Who Dumped Raw Sewage Into the Bay?

Old Time Erie City Sewer Outlets.

I did a double take when I saw this page in the 1902 Erie city directory. Take a close look at the highlighted area and you'll see why. This chart shows the length of the sewers emptying into the bay. Raw sewage was dumped into creeks which flowed directly into the bay, polluting Lake Erie. Yuck! Forget about the Good Old Days. These were the Not So Good Old Days.

Fifty-six miles of streams and creeks carried raw sewage and storm runoff into the bay. The outlets included Little Cascade Run; the Canal sewer; Peach, French and Holland Streets; Mill Creek, Garrison Run and Light House Run. After reading this, I don't think I'll complain about paying my sewer bill anymore. In fact, I'd like to take a moment to thank the workers at the City of Erie Bureau of Sewers and the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant for a job well done.

In the early 1900s, creeks and streams ran wild throughout the city. Now, most of them run through concrete tubes under the streets and sidewalks, marked only by blue rectangular signs marked with their names. Cascade Creek, one of the exceptions, runs freely through Frontier Park on Erie's westside. Mill Creek is visible near the Erie Zoo and along Glenwood Park Avenue south of Norman Way. To learn more about positive ways to interact with the environment, check out GreenERie.

Enjoy more odd and obscure facts about the history of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie.

Get On Board Baby Elephant

It's anybody's guess what's going through the mind of this little girl as she meets Bubbles, the baby elephant, up close. She looks curious, but ready to run away at the slightest noise or movement. It doesn't look like there is any room for her to jump back on the bus since the other kids are all standing on the stairs.

This picture was taken in 1968 and was probably a promo shot for the EMTA summer run to the Glenwood Zoo on a route along West 38th Street. 

The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) ran a number of promotions to try and increase ridership of public transit buses.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie PA at: Old Time Erie

Erie Day School Makes History

Congratulations to the students at Erie Day School on their latest issue of A Stroke of the Pen, which focuses on the history of Erie, PA. 

Editors Livia and Zak did a great job of compiling stories about the Erie Zoo, the Watson-Curtze Mansion on West 6th Street and the history of Erie theaters and circuses. There are also articles about early Erie schools, industries, Erie politics and Civil War regiments raised in Erie County, PA. 

The cover includes a postcard of State Street that the students discovered on Old Time Erie when they searched the Internet for background information about Erie. Very cool!

Keep up the great work and good luck on your future publications. You deserve a pat on the back!

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