Presque Isle State Park
Encyclopedia
Presque Isle State Park (icon) is a 3112 acres (1,259 ha) Pennsylvania state park on an arching sandy peninsula
that juts into Lake Erie
, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the city of Erie
, in Millcreek Township
, Erie County
, Pennsylvania
, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay
along the park's southern coast. It has 13 miles (20.9 km) of roads, 21 miles (33.8 km) of recreational trails, 13 beaches for swimming, and a marina. Popular activities at the park include swimming, boating
, hiking
, biking, and bird watching.
The recorded history of Presque Isle begins with the Erielhonan
, a Native American
tribe who gave their name to Lake Erie, and includes French, British
, and American forts, as well as serving as a base for Commodore
Oliver Hazard Perry
's fleet in the War of 1812
. With the growing importance of shipping
on Lake Erie in the 19th century, Presque Isle became home to several lighthouse
s and what became a United States Coast Guard
station. In 1921 it became a state park, and as of 2007 it hosts over 4 million visitors per year, the most of any Pennsylvania state park.
The Presque Isle peninsula formed on a moraine
from the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation
and is constantly being reshaped by waves and wind. This leads to seven ecological zones within the park, which provide a classic example of ecological succession
. A National Natural Landmark
since 1967, the park has been named one of the best places in the US to watch birds, and protects them in its Gull Point State Park Natural Area. The new Tom Ridge Environmental Center
at the entrance to the park allows visitors to learn more about the park and its ecology. Presque Isle State Park has been chosen by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its list of "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
, also known as the "Eriez", an Iroquoian
speaking tribe of Native Americans
. Erielhonan meant the "Cat" or "Raccoon" people, and the name "Erie", a corruption of Erielhonan, became the name of the lake and county in which Presque Isle Park is found and of the city nearest the park.
An Erielhonan legend taught that the Great Spirit
led them to Presque Isle because of the wealth of game
, the abundance of clean fresh water
, and the cool breezes "coming from the land of snow and ice", i.e. Canada. Another legend explains how the Eriez ventured into Lake Erie in search of the land where the sun set. The spirit of the lake blew a fierce storm to keep the Eriez from finding the sun. To protect the Eriez from the storm, their god laid his outstretched arm into the lake, giving them safety during the storm. The god's arm remained in the lake, protecting the tribe's future generations.
The Erielhonan are believed to have lived and farmed on the peninsula. They fought several wars, the last starting in 1653 with the Five Nations of the Iroquois
. After initial victories over the Senecas, in 1654 the Erielhonan lost their largest village, Rique (at the modern city of Erie), destroyed by 1,800 Iroquois warriors. By 1656 the Erielhonan were destroyed as a people, although the Iroquois adopted survivors, absorbed primarily into the Senecas.
means peninsula (lit. "almost an island") in French. They built Fort Presque Isle
at the modern city of Erie in the summer of 1753, naming it for the peninsula that protected the fort. The French also built two "military outposts" (probably of brick) on Presque Isle itself, one at the entrance to the peninsula and the other at the eastern point. During the French and Indian War
, the French abandoned their outposts and burned their fort in 1759. The British constructed a new fort of the same name that year, which later fell to Native American forces on June 19, 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion
.
Presque Isle passed from British to American control after the American Revolutionary War
, and the Iroquois sold their rights to the land containing the peninsula to the United States at the second Treaty of Fort Stanwix
in 1784. Pennsylvania did not acquire an undisputed title to the land until it purchased the Erie Triangle
from the Federal government on April 3, 1792. In 1795 General Anthony Wayne
built a new, American "Fort Presque Isle", and on April 18 of that year the town of "Presqu' Ile", since renamed Erie, was laid out near it. Wayne died at the fort on December 15, 1796, and was originally buried there.
Erie County
was formed from Allegheny County
on March 12, 1800. Millcreek Township
, which initially contained both the Presque Isle peninsula and village of Erie, was one of the original townships. Erie was named the county seat
in 1803, incorporated as a borough in 1805, and became a city in 1851.
During the War of 1812
, Presque Isle played a part in the victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie
. Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the American fleet, made strategic use of the bay to build a pier and a place to construct six of the nine ships in his fleet; some of the timber used probably came from Presque Isle. Using this location protected the men by creating an obstacle, forcing potential attackers to circumnavigate the peninsula to reach them.
The "Little Bay" near the tip of the peninsula where the ships sheltered, next to the current Perry's Monument, was later named "Misery Bay" because of the hardships during the winter of 1813–1814, after the men returned there from battle. Many men suffered from smallpox
and were kept in quarantine
near the bay. A great many infected men died and were buried in what is now called Graveyard Pond.
After the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, Perry's two largest ships were badly damaged, and the US Brig Lawrence
was intentionally sunk in Misery Bay. The Lawrence was raised in 1875 but was burned while on display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition
. The US Brig Niagara
was initially repaired, then sunk for preservation in 1820 and raised in 1913, and parts of it were eventually used in the modern Niagara, based across Presque Isle Bay in Erie.
began as a wooden tower, erected in 1830. In 1858, a stronger steel structure was brought from France and installed at Erie to replace the wooden beacon, which had been damaged by a schooner. This light still stands at the far eastern side of the park, near the inlet between the lake and the bay.
The Presque Isle Light
was constructed in 1872 on the north side of Presque Isle and was lit on July 12, 1873. This light is 74 feet (22.6 m) tall, with a red brick house that is used as a park residence. Today the lighthouse is maintained by the United States Coast Guard and flashes a white light to warn ships of the sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. A third, smaller lighthouse was built in 1906 by the Erie Waterworks on the Presque Isle Bay side of the peninsula. Today it stands in the ferry landing for the Erie water taxi
service, south of the former waterworks along the state park's multi-purpose trail on the southeast side of Presque Isle.
