Bringing 1812 Into the 21st Century
A national museum on the shores of Lake Erie's bayfront
One doesn't have to spend too much time in Erie before they will almost certainly begin seeing references to the War of 1812 – or, more specifically, the war's Battle of Lake Erie. The battle, fought on Sept. 10, 1813, took place off Put-in-Bay, Ohio after the fleet sailed from Erie's Presque Isle Bay where the ships were constructed. It resulted in a decisive victory for the United States against the British, described by the National Park Service as "one of the most resounding naval triumphs of the War of 1812."
"We have met the enemy," wrote Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in his brief dispatch to Major General William Henry Harrison, "and they are ours."
Today, Erie homes and businesses display Oliver Hazard Perry's iconic "Don't Give Up the Ship" flags while Erieites themselves proudly sport it on t-shirts, hats, and tattoos. Waldameer Park and Water World has an entire multi-level water play structure that is Battle of Lake Erie-themed. A skip away from Dobbins Landing – named for Daniel Dobbins, the man who convinced Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton to build the ships off the shores of Erie – with its glorious views of the bay and city, there's the Flagship Niagara and Maritime Museum, managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). There's the newly opened "Command and Courage: Oliver Hazard Perry" exhibit at the Hagen History Center, which recreates Perry's lower-deck private quarters and includes his sword, sextant, documents, artifacts, and a lock of his hair.
These connections have led some to believe that Erie is the perfect place for something else: a national museum dedicated to the War of 1812. As reported by Valerie Myers in the Erie Times-News in March 2026, one of its key supporters is Brad King, Ph.D., vice president of Lord Cultural Resources in Toronto.
In June 2026 Talk Erie host Joel Natalie interviewed King alongside journalist (and Erie native) Steve Scully to discuss the feasibility of such a "transformational" museum opening in Erie. The vision, they made clear, is not to compete with any existing local museums, but to complement them in a location that is geographically central among the Great Lakes (not to mention the halfway point between Chicago and New York City).
What would make this museum different then? First of all, as previously stated, this would be a national museum. While there are many museums that reference the War of 1812 or are dedicated to an aspect of it, most are regional and do not encompass the entire war.
"There is no National War of 1812 museum in the United States," King told Natalie. "The story is told in bits and pieces … It's a big story. And that's where the opportunity lies for Erie." He reiterated to Natalie and then again to Erie News Now in a separate interview, "[T]here's probably no place that's got a better claim to telling this whole story than here."
"We want to tell the totality of the story," added Scully, while King noted that there is the American perspective of the war, itself a vast story, but also the Indigenous, British, and Canadian perspectives all which deserve deeper exploration and emphasis.
"We want to bring it to life and want people to experience it. That's the opportunity here," King said. He brings plenty of experience. After earning his Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto, King has either led or contributed to more than 300 museum planning projects across numerous countries since joining Lord Cultural Resources in 2000. His expertise is specifically museum exhibition development and specializes in master planning, collection analyses, business planning, and museum learning strategies. He is also co-editor of The Manual of Museum Learning from 2016 and published New Directions for University Museums in 2023.
While King and Scully remained somewhat coy as to potential locations that are being scouted, they did confirm that they are looking at potential sites. Simply put: it has to be on the waterfront. "[W]e are trying to include everyone," Scully assured Natalie, saying such a monumental task would have to be "community driven" to be successful, particularly because, down the line, a significant (but still uncertain) amount of money will have to be raised.
Historian Douglas Brinkley, one of the minds behind the $420 million National World War II Museum in New Orleans, one of the biggest supporters of bringing such a museum to Erie, and a participant in events at the Hagen History Center and Jefferson Educational Society, has already been working on organizing significant support among potential donors. According to Erie Times-News, he's also already discussed it with the Secretary of the Interior about it being part of the U.S. National Park Service.
All of this is, of course, still in the early stages – but if Erie is to some day be home to the National War of 1812 Museum, it will take widespread support. It will also be a long overdue addition to the public-facing history of the United States, an often overlooked war that some have referred to as a continuation of the American Revolution or the second War for Independence. The American Battlefield Trust has called the young nation's defeat of the British in the war as its "coming of age."
"The War of 1812 was the strangest war in American history," wrote Pulitzer Prize winning historian Gordon S. Wood in 2010, echoing historian Alan Taylor who said it "looms small in American memory."
Perhaps then, in the future, Erie can play a central role in changing that perception.
Jonathan Burdick runs the public history project Rust & Dirt. He can be reached at jburdick@eriereader.com
