by Christine Lorraine Morgan ~ July 17, 2021

Did you know that en route to Washington to be inaugurated, President Lincoln stopped and enjoyed his dinner and gave a speech while at the Erie train station in February 1861?

During Lincoln’s visit, there was an unusual commotion which resulted in a potentially dangerous scenario, as posted at oldtimeerie.blogspot.com:

“At Erie quite a scene occurred, by the breaking down of a roof on which a large number of curious republicans had gathered. The sudden appearance of the whole group, and the scramble among the ruins, was most ludicrous. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. After dinner at Erie Mr. Lincoln addressed the people, excusing himself for not expressing his opinions on the exciting questions of the day,” according to New York Herald, February 17, 1861.

The roof that caved in was on a small shack located near the depot in downtown Erie. After several people decided to stand on the structure’s roof to get a better view of the President’s train, several more squeezed on to the small space. Then, when the train pulled in to the station, the roof gave way and those standing on it crashed to the cold frozen ground. Luckily, those who fell through were able to shake off the incident without injury.

Thus, the President-Elect decided to address the sizable crowd that had gathered, who were waiting excitedly to hear what the nation’s newly elected leader had to say. Lincoln soon realized that speaking from his coach car would not allow him to reach everyone, so he spoke from the balcony of the train station building.

His train also stopped at the Girard and North East stations.