, featuring individuals
and events from throughout Erie County.
"Voices" is designed to
reflect an Erie County history timeline,
and includes Erie's settlement history,
industrial history, ethnic history
and contemporary history.
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Exhibit
Highlight:
Wedding Gown of
Elizabeth Champlin Mason Perry
Elizabeth
Champlin Mason Perry was born on February
12, 1791 and died on February 11,
1858. This gown was worn by Elizabeth
during her May 5, 1811 marriage to
Oliver Hazard Perry. The couple had
five children, one of whom died in
infancy. Oliver Hazard Perry came
to Erie, PA in 1813 to command the
Naval fleet that was built in this
city. Oliver Hazard Perry led the
fleet to victory over the British
in the Battle of Lake Erie on September
10, 1813. He died in Trinidad on August
23, 1819, his 34th birthday, of yellow
fever. Perry’s legacy lives
on in the maritime history of Erie.
(Photograph: Gown exhibited by relative
of Elizabeth Perry.)
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Admiral
Charles A. Curtze
Maritime Hall
Named in honor
of distinguished naval officer Admiral
Curtze and opened during the summer
2004, the Curtze Maritime Hall is
an interactive exhibit enabling
visitors to trace Erie's roots as
a naval town, shipbuilding leader
and freshwater fishing capital of
the world.
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New!
Erie County Dinosaurs - Did
They Exist?
The
newest exhibit addition in the History
Center will take visitors back 400 million
years to a time when Erie County was covered
with water and the 40-foot Dunkleosteus
and other small marine animals lived here.
See and touch fossils
of marine creatures found in Erie County,
time-travel through the Triassic and Jurassic
Periods and encounter the Eoraptor and
Edmontosaurus, and be
delighted by each dinosaur as it "tells"
its own story.
New!Hall
of Technology & Transportation
The
Technology & Transportation Hall highlights
Erie County's grist and saw mills, bicycles
manufactured in Erie during the 19th and
20th centuries, the first automobile built
in Erie (the 1896 Hagenlocher No. 1 pictured
below), Erie's aviation history and much,
much more.
Temporary
Exhibit(s):
Talk
of the Town: The Evolution of Erie’s
Telephone Service
(GTE Museum)
June 2007 - March 2008
Alexander Graham
Bell invented the telephone in 1876. In
1877 the Bell Company installed the first
four telephones in Erie. In 1897 Mutual
Telephone Company was formed to compete
with Bell. Competition between the two
companies ends in 1926 when Mutual purchases
Bell. Mutual’s first office was
on the fourth floor of the Downing Building
at East 10th and French Streets.
As you move through
the exhibit you will learn about the changes
in technology, the types of companies
involved in the telephone industry, when
the telephone service was first established
in Erie, by who and how the Mutual Telephone
Company started and evolved over time.
You will also learn how the “telephone
industry” is addressing current
issues of competition for customers.
Lost
Erie
October
27, 2007 - March 2008
Fires, abandonment,
parking lots; these are just a few reasons
why historical buildings, such as the
Hugh Cunningham House and the Erie Academy,
have faded away from the Erie community,
lost forever…but not forgotten.
The Society cordially
invites the community to explore Lost
Erie at the Erie County History Center.
The exhibit presents the story of Erie’s
rich architectural heritage. Inspired
by Lost Erie: The Vanished Heritage of
City and County written by John Claridge,
Lost Erie, the exhibit, addresses Erie’s
ever changing landscape and
the influences of progress.
Lost Erie features
artifacts, such as tools and memorabilia
from defunct companies, photographs of
buildings that once stood as landmarks
of a community, and an eight foot scale
model of Erie’s old City Hall.
Erie
County History Center, 419 State Street,
Erie, PA