United States Life-Saving Service
District 9 opened a life-saving station (LSS) at Presque Isle in 1876. William Clark was the keeper from 1877 until he drowned in 1891. He was succeeded by Andrew Jansen, who was the keeper until 1914. When the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service merged in 1915 to become the United States Coast Guard
, LSS Presque Isle, also called the Erie life-saving station, became Coast Guard Station #236. The station, still in operation, is assigned to the Ninth District of the United States Coast Guard.
on Presque Isle to provide fresh water
for the city. Water from Lake Erie was pumped into two basins
on the peninsula, where particulates in the water were allowed to settle, removing them from the lake water. After treatment, the water flowed into the waterlines of the city. In 1917 a pumphouse powered by a steam boiler and engine was built: this pumped the water from one basin into the other, then across Presque Isle Bay to Erie. This system of supplying drinking water for Erie operated until 1949. The pumphouse is now used for zebra mussel
control and as a concession stand for bicycle and surrey rentals within the state park.
As Pennsylvania's only surf beach, the Presque Isle beaches were already a popular attraction when the state legislature authorized the creation of the "Pennsylvania State Park at Erie" in May 1921. Oversight was given to the new "State Park and Harbor Commission of Erie", including local representation, instead of to the state Department of Forests and Waters. Presque Isle quickly became the most popular state park in Pennsylvania. Presque Isle was an early example of locating state parks near cities, a trend that would become prevalent statewide only in the 1960s.
The first paved road was built in the park in 1924, and today 13 miles (21 km) of roads run through the park. Pennsylvania Route 832
, which is the main road to the park, is also known as Peninsula Drive. Presque Isle has been referred to as "Peninsula State Park". The Perry Monument in the park was constructed in 1926 near Misery Bay and the burials in Graveyard Pond.
By 1937 official state publications were referring to the park as "Presque Isle State Park", and that same year it led the state park system with 1.4 million visitors. In the 1950s the peninsula was enlarged to accommodate new roads and parking, using 3 million cubic yards (2,294,000 m³) of sand dredged from the interior of the peninsula. The resulting basin became the current marina. Other new facilities included three modern bath houses built in 1957. That same year Gull Point (at the eastern end of the peninsula) was named a nature preserve by the state.
In November 1967, Presque Isle was named a National Natural Landmark
by the National Park Service
. A recommendation was made to abolish the independent board as early as 1930, although this did not come about until January 19, 1971, with the creation of the state Department of Environmental Resources (which later became the DCNR). From 1989 to 1992, over 50 breakwaters
were built along the western and northern shore of the peninsula to help control erosion. As part of the State Parks 2000 of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
(DCNR) strategic plan, Gull Point was named a "State Park Natural Area for rare and migratory shorebirds to rest, feed and possibly nest".
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center
at the entrance to the park opened in May 2006. As of 2007, the Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Parks, which administers all 120 Pennsylvania state parks, had chosen Presque Isle for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list, citing its status as Pennsylvania's only surf beach, its status as a National Natural Landmark, and its "geological and biological diversity and its historic significance". It was included as one of 16 featured in the first ever official Pennsylvania state parks calendar (for 2008). Scenes for the film The Road were shot at Presque Isle in April 2008, with Beach 10 used as a seashore.
A weak tornado
touched down in the state park on June 27, 2010. Rated an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
, it downed power lines and trees near the Stull Interpretive Center, and also damaged a nearby observation platform. Presque Isle was closed on June 28 to facilitate clean-up of the debris and reopened the next morning.
Presque Isle State Park was ranked second out of beaches of the Great Lakes in 2011 by Florida International University
professor Stephen Leatherman
that was formed during the Wisconsin glacial period
, which ended around 10,000 BC and was the last major continental glaciation. The ice sheet advanced into the basin now occupied by Lake Erie
, stopped for a while, and retreated to the north, leaving behind a moraine
. This moraine
marks the terminus of the episode of ice advance, consists of clay, sand, and gravel, and eventually became the Presque Isle peninsula. The deposits are constantly being re-worked by wave action and are gradually migrating to the northeast due to longshore drift
.
As noted, the name presque-isle literally means "almost an island" in French. In fact, Presque Isle has been an island rather than a peninsula for brief periods. It has been cut off from the mainland four times since 1819, the longest stretch being the 32 years from 1832 to 1864, and each time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
has reconnected it.
The peninsula was breached five times between 1917 and 1922, the year after Presque Isle became a state park. While repair efforts then included plugging the breach with bales of hay and wood, in the 1950s a state and federal program built a concrete seawall
. Fifty-eight breakwaters, built by 1992 to slow erosion
, have "captured" the sand and significantly slowed its movement eastward. Even with the breakwaters, new sand has to be brought in annually to replenish
the beaches.
Presque Isle protects the natural Presque Isle Bay, which creates a deep and wide harbor for the city of Erie. The bay is often filled with pleasure craft
as well as cargo ships from all over the world that use the Great Lakes
shipping port. Erie became an international port after the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
in 1959.
The highest recorded temperature at the park was 100 °F (37.8 °C) in 1988, and the record low was -18 F in 1994. As of 2007, Erie is 13th on the list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging 88 inches (223.5 cm). For the winter of 2007–2008, Erie received 118.7 inches (301.5 cm) of snow with the first snow of the season falling on November 6.
es and old ponds; thicket and sub-climax forest; and climax forest
. Lake Erie, which surrounds the park, is the first zone and is home to 80 species of fish and at least six species of crustaceans.
