Wayne Blockhouse - Erie, PA - Octagon Buildings on Waymarking.com

The Wayne Blockhouse is located on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Blockhouse is accessible by entering the grounds at East 3rd and Ash Streets. The Blockhouse is a recreation of a portion of the former Fort Presque Isle, where General Anthony Wayne died in 1796. The fort was destroyed in 1853, but Wayne's grave was rediscovered in 1878 and a replica of the blockhouse was constructed in 1879.

The book, Anthony Wayne, Sometimes Called "Mad Anthony" by John R. Spears, published in 1903, describes the circumstances of the reconstruction of the blockhouse, along with a description of the octagonal building (p. 235): "In 1876 the original grave at Erie was discovered, and in 1879 an appropriation of $1,000 was obtained from the State Legislature by patriotic citizens of the city. To this the citizens added $500, and with the total sum a stone was placed on the grave where the dust of his body reposed. Over this stone a model of a blockhouse of squared oak logs was erected, 16 feet square and 10 feet high. Above that a second story, octagonal in shape, was built, and from the center of the roof—directly, above the grave—was erected a flagstaff, from which the Gridiron Flag is flung to the breeze."

Since the time the blockhouse was rebuilt, it has been a popular tourist destination in the city of Erie. The main reason for it being such a popular spot is the ghost story about Wayne that is associated with the location. A number of years after Wayne's death, prior to the rebuilding of the blockhouse, his son came to retrieve his remains and bring them back to their home near Philadelphia to be buried in the family plot. Wayne's body was found to have not decomposed, however, and to allow for easier transport his flesh was boiled off of his bones. Part of his remains were deposited at the fort in Erie, while the bones were taken back with his son. The legend is that some of his bones were lost along the way on what is now Route 322 and that his ghost travels the road looking for his lost bones. Whether or not this legend is true, the blockhouse is an interesting historical site to visit in Erie.

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