History of Presque Isle: Creating a State Park
These days we drive onto Presque Isle and take the roadways for granted. During the early years of the state park, however, decisions regarding where and how to connect the peninsula with the mainland had enormous and lasting consequences. Beginning with the earlier recommendations of celebrated urban planner John Nolan, Presque Isle embarked upon a series of politically motivated engineering decisions that will influence our park forever.
In addition to Nolan, the most important early players in the creation of the state park and its roadways included Isadore Sobel (the unsung hero), Waldameer Park, Erie Waterworks, Sherman Fairchild (inventor of aerial photography), the Erie Yacht Club, and a strange downtown political committee that controlled all park decisions.
Covid-19 policies will be in effect throughout programming, please review the JES Covid-19 policy here. Patrons will need to show their vaccination cards or proof of a negative test. While Erie County remains on alert, masks will be required. Advanced registration is required for all JES events. Tickets will not be sold at or during events. This event is free to all with prior registration.
Historian and author David Frew, Ph.D., is a JES Scholar-in-Residence. An emeritus professor at Gannon University, he held a variety of administrative positions during a 33-year career. He is also emeritus director of the Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center, where he had previously served as Executive Director for five years, and is president of his own management consulting business.
After beginning with a five-year career in engineering, Frew took a teaching fellowship at Kent State University, where he earned a doctorate in Organizational Behavior in 1970. His love of Lake Erie brought him back to Erie where he became a faculty member and the founding director of Gannon's MBA Program. His career at Gannon included administrative posts as Director of the Health Services Administration and Public Administration Programs, as well as Dean of the Graduate School. In 1982 and 1983, he took a leave from Gannon to complete a post-doctorate at Kent State University where he completed advanced coursework in psychology and research design. He was also a visiting professor at Mercyhurst University for four years.
Dr. Frew has authored or co-authored 40 books, most recently “Accidental Parade: A 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle,” and more than 100 articles, cases, and papers. His work has appeared in publications ranging from refereed journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology to popular magazines such as Sail Magazine and Cruising World.
Growing up on Erie's lower west side as a proud "Bay Rat," Frew was known to join neighborhood kids playing and marauding along the west bayfront. He has written for years about his beloved Presque Isle and his adventures on the Great Lakes. In the “On the Waterfront Series” for the JES, the Scholar-in-Residence takes note of life in and around the water.
