This old drawing of Lawrence Park appeared in the Erie Dispatch-Herald on December 2, 1934. Water Street used to be called Lawrence Parkway between East Lake Road and the main gate for General Electric. It was called Crowley Road before that. The old GE Athletic Field is right in the center, bordered by Water Street and Four Mile Creek. GE had some of the top football, baseball and soccer teams in the thirties and forties, and would entice top athletes with to play in return for easier shop jobs.
The dotted lines on the map show the proposed change to the path of Four Mile Creek, spearheaded by Lawrence Park Commissioners Charlie Thompson and J. J. Kennedy, for the creation of Napier Park. "As the sketch shows the park lays along Four-Mile Creek and extends from the bridge on East Lake Road to the bridge on Main st. and comprises 11 acres which will be graded and landscaped."
Thanks for the map and the info. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, watching my dad play softball in the GE slow-pitch leagues, running up and down the grandstand bleachers, and crawling underneath the grandstand to read the obscene graffiti older kids had written. The softball fields were supposedly verboten during the workday and after dark, but we had our ways.
ReplyDeleteLawrence Park had its July 4 festivities at the GE Field as well, where the whole community would gather from the kids' morning bike parade to the afternoon picnic and greased pole climb and sack races, to the evening fireworks. We'd leave the house at 9 a.m. with our decorated bikes and not see our parents until we met up with them at dusk to sit on blankets and watch the fireworks.
If you notice the physical configuration of the Napier(Curtis) playground today, you will see that a high bank borders Napier Avenue. The Four Mile Creek used to run by that bank. It was moved west, by the GE/Emerson) field, to its present location in order to form a barrier between the residential district and GE, thereby creating the present playground. As far as it being moved in 1934, I am not sure. Maybe I can obtain that information from the LP Historical Society.
ReplyDeleteraised at 3923 Bell St.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. This WHOLE site is interesting. I killed an hour looking at all of these great pictures. Thank you. I love this site.
ReplyDeleteI am an L.P. native and resident. Never knew they moved the path of the creek.