The Revolutionary War hero visited Erie in 1825 as part of a 13-month, 6,000-mile tour of the young United States. A June 3 dinner will commemorate the Marquis de Lafayette's visit 200 years ago.

Another museum exhibit is set to open this summer. “Centennial of the War of 1812” defines the activities of the centennial commemoration here in 1912. Both exhibits run through spring 2015.

But the first crossing actually seems to have been a century earlier. Daniel Dobbins and Jesse Elliott, key figures in the War of 1812, apparently crossed the frozen lake in the winter of 1813-14.