Draft horses carried the load on Presque Isle in the early 1900s

There were no roads on Presque Isle in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was not until 1925 that a road from the bottom of the peninsula hill to the Waterworks Park was built. However, bridle paths allowed some limited access beyond boat.

These paths were narrow and barely greater than one lane wide, dangerous, and exceedingly rough. If they did not mind the threat of being run over by horseback riders, visitors could walk to a few areas of Presque Isle on these paths. This continued for nearly 20 years.

Once Presque Isle became a state park in 1921, a few improvements were started including the Waterworks area, construction of roads and bathing beach development. All these required hauling and other forms of heavy labor. It did not take long for the workers on Presque Isle to turn to the reliable draft horse to help them.

The clearing, hauling, and grading of road areas meant these horses were essential in the early 1900s. This horse was bred to be a superior working animal. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, thousands of these horses a year were imported from western Europe. They were strong-boned animals bred to endure hard work and harsh winters in north-central Europe.

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In the early 500s to 800 A.D., smaller and lighter horses were what populated Europe, Asia, and North America. Then, over 50 years, a new breed was to become the world's gentle giants. Most owners of draft horses knew they weighed more than 1,600 pounds. They had more power, stamina and muscle than any other type of horse. Their disposition was gentle, and they were easy to work with. Their primary use was hauling, plowing and other farm or construction labor. During the 1800s and early 20th century, they became the backbone of most construction work throughout the globe.

The state, the City of Erie and the Water Department found a critical need for draft horses on the park. The horses were used to handle most heavy labor to clear debris after storms. Eventually, it was decided that they needed a place on the peninsula to keep these horses so they would not need to take them off the park every day and bring them back the next.

Once I discovered this fact, something I saw 15 years ago started to make sense. While walking along the Ridge Trail, I noticed that a part of an extremely old wooden rail used in a split-rail fence had grown right through two trees. The trees completely absorbed the rails and made them part of the trees.

Soon, more facts about this fence were found. Later, I found that a split-rail corral was built in this area for the draft horses. This location seemed like a perfect spot for it. It was close to where much of the work was being done, the area was somewhat open and minimal clearing was needed to establish a corral. Cranberry Pond served to water the horses and became the eastern corral border, so no fence was needed. The park's sawmill was near this area, so the horses could easily be used to haul the large logs to and from the sawmill. When the lake broke through into Presque Isle Bay, the horses were used to do the hard work of moving the huge rocks and racks of large stones into the new channel.

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Then, in 1928, the old bridle paths on the park were eliminated, and horseback riding was banned for safety reasons. That is when horsepower began to replace horse power. The draft horse numbers began dropping significantly.

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Our area's history is important. However, I am afraid that we do not take the time to record the key facts and information about our history in today's fast-paced world. If you have any interesting information or old park pictures, I'd be grateful if you would share them with me by email at ware906@gmail.com.

See you at the park!

Gene Ware is the author of 10 books. He serves on the board of the Presque Isle Light Station and is past chairman of the boards of the Tom Ridge Center Foundation and the Presque Isle Partnership.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Draft horses carried the load on Presque Isle in early 1900s