The remaining ecological zones, with their progression from shoreline to climax forest, are a classic illustration of the concept of ecological succession
. Much of this progression is due to the changing nature of Presque Isle and its shifting shoreline and dunes. The shoreline, the second zone, is formed by wave action and is in equilibrium between erosion and deposition, with the initial plants stabilizing the sand of the new shoreline. The newly formed sandy plain and the ponds formed in it are the third zone. The ponds start as trapped pockets of lake water and can erode away or be filled by wind-blown sand or drifting dunes. The new ponds provide habitat for plants and animals: for example, the state park is home to 89 species of Odonata
(dragonflies and damselflies) and Lepidoptera
, including 35 different butterflies, as well as 84 different sorts of spiders.
Sand dunes and ridges are the fourth zone, formed when beach sand transported by wind and waves becomes trapped by vegetation. Dunes grow and are stabilized by grasses, followed by other types of vegetation. This provides habitat for amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Old dunes can become more permanent ridges, which shelter ponds. These dunes, ridges, and ponds are often remnants of previous shorelines; at the Presque Isle State Park "Long Pond" just east of the marina, dunes and ridges mark the eastern shoreline from 1862. The fifth ecological zone consists of old ponds and marshes. Ponds protected by dunes and ridges are more stable; these old ponds support more plant and animal life, and as they fill with vegetation, they become marshes. Old ponds and marshes have high biodiversity
. Nearly 400 species of terrestrial vertebrates live on Presque Isle, including 318 different birds, 48 kinds of mammals, 13 types of amphibians, and 19 reptile species.
The sixth and seventh ecological zones are characterized by their shrubs and trees, and Presque Isle State Park is home to 633 plant species (195 Monocotyledon
s, 410 Dicotyledon
s, 5 Gymnosperm
s, 5 Horsetail
s, 13 Fern
s, and 5 Moss
es). The sixth zone, thicket and sub-climax forest, forms when shrubs grow on dying marshes, followed by small trees. The trees shade and thin out the thickets of shrubs, leading to a sub-climax forest. The seventh and final stage is climax forest, where many large trees form a canopy
. If left undisturbed, this ecological succession is believed to take 600 or more years, although visitors to parts of Presque Isle State Park can walk through all of these zones in 5 miles (8 km).
The Pennsylvania Audubon Society has listed the park as Pennsylvania Important Bird Area
(IBA) #1, and it has been rated by Birder's World magazine as one the best places in the United States for birdwatching. The diversity of habitats
on the peninsula makes it an ideal home for over 320 species of birds. (For comparison, the United States has about 925 bird species.) Forty-five of the bird species found in the park are listed as "endangered" or "threatened", including the Piping Plover
, Cerulean Warbler
, Rusty Blackbird
and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Waterfowl
and wading birds
live at Presque Isle year round. Four species of gull
and three species of tern
can be seen at Gull Point during the summer months. The majority of collection during the annual Christmas Bird Count
, which has been held in Erie County since 1956, is garnered from observations made by volunteers within the park. Many different species
of plants and animals can also be found at Presque Isle State Park due to the wide variety of ecological zones.
Gull Point at Presque Isle State Park has been set aside as a Pennsylvania "State Park Natural Area". These areas provide locations for scientific observation of natural systems; they protect examples of natural interest and beauty as well as examples of unique and typical animal and plant habitats.
Gull Point covers 319 acres (129.1 ha), of which 67 acres (27.1 ha) form the Natural Area and are closed to park visitors during the height of the bird migrations. The natural area is a safe haven and resting spot for migrating and nesting birds. Many of the species of birds that rest at Gull Point are not seen anywhere else in Pennsylvania. Presque Isle lies on the Atlantic Flyway
, a major migratory path, and some of these birds migrate from as far north as the Arctic Circle
to South America. They pass through in November on their long flights south and return in April on their flights north.
Erosion and deposition of sand, which has formed Gull Point, continues to change it. From May 1991 to October 2006, Gull Point lost a total of 4.6 acres (1.9 ha), and if this trend continues, it may become an island. After the breakwaters were constructed in 1992, less sand was added to replenish the beaches. Federal funding of sand replenishment has been cut off since 2005, leading to further reduction in sand added to the peninsula. Without new sand, erosion has reduced the northern beaches of Gull Point, even while regions to the east and south have continued to grow at a slower rate, for a net yearly loss of 0.4 acre (0.1618744 ha).
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) is the gateway to and administrative center for Presque Isle State Park, as well as housing interactive educational exhibits, a "Discovery Center", classrooms, and research laboratories. The Center, which officially opened on May 26, 2006, is on 12 acres (4.9 ha) just off Route 832 on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie. TREC is named for former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
, "who grew up in Erie, worked at the park as a young man and provided funding for the center and numerous Presque Isle projects during his administration."
Construction on the center began in 2002, although the idea for such a center at Presque Isle was some 50 years old. The Presque Isle State Park headquarters began operating from TREC in 2005, and it is also home to offices for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
's Great Lakes and Coastal Zone Management programs, the DCNR Recreation and Conservation program, as well as Presque Isle Audubon
, Lake-Erie Allegheny
Earth Force, Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Presque Isle Partnership, and the Purple Martin
Conservation Association. The Regional Science Consortium, "a collaborative, non-profit organization that focuses on and coordinates educational and research projects for Lake Erie and the upper Ohio River Basin", was organized in 2002 and is based at TREC. Its 32 member organizations include schools, school districts, colleges, universities, museums, state agencies, conservation groups, and private corporations from Pennsylvania, Ohio
, and Ontario
.
