Erie PA Genealogy Weekly for March 24, 2013

Local events and other goings-on for genealogy and family history enthusiasts in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Reminder: The Blasco Library’s Family History Club for Teens begins its Spring Session tomorrow, March 25, 2013. Led by Debbi Lyon, the program is open to students age 12-17. It meets in the library’s Heritage Room, and consists of 7 classes held on Monday evenings from 6-8 p.m. Space is limited. For more information, or to see if there are any open spots left, call 451-6927.

This Wednesday evening, the Erie County Historical Society’s Sally Carlow Kohler Lecture Series will feature Sabina Freeman, a local historian, who will present a “Dialogue with Three Women.” The lecture will begin at 7:00pm at the Cashiers House located at 417 State Street. Members and children 12 and under are free. Guests and non-members pay $5.

SAVE THE DATE for the Erie County Historical Society’s popular Historic West Sixth Street Walking Tour, which will be held Thursday, April 25, 2013. The tour, which is self guided, encompasses 10 of Erie’s most beautiful buildings. The properties will be open from 6-9pm. Guests can visit in any order, spend as much time as they would like at each, and stop by the Watson Curtse Mansion for light refreshments.  Tickets go on sale to the public after April 1st, but are available this month to historical society members. For more information, or to order tickets, contact the historical society at 454.1813 x24.

 

Erie PA Genealogy Weekly for March 17th 2013

Local events and other goings-on for genealogy and family history enthusiasts

The Erie-Extension Canal.

I have long been intrigued by the Erie Extension Canal Historical Marker at the corner of 26th and Asbury. High school history classes do not spend much time learning about the history of canals on the Great Lakes,  and my only first hand experience with one was on a childhood trip to Niagara Falls, and truthfully, it was not one of the memorial moments of that vacation 🙂

As a genealogist, I’m especially interested in the human element of canals: job opportunities they created, the people who built them, and the impact of the canal on families in 19th century Erie County.

So I’m particularly excited about a new exhibit which opens this week at the Erie Maritime Museum on East Front Street.

The Erie-Extension Canal, once known as the Erie & Beaver Canal, was opened in 1844. This inland waterway, which connected Lake Erie to Pittsburgh and the Ohio River, was instrumental in Erie’s industrial growth and its importance as an American port city

You can learn more about the history of the canal and its role in Erie’s economic and industrial development, at a new exhibit which opens at the Erie Maritime Museum  on Thursday March 21, 2013. The exhibit, The Erie-Extension Canal:  Gateway to the Great Lakes, is part of the museum’s regular admission, and will run through June. For more information, check out the museum’s website. You can also find information about the exhibit at VisitErie

 

 

Family History Classes for Teenagers

Did you know the Erie County Blasco Library has a Family History Club for Teens?

The Family History Club for Teens will begin it’s Spring Session on March 25, 2013. Led by Debbi Lyon, the program is open to students age 12-17. It meets in the library’s Heritage Room, and consists of 7 classes held on Monday evenings from 6-8 p.m. Space is limited. For more information, or to sign up for the classes, call 451-6927.

Erie PA Genealogy Happenings Week of March 11, 2013

The next meeting of the Erie Society for Genealogical Research (ESGR) is tomorrow, Tuesday March 12, 2013 at 7:00pm at the History Center on State Street.

We have a special guest speaker: Ed Bolla, who will speak about the role of Erie’s Shipbuilding in the War of 1812. A membership meeting will follow. Doors open at 6:40 and will be locked at 7:10.

March is the ESGR’s membership renewal month. Send in your renewal payment to stay current! If you have an interest in Erie history or genealogy, and have been thinking about joining, now is a great time to visit! The genealogy society shares space with the Erie County Historical Society in their Library & Archives H. O. Hirt Reading Room at 419 State Street. An ESGR membership is $15 per year. As a member, you’ll receive the society’s quarterly bulletin, Keystone Kuzzins; you may place free genealogical queries in that bulletin; and, you have free access to research materials in the historical society’s library and archives. The fee for non-members to use the library and archives is $7 per visit.

If you’d like more information, call 814.454.1813 x29, email esgr@eriecountyhistory.org, or visit our website at http://erie.pa-roots.com