Presque Isle State Park

Images of America: Pennsylvania

by Eugene H. Ware

Presque Isle State Park, a peninsula extending seven miles into Lake Erie, attracts four million visitors each year. Since the late 1800s, it has been both an ecological and recreational paradise. It is a place where visitors can enjoy solitude, reflection, and the wonders of nature in addition to the sand and sun. Since 1814, man has been struggling against the forces of nature to protect Presque Isle from the storms that move in off Lake Erie and cause destruction and erosion. Through vintage images gathered from the collections of the author, Erie County Historical Society, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and various local sources, Presque Isle State Park reflects the history and special aura of the park known as a place for all seasons.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2011

Reviews

[Chad in the ATL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presque Isle State Park stretches seven miles into Lake Erie and represents one of the most beautiful undeveloped stretches of land in North America. Eugene Ware’s book Is a photo essay of the history of this unique piece of real estate. From wildlife sanctuary, to military staging area to commercial hub to family playground, Presque Isle has a diverse history. The photography is culled from more than 100 years and gives a powerful perspective. Ware provides a certain amount of the history in commentary to each photo, but the book really doesn’t provide the kind of narrative that could have elevated the book to a real treasure. As it stands, this book does document the diverse pictorial history of Presque Isle and that is valuable in itself.

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Images in America series is a always a fun way to learn a bit about a particular place. The photos were great.

I was not crazy about Ware's treatment of the history and some of his captions. Particularly the one's that dealt with women, such as the photo of isle's famous vagrant Joe Root in which he suggests that women loved it when Joe sat in a tree and watched them. I also had a lot of issues with Ware's claim that the isle is natural and the evidence he provides to the contrary. I wrote a short blog post on this subject: https://jessicamdewitt.wordpress.com/...

Also, did anyone else notice the photo that appears twice with different, unrelated captions?