Facilities at the 65000 square feet (6,038.7 m²) Tom Ridge Environmental Center include eight research laboratories (including several large aquariums) for the RSC, several classrooms, a "Discovery Center" for younger students to explore science hands-on, interpretive exhibits highlighting local and regional flora
and fauna
, as well as the human history and culture of the area. The center also offers a large-format movie theater, a smaller theater, gift shop, cafeteria, and a 75 feet (22.9 m) tall observation tower that overlooks Lake Erie. The center was constructed as a "green" building and has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) rating from the United States Green Building Council
. Besides supporting environmental research and education, the center is meant to "increase off-season use" of the state park.
In addition to the facilities at TREC, Presque Isle State Park provides opportunities for daytime recreational activity along the Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay coastlines, as well as on its inland trails and lagoons. Boating, canoeing, fishing, and water skiing are common summer sports, while hiking, biking, inline skating, and bird watching are some of the inland activities. Ice fishing, ice boating, ice skating, and cross-country skiing occupy winter visitors. Two of the beaches feature volleyball courts; beach 6 has 6 courts and beach 11 has one. No admission fee is charged for the park or TREC.
Boats of nearly any variety are permitted on Lake Erie at Presque Isle State Park. Boats with internal combustion engine
s are prohibited in the interior lagoon
s, except for Grave Yard Pond, where a concession rents motor and pontoon boats, canoes, and kayaks for recreational use. The park also has a 500-slip marina
, open to boats up to 42 feet (13 m) long, and five boat launches. Boat tours provide views of the park, lake, bay, and Erie skyline. All boats must have a current registration from any state. Water conditions on Lake Erie can change with little notice, and boaters are asked to use caution.
Water skiing
and scuba diving
are permitted at Presque Isle State Park in designated waters of Lake Erie. Water skiing must take place in Presque Isle Bay or out on Lake Erie and is prohibited within 500 feet (152.4 m) of the shore. Scuba divers must be certified and are required to register at the park office to obtain information on the waters that are open to diving.
Presque Isle State Park has two distinct fishing
zones. Lake Erie is home to perch
, trout
, walleye
, bass
, and steelhead. Presque Isle Bay is the home of muskellunge
, northern pike
, crappie
, smelt, as well as other fish that swim in from the lake. Trout fishing is also allowed in the two waterworks basins, which are stocked
by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
. Hunting is prohibited at Presque Isle State Park with the exception of controlled duck
and goose
hunting seasons in designated blinds
.
Presque Isle State Park, which has 13 beaches, is home to the only surf swimming in Pennsylvania. Each beach opens Memorial Day
weekend and closes Labor Day
weekend. Lifeguard
s are on duty from 10 AM until 7:30 PM Extensive picnic
facilities are available at most of the swimming areas.
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
that juts into Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the city of Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, in Millcreek Township
Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Millcreek Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 53,515 at the 2010 census. It is the largest suburb of Erie, Pennsylvania and the sixth-largest municipality in the state; larger than the cities of Altoona and Harrisburg.Millcreek Township is home to...
, Erie County
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is bounded on the north and west by a recurved peninsula that makes up Presque Isle State Park...
along the park's southern coast. It has 13 miles (20.9 km) of roads, 21 miles (33.8 km) of recreational trails, 13 beaches for swimming, and a marina. Popular activities at the park include swimming, boating
Boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...
, hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, biking, and bird watching.
The recorded history of Presque Isle begins with the Erielhonan
Erie (tribe)
The Erie were an Native American people historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian group, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio...
, a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribe who gave their name to Lake Erie, and includes French, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and American forts, as well as serving as a base for Commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...
Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry
United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
's fleet in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. With the growing importance of shipping
Ship transport
Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...
on Lake Erie in the 19th century, Presque Isle became home to several lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s and what became a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
station. In 1921 it became a state park, and as of 2007 it hosts over 4 million visitors per year, the most of any Pennsylvania state park.
The Presque Isle peninsula formed on a moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
from the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
and is constantly being reshaped by waves and wind. This leads to seven ecological zones within the park, which provide a classic example of ecological succession
Ecological succession
Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...
. A National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
since 1967, the park has been named one of the best places in the US to watch birds, and protects them in its Gull Point State Park Natural Area. The new Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center is a center on the grounds of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. Named after former Pennsylvania Governor and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, it opened on 26 May 2006...
at the entrance to the park allows visitors to learn more about the park and its ecology. Presque Isle State Park has been chosen by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its list of "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
Early inhabitants
Presque Isle was formed at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation about 11,000 years ago. The earliest known inhabitants of the southern Lake Erie coast were the ErielhonanErie (tribe)
The Erie were an Native American people historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian group, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio...
, also known as the "Eriez", an Iroquoian
Iroquoian languages
The Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family.-Family division:*Ruttenber, Edward Manning. 1992 [1872]. History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River. Hope Farm Press....
speaking tribe of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. Erielhonan meant the "Cat" or "Raccoon" people, and the name "Erie", a corruption of Erielhonan, became the name of the lake and county in which Presque Isle Park is found and of the city nearest the park.
An Erielhonan legend taught that the Great Spirit
Great Spirit
The Great Spirit, also called Wakan Tanka among the Sioux, the Creator or the Great Maker in English, and Gitchi Manitou in Algonquian, is a conception of a supreme being prevalent among some Native American and First Nations cultures...
led them to Presque Isle because of the wealth of game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
, the abundance of clean fresh water
Fresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
, and the cool breezes "coming from the land of snow and ice", i.e. Canada. Another legend explains how the Eriez ventured into Lake Erie in search of the land where the sun set. The spirit of the lake blew a fierce storm to keep the Eriez from finding the sun. To protect the Eriez from the storm, their god laid his outstretched arm into the lake, giving them safety during the storm. The god's arm remained in the lake, protecting the tribe's future generations.
