I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1958

To establish the Fort Presque Isle National Historic Site in the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 26, 1999

Mr. ENGLISH (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SOUDER, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. WELLER, and Mr. HOLDEN) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish the Fort Presque Isle National Historic Site

in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FORT PRESQUE ISLE NATIONAL HISTORIC

4 SITE, PENNSYLVANIA.

5 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—

6 (1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the fol7 lowing:

8 (A) Fort Presque Isle was a frontier out9 post located on Garrison Hill in the area of

10 present-day Erie, Pennsylvania, which was the
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1 site of the American installations built in 1795

2 and 1796 and in the War of 1812.

3 (B) General Anthony Wayne was a Revolu4 tionary War hero who served under General

5 George Washington and, at one point, was com6 manding general of the United States Army.

7 He first arrived in the area of Presque Isle in

8 1786.

9 (C) Legend has it that General Wayne was

10 nicknamed ‘‘Mad’’ by his troops, not for being

11 rash or foolish, but for his leadership and brav12 ery on and off the battlefield.

13 (D) The original blockhouse of Fort

14 Presque Isle was built in 1795 by 200 Federal

15 troops from General Wayne’s army, under the

16 direction of Captain John Grubb. It was the

17 first blockhouse used as part of a defensive sys18 tem established to counter Native American

19 uprisings. It was also used during the War of

20 1812.

21 (E) General Wayne was stricken ill at Fort

22 Presque Isle and died there in 1796. At his re23 quest, his body was buried under the flagpole of

24 the northwest blockhouse of the fort.
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1 (F) The original blockhouse of Fort

2 Presque Isle burned in 1852, and the existing

3 structure was built by the Commonwealth of

4 Pennsylvania in 1880 as a memorial to General

5 Wayne.

6 (G) The Pennsylvania Historical and Mu7 seum Commission has recognized the recon8 structed blockhouse as eligible for placement on

9 the National Register of Historic Places.

10 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section

11 are the following:

12 (A) To provide for reconstruction of the

13 frontier fort at Presque Isle for the benefit, in14 spiration, and education of the people of the

15 United States.

16 (B) To preserve the original grave site of

17 General ‘‘Mad’’ Anthony Wayne at Fort

18 Presque Isle.

19 (C) To broaden understanding of the his20 torical significance of Fort Presque Isle.

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

22 (1) HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘historic site’’

23 means the Fort Presque Isle National Historic Site

24 established by subsection (c).
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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of the Interior.

3 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT PRESQUE ISLE NA4 TIONAL HISTORIC SITE.—

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established as

6 a unit of the National Park System the Fort

7 Presque Isle National Historic Site in Erie, Pennsyl8 vania.

9 (2) DESCRIPTION.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The historic site shall

11 consist of land and improvements comprising

12 the historic location of Fort Presque Isