Virtual Program – Erie’s Maritime Heritage and the U.S. Brig Niagara

Located in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania, Erie is home to nearly 100,000 Pennsylvanians. The permanent American settlement at Erie dates to 1795 when Seth Reed and his family built the first log structure at the mouth of Mill Creek. By the time that the War of 1812 began, Erie had grown to 400 inhabitants before welcoming shipwrights, militiamen, and sailors who were tasked with building and outfitting a squadron of nine ships to take the fight to the British Navy on the Great Lakes. One such ship was the U.S. Brig Niagara, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s relief flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie.

Learn more as we talk to Charles Johnson from the Erie Maritime Museum and explore over two centuries of Erie’s rich maritime heritage and Pennsylvania’s connection to the Great Lakes.