The Erielhonan are believed to have lived and farmed on the peninsula. They fought several wars, the last starting in 1653 with the Five Nations of the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
. After initial victories over the Senecas, in 1654 the Erielhonan lost their largest village, Rique (at the modern city of Erie), destroyed by 1,800 Iroquois warriors. By 1656 the Erielhonan were destroyed as a people, although the Iroquois adopted survivors, absorbed primarily into the Senecas.
Forts, settlers, and War of 1812
The French first named the peninsula in the 1720s; presque-islePresque-isle
Presque-isle is a geographical term denoting a piece of land which is closer to being an island than most peninsulas because of its being joined to the mainland by an extremely narrow neck of land....
means peninsula (lit. "almost an island") in French. They built Fort Presque Isle
Fort Presque Isle
Fort Presque Isle was a fort built by French soldiers in 1753 along Presque Isle Bay at present-day Erie, Pennsylvania...
at the modern city of Erie in the summer of 1753, naming it for the peninsula that protected the fort. The French also built two "military outposts" (probably of brick) on Presque Isle itself, one at the entrance to the peninsula and the other at the eastern point. During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, the French abandoned their outposts and burned their fort in 1759. The British constructed a new fort of the same name that year, which later fell to Native American forces on June 19, 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...
.
Presque Isle passed from British to American control after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, and the Iroquois sold their rights to the land containing the peninsula to the United States at the second Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784)
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed in October 1784 at Fort Stanwix, located in present-day Rome, New York, between the United States and Native Americans...
in 1784. Pennsylvania did not acquire an undisputed title to the land until it purchased the Erie Triangle
Erie Triangle
The Erie Triangle is a tract of American land that was the subject of several competing colonial-era claims and which was eventually acquired by the U.S. federal government and sold to Pennsylvania so that the state would have access to a freshwater port on Lake Erie...
from the Federal government on April 3, 1792. In 1795 General Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
built a new, American "Fort Presque Isle", and on April 18 of that year the town of "Presqu' Ile", since renamed Erie, was laid out near it. Wayne died at the fort on December 15, 1796, and was originally buried there.
Erie County
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
was formed from Allegheny County
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
on March 12, 1800. Millcreek Township
Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Millcreek Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 53,515 at the 2010 census. It is the largest suburb of Erie, Pennsylvania and the sixth-largest municipality in the state; larger than the cities of Altoona and Harrisburg.Millcreek Township is home to...
, which initially contained both the Presque Isle peninsula and village of Erie, was one of the original townships. Erie was named the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
in 1803, incorporated as a borough in 1805, and became a city in 1851.
During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Presque Isle played a part in the victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...
. Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the American fleet, made strategic use of the bay to build a pier and a place to construct six of the nine ships in his fleet; some of the timber used probably came from Presque Isle. Using this location protected the men by creating an obstacle, forcing potential attackers to circumnavigate the peninsula to reach them.
The "Little Bay" near the tip of the peninsula where the ships sheltered, next to the current Perry's Monument, was later named "Misery Bay" because of the hardships during the winter of 1813–1814, after the men returned there from battle. Many men suffered from smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and were kept in quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
near the bay. A great many infected men died and were buried in what is now called Graveyard Pond.
After the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, Perry's two largest ships were badly damaged, and the US Brig Lawrence
USS Lawrence (1813)
The first USS Lawrence was one of two 493-ton Niagara-class brigs built at Erie, Pennsylvania, by Adam and Noah Brown under the supervision of Sailing Master Daniel Dobbins and Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, for United States Navy service on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812.She was...
was intentionally sunk in Misery Bay. The Lawrence was raised in 1875 but was burned while on display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
. The US Brig Niagara
USS Niagara (1813)
The US Brig Niagara or the Flagship Niagara, is a wooden-hulled brig that served as the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. It is one of last remaining ships from the War of 1812. The Niagara is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in...
was initially repaired, then sunk for preservation in 1820 and raised in 1913, and parts of it were eventually used in the modern Niagara, based across Presque Isle Bay in Erie.
Lighthouses and Coast Guard
The Presque Isle peninsula forms Presque Isle Bay, which serves as a natural harbor for Erie. During the 19th century, as Lake Erie navigation grew more important, shipping aids were built on Presque Isle. As of 2007, two main lighthouses can be found in the park. The Erie Harbor North Pier LightErie Harbor North Pier Light
The Erie Harbor North Pier Light, also known as the Presque Isle North Pier Light, is one of the three lighthouses near Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States...
began as a wooden tower, erected in 1830. In 1858, a stronger steel structure was brought from France and installed at Erie to replace the wooden beacon, which had been damaged by a schooner. This light still stands at the far eastern side of the park, near the inlet between the lake and the bay.
The Presque Isle Light
Presque Isle Light
The Presque Isle Light is one of the three lighthouses in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1872 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1983.- History :...
was constructed in 1872 on the north side of Presque Isle and was lit on July 12, 1873. This light is 74 feet (22.6 m) tall, with a red brick house that is used as a park residence. Today the lighthouse is maintained by the United States Coast Guard and flashes a white light to warn ships of the sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. A third, smaller lighthouse was built in 1906 by the Erie Waterworks on the Presque Isle Bay side of the peninsula. Today it stands in the ferry landing for the Erie water taxi
Water taxi
A water taxi or water bus, also known as a commuter boat, is a watercraft used to provide public transport, usually but not always in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar...
service, south of the former waterworks along the state park's multi-purpose trail on the southeast side of Presque Isle.
