Last Friday, we talked about the Erie Gauge War of 1853.  In those days, railroad passengers had to change trains in Erie because the width between the rails was different on the tracks from Erie to the New York State border than it was from Erie to the Ohio border.

This intentional layover meant passengers were forced to spend time in Erie and spend money. Local businesses loved it. Passengers hated it.  When the railroads attempted to make the width of the rails uniform in Erie, citizens revolted and tore up the new track being laid by the railroad company.  The vandalism was constant as Erie feared that it would lose its economic bonanza.  New track was being destroyed from Erie to Harborcreek.  Harborcreek citizens joined Erieites in the destruction.  They all had a nickname.

"Eventually, there was a seven mile stretch of rail that had been torn up.  These folks eventually were nicknamed “The Rippers.” says George Deutsch, Executive Director of the Hagen History Center.

Harborcreek recently erected a plaque commemorating the Erie Gauge War.  A picture on the plaque shows how the situation got seriously out of hand.

"At one point, the President of the Buffalo Railroad pulled out a pistol and shot a Harborcreek guy in the head,” says Deutsch.

The federal government became involved in the dispute and a U.S. Marshall came to Harborcreek with an injunction to end the vandalism. The marshall told a Harborcreek official that the injunction must be taken seriously saying "This is the Seal of the United States." The Harborcreek official threw the paper on the ground, stomped on it and said, "This is the Seal of Harborcreek." Current Harborcreek Supervisor Dean Pepicello says he could never imagine having that same reaction.

"A local official throws it down, steps on it as if it means nothing. You certainly couldn't imagine that today,” he said.

Horace Greeley. The famous New York newspaper editor of that time, blasted Erie in news stories he wrote.  Greeley described rail passengers walking the seven miles from Harborcreek to Erie in the snow because of the vandalized track. 

"He wrote a blistering series of articles about babies being frozen and people starving and walking through the deep snow.  It just boiled over nationwide,” says Deutsch.

The chaos eventually ended in February 1854. 

As a compromise, a rail line was allowed to extend to the bayfront, opening up economic development there.

Deutsch says the Erie Gauge War is one of his favorite stories about local history.  He says the story is not well known among Erie citizens today because our forefathers hoped the embarrassing publicity would eventually be forgotten.