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City (pop., 2000: 103,717), northwestern Pennsylvania, U.S. Named for the Erie Indians, it was the site of a French fort (1753) on Lake Erie .
The site was acquired by the U.S. in 1795, when the town was laid out. Nearby naval shipyards built most of the fleet that defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie (1813) in the War of 1812 . Economic development began with the opening (1844) of the Erie and Pittsburgh Canal and with railway construction in the 1850s. Pennsylvania's only port on the
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[c mediumvioletred] (as used in expressions)
Erie Canal
Erie Railroad Co.
{{link=Erie Lake">Erie Lake