United States Life-Saving Service
United States Life-Saving Service
The United States Life-Saving Service was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers...
District 9 opened a life-saving station (LSS) at Presque Isle in 1876. William Clark was the keeper from 1877 until he drowned in 1891. He was succeeded by Andrew Jansen, who was the keeper until 1914. When the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service merged in 1915 to become the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
, LSS Presque Isle, also called the Erie life-saving station, became Coast Guard Station #236. The station, still in operation, is assigned to the Ninth District of the United States Coast Guard.
Modern era and state park
In 1908, Erie started building a waterworksWaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
on Presque Isle to provide fresh water
Fresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
for the city. Water from Lake Erie was pumped into two basins
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
on the peninsula, where particulates in the water were allowed to settle, removing them from the lake water. After treatment, the water flowed into the waterlines of the city. In 1917 a pumphouse powered by a steam boiler and engine was built: this pumped the water from one basin into the other, then across Presque Isle Bay to Erie. This system of supplying drinking water for Erie operated until 1949. The pumphouse is now used for zebra mussel
Zebra mussel
The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia being first described in 1769 by a German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga and Dnieper rivers. They are still found nearby, as Pontic and Caspian...
control and as a concession stand for bicycle and surrey rentals within the state park.
As Pennsylvania's only surf beach, the Presque Isle beaches were already a popular attraction when the state legislature authorized the creation of the "Pennsylvania State Park at Erie" in May 1921. Oversight was given to the new "State Park and Harbor Commission of Erie", including local representation, instead of to the state Department of Forests and Waters. Presque Isle quickly became the most popular state park in Pennsylvania. Presque Isle was an early example of locating state parks near cities, a trend that would become prevalent statewide only in the 1960s.
The first paved road was built in the park in 1924, and today 13 miles (21 km) of roads run through the park. Pennsylvania Route 832
Pennsylvania Route 832
Pennsylvania Route 832 , known locally as Sterrettania Road and Peninsula Drive, is a state highway located in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Its northern terminus is at the entrance to Presque Isle State Park in Erie. The southern terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 98, two miles west of Sterrettania...
, which is the main road to the park, is also known as Peninsula Drive. Presque Isle has been referred to as "Peninsula State Park". The Perry Monument in the park was constructed in 1926 near Misery Bay and the burials in Graveyard Pond.
By 1937 official state publications were referring to the park as "Presque Isle State Park", and that same year it led the state park system with 1.4 million visitors. In the 1950s the peninsula was enlarged to accommodate new roads and parking, using 3 million cubic yards (2,294,000 m³) of sand dredged from the interior of the peninsula. The resulting basin became the current marina. Other new facilities included three modern bath houses built in 1957. That same year Gull Point (at the eastern end of the peninsula) was named a nature preserve by the state.
In November 1967, Presque Isle was named a National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. A recommendation was made to abolish the independent board as early as 1930, although this did not come about until January 19, 1971, with the creation of the state Department of Environmental Resources (which later became the DCNR). From 1989 to 1992, over 50 breakwaters
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
were built along the western and northern shore of the peninsula to help control erosion. As part of the State Parks 2000 of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources , established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 117 state parks and 20 state forests; providing information on the state's natural resources; and...
(DCNR) strategic plan, Gull Point was named a "State Park Natural Area for rare and migratory shorebirds to rest, feed and possibly nest".
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center is a center on the grounds of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. Named after former Pennsylvania Governor and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, it opened on 26 May 2006...
at the entrance to the park opened in May 2006. As of 2007, the Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Parks, which administers all 120 Pennsylvania state parks, had chosen Presque Isle for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list, citing its status as Pennsylvania's only surf beach, its status as a National Natural Landmark, and its "geological and biological diversity and its historic significance". It was included as one of 16 featured in the first ever official Pennsylvania state parks calendar (for 2008). Scenes for the film The Road were shot at Presque Isle in April 2008, with Beach 10 used as a seashore.
A weak tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
touched down in the state park on June 27, 2010. Rated an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
Enhanced Fujita Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause.Implemented in place of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita, it began operational use on February 1, 2007. The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scale:...
, it downed power lines and trees near the Stull Interpretive Center, and also damaged a nearby observation platform. Presque Isle was closed on June 28 to facilitate clean-up of the debris and reopened the next morning.
Presque Isle State Park was ranked second out of beaches of the Great Lakes in 2011 by Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
professor Stephen Leatherman
Stephen Leatherman
Stephen P. Leatherman is the director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.In addition to his educational duties, Dr. Leatherman is known for his annual rankings of American beaches, thus earning him the nickname "Dr. Beach".-Education:Leatherman earned his...
Geology and climate
Presque Isle is a recurved sand spitSpit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
that was formed during the Wisconsin glacial period
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
, which ended around 10,000 BC and was the last major continental glaciation. The ice sheet advanced into the basin now occupied by Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, stopped for a while, and retreated to the north, leaving behind a moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
. This moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
marks the terminus of the episode of ice advance, consists of clay, sand, and gravel, and eventually became the Presque Isle peninsula. The deposits are constantly being re-worked by wave action and are gradually migrating to the northeast due to longshore drift
Longshore drift
Longshore drift consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash. This process occurs in the littoral zone, and in or within close proximity to the surf zone...
.
As noted, the name presque-isle literally means "almost an island" in French. In fact, Presque Isle has been an island rather than a peninsula for brief periods. It has been cut off from the mainland four times since 1819, the longest stretch being the 32 years from 1832 to 1864, and each time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
has reconnected it.
