The Downtown YMCA in 1904

The Erie Downtown YMCA was much smaller than the current one on 10th and Peach St. This old picture was taken around 1903. The Y.M.C.A. was on the same corner, but with a much smaller footprint, and it had a small area where kids could play in the grass just west of the building at 31 West 10th Street.

The stately house on the left, at 23 West 10th St., was used by Dr. Thomas H. Gray as his office from 1873 until about 1904. Dr. Gray was born in Erie Co., PA in 1841. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1871 and married Anna Kelso the following year. This Richardsonian Romanesque house was later used for business purposes, and was home of the New Willard Hotel and Cafeteria in 1922. It was demolished in 1924 to make way for the Erie Lighting Company Building.

The building to the right of the YMCA, on Peach Street, was attached to the YMCA and housed the pool and the gymnasium. This was where Johnny Weissmuller swam in 1915. James C. Ainsworth (as in Ainsworth Field) was the director of the YMCA for many years.

Find more facts and old pictures of Erie PA at Old Time Erie

Tarzan Swam at the Downtown YMCA in Erie PA

Olympic gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller visited Erie, Pa on December 15, 1915 as a guest of YMCA director James C. Ainsworth. 

If the name Johnny Weissmuller doesn't ring a bell, it should. He was the star of a dozen Tarzan movies, starting with 'Tarzan the Ape Man' in 1932. He then played Jungle Jim in a series of movies (and later a TV series) during the forties and fifties.

Johnny got his start as a freestyle swimmer, winning five gold medals in the Olympics, three in 1924 and two in 1928. He also set 67 world records.

Johnny appeared at the Downtown Y on West 10th Street. "The largest audience ever to witness a swimming exhibition in this city jammed its way into the limited capacity of the Y.M.C.A. tank last night and was amply rewarded...The biggest upset of the program, however, was Bill Wright's triumph over Johnny Weismuller, world's champion swimmer, in a special 40-yard race...It was this same Wright that finished second to him last year in the Olympic trials that saw the Erie boy disqualified. -Erie Dispatch-Herald, December 16, 1925.

The 'Erie boy' that Weissmuller competed against was William Wright.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com

West 10th Street, Times They Are a Changing

Here is a cool shot of Tenth Street, taken from the middle of the block between Peach and Sassafras, in Erie, Pennsylvania, looking east. The old Lawrence Hotel is the tall building on the left. The sign for Shea's Theatre is visible just beyond the Lawrence.

The Baldwin Building (now the Renaissance Center) is the light colored building on the horizon on the right side of the photo. The YMCA is the tall red building on the right. The State Department of Public Welfare was located at 103 West 10th Street for many years before the building was demolished. This building is shown on the far right of this postcard.

An eagle-eyed reader pointed out this interesting fact: "If you look on the right you can see the bowsprit of the old Eastern Shore Restaurant, which eventually moved to West Lake Road and became Barnacle Bill's Eastern Shore." [Thanks, J. H.!]

Yes Virginia, the Erie Daily Times was located on West 10th Street before the company built a new facility on West 12th Street to this location: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/11/bessemer-railroad-12th-and-sassafras.html

Here's a photo of Shea's when it was known as the Majestic Theatre: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/10/majestic-theater-and-scott-block-erie-pa.html