The peninsula was breached five times between 1917 and 1922, the year after Presque Isle became a state park. While repair efforts then included plugging the breach with bales of hay and wood, in the 1950s a state and federal program built a concrete seawall
Seawall
A seawall is a form of coastal defence constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides and waves...
. Fifty-eight breakwaters, built by 1992 to slow erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, have "captured" the sand and significantly slowed its movement eastward. Even with the breakwaters, new sand has to be brought in annually to replenish
Beach nourishment
Beach nourishment— also referred to as beach replenishment—describes a process by which sediment lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from sources outside of the eroding beach...
the beaches.
Presque Isle protects the natural Presque Isle Bay, which creates a deep and wide harbor for the city of Erie. The bay is often filled with pleasure craft
Pleasure craft
A pleasure craft is a boat used for personal, family, and sometimes sportsmanlike recreation. Typically such watercraft are motorized and are used for holidays, for example on a river, lake, canal or waterway. Pleasure craft are normally kept at a marina...
as well as cargo ships from all over the world that use the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
shipping port. Erie became an international port after the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
in 1959.
The highest recorded temperature at the park was 100 °F (37.8 °C) in 1988, and the record low was -18 F in 1994. As of 2007, Erie is 13th on the list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging 88 inches (223.5 cm). For the winter of 2007–2008, Erie received 118.7 inches (301.5 cm) of snow with the first snow of the season falling on November 6.
Flora, fauna, and habitat
Ecological zones and succession
According to the DCNR, because it has so "many unique habitats, Presque Isle contains a greater number of the state's endangered, threatened and rare species than any other area of comparable size in Pennsylvania." The DCNR recognizes seven different ecological zones within Presque Isle State Park, each with a different plant and animal community. These zones are: Lake Erie; the bay and shoreline; sandy plain and new ponds; sand dunes and ridges; marshMarsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es and old ponds; thicket and sub-climax forest; and climax forest
Climax vegetation
Climax vegetation is the vegetation which establishes itself on a given site for given climatic conditions in the absence of anthropic action after a long time ....
. Lake Erie, which surrounds the park, is the first zone and is home to 80 species of fish and at least six species of crustaceans.
The remaining ecological zones, with their progression from shoreline to climax forest, are a classic illustration of the concept of ecological succession
Ecological succession
Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...
. Much of this progression is due to the changing nature of Presque Isle and its shifting shoreline and dunes. The shoreline, the second zone, is formed by wave action and is in equilibrium between erosion and deposition, with the initial plants stabilizing the sand of the new shoreline. The newly formed sandy plain and the ponds formed in it are the third zone. The ponds start as trapped pockets of lake water and can erode away or be filled by wind-blown sand or drifting dunes. The new ponds provide habitat for plants and animals: for example, the state park is home to 89 species of Odonata
Odonata
Odonata is an order of insects, encompassing dragonflies and damselflies . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but the back-formation odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole...
(dragonflies and damselflies) and Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
, including 35 different butterflies, as well as 84 different sorts of spiders.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
. Nearly 400 species of terrestrial vertebrates live on Presque Isle, including 318 different birds, 48 kinds of mammals, 13 types of amphibians, and 19 reptile species.
The sixth and seventh ecological zones are characterized by their shrubs and trees, and Presque Isle State Park is home to 633 plant species (195 Monocotyledon
Monocotyledon
Monocotyledons, also known as monocots, are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognized, the other being dicotyledons, or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon , in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots...
s, 410 Dicotyledon
Dicotyledon
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
s, 5 Gymnosperm
Gymnosperm
The gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos , meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds...
s, 5 Horsetail
Horsetail
Equisetum is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and...
s, 13 Fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s, and 5 Moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
es). The sixth zone, thicket and sub-climax forest, forms when shrubs grow on dying marshes, followed by small trees. The trees shade and thin out the thickets of shrubs, leading to a sub-climax forest. The seventh and final stage is climax forest, where many large trees form a canopy
Canopy (forest)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...
. If left undisturbed, this ecological succession is believed to take 600 or more years, although visitors to parts of Presque Isle State Park can walk through all of these zones in 5 miles (8 km).
The Pennsylvania Audubon Society has listed the park as Pennsylvania Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
(IBA) #1, and it has been rated by Birder's World magazine as one the best places in the United States for birdwatching. The diversity of habitats
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
on the peninsula makes it an ideal home for over 320 species of birds. (For comparison, the United States has about 925 bird species.) Forty-five of the bird species found in the park are listed as "endangered" or "threatened", including the Piping Plover
Piping Plover
The Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...
, Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
The Cerulean Warbler, Dendroica cerulea, is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.-Description:Adult males have pale cerulean blue upperparts and white underparts with a black necklace across the breast; they also have black streaks on the back and flanks...
, Rusty Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
The Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus, is a medium-sized blackbird, closely related to grackles .-Appearance:...
and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
and wading birds
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
live at Presque Isle year round. Four species of gull
Gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
and three species of tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
can be seen at Gull Point during the summer months. The majority of collection during the annual Christmas Bird Count
Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birders...
, which has been held in Erie County since 1956, is garnered from observations made by volunteers within the park. Many different species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of plants and animals can also be found at Presque Isle State Park due to the wide variety of ecological zones.
Gull Point Natural Area
Human beings have played a role in the ecology of Presque Isle since at least the Erielhonan. The natural drift of sand is hindered or stopped by breakwaters, permanent structures, and roads. Roads also do not absorb rainwater, causing erosion, and break up natural habitats. Excavations such as those to make the waterworks basins or the marina have destroyed habitats, but yearly artificial replenishment with sand helps to create new ones. One area within the park is closed to all public use from April to November to minimize the impact of humans: it is the easternmost part of the park, Gull Point.Gull Point covers 319 acres (129.1 ha), of which 67 acres (27.1 ha) form the Natural Area and are closed to park visitors during the height of the bird migrations. The natural area is a safe haven and resting spot for migrating and nesting birds. Many of the species of birds that rest at Gull Point are not seen anywhere else in Pennsylvania. Presque Isle lies on the Atlantic Flyway
Atlantic Flyway
The Atlantic Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Atlantic Coast of North America and the Appalachian Mountains. The main endpoints of the flyway include the Canadian Maritimes and the region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico; the migration route tends to narrow considerably in...
, a major migratory path, and some of these birds migrate from as far north as the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
to South America. They pass through in November on their long flights south and return in April on their flights north.
Erosion and deposition of sand, which has formed Gull Point, continues to change it. From May 1991 to October 2006, Gull Point lost a total of 4.6 acres (1.9 ha), and if this trend continues, it may become an island. After the breakwaters were constructed in 1992, less sand was added to replenish the beaches. Federal funding of sand replenishment has been cut off since 2005, leading to further reduction in sand added to the peninsula. Without new sand, erosion has reduced the northern beaches of Gull Point, even while regions to the east and south have continued to grow at a slower rate, for a net yearly loss of 0.4 acre (0.1618744 ha).
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) is the gateway to and administrative center for Presque Isle State Park, as well as housing interactive educational exhibits, a "Discovery Center", classrooms, and research laboratories. The Center, which officially opened on May 26, 2006, is on 12 acres (4.9 ha) just off Route 832 on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie. TREC is named for former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
, "who grew up in Erie, worked at the park as a young man and provided funding for the center and numerous Presque Isle projects during his administration."
Construction on the center began in 2002, although the idea for such a center at Presque Isle was some 50 years old. The Presque Isle State Park headquarters began operating from TREC in 2005, and it is also home to offices for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and energy resources through enforcement of the State's environmental laws...
's Great Lakes and Coastal Zone Management programs, the DCNR Recreation and Conservation program, as well as Presque Isle Audubon
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission...
, Lake-Erie Allegheny
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
Earth Force, Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Presque Isle Partnership, and the Purple Martin
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.-Description and taxonomy:...
Conservation Association. The Regional Science Consortium, "a collaborative, non-profit organization that focuses on and coordinates educational and research projects for Lake Erie and the upper Ohio River Basin", was organized in 2002 and is based at TREC. Its 32 member organizations include schools, school districts, colleges, universities, museums, state agencies, conservation groups, and private corporations from Pennsylvania, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Facilities at the 65000 square feet (6,038.7 m²) Tom Ridge Environmental Center include eight research laboratories (including several large aquariums) for the RSC, several classrooms, a "Discovery Center" for younger students to explore science hands-on, interpretive exhibits highlighting local and regional flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, as well as the human history and culture of the area. The center also offers a large-format movie theater, a smaller theater, gift shop, cafeteria, and a 75 feet (22.9 m) tall observation tower that overlooks Lake Erie. The center was constructed as a "green" building and has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
(LEED) rating from the United States Green Building Council
United States Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council , co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated...
. Besides supporting environmental research and education, the center is meant to "increase off-season use" of the state park.
Recreation
Boats of nearly any variety are permitted on Lake Erie at Presque Isle State Park. Boats with internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
s are prohibited in the interior lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s, except for Grave Yard Pond, where a concession rents motor and pontoon boats, canoes, and kayaks for recreational use. The park also has a 500-slip marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
, open to boats up to 42 feet (13 m) long, and five boat launches. Boat tours provide views of the park, lake, bay, and Erie skyline. All boats must have a current registration from any state. Water conditions on Lake Erie can change with little notice, and boaters are asked to use caution.
Water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
and scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
are permitted at Presque Isle State Park in designated waters of Lake Erie. Water skiing must take place in Presque Isle Bay or out on Lake Erie and is prohibited within 500 feet (152.4 m) of the shore. Scuba divers must be certified and are required to register at the park office to obtain information on the waters that are open to diving.
Presque Isle State Park has two distinct fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
zones. Lake Erie is home to perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...
, trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
, walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
, bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
, and steelhead. Presque Isle Bay is the home of muskellunge
Muskellunge
A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...
, northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
, smelt, as well as other fish that swim in from the lake. Trout fishing is also allowed in the two waterworks basins, which are stocked
Fish stocking
Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists...
by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is the state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
. Hunting is prohibited at Presque Isle State Park with the exception of controlled duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
and goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
hunting seasons in designated blinds
Hunting blind
A hunting blind is a cover device for hunters, designed to reduce the chance of detection; ground blinds are an alternative to the traditional Treestand, movements in a well-designed ground blind can virtually be undetectable by the game....
.
Presque Isle State Park, which has 13 beaches, is home to the only surf swimming in Pennsylvania. Each beach opens Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend and closes Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend. Lifeguard
Lifeguard
A lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...
s are on duty from 10 AM until 7:30 PM Extensive picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
facilities are available at most of the swimming areas.
Nearby state parks
The following state parks are within 30 miles (48.3 km) of Presque Isle State Park:- Erie Bluffs State ParkErie Bluffs State ParkErie Bluffs State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Girard and Springfield Townships, Erie County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is the largest undeveloped stretch of land overlooking Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. Erie Bluffs State Park is just north of Pennsylvania Route 5 near Lake...
(Erie County)
See also
- Presqu'ile Provincial ParkPresqu'ile Provincial ParkPresqu'ile Provincial Park is a park in southeastern Northumberland County on the north shore of Lake Ontario near the town of Brighton in Ontario, Canada. The park occupies an area of ....
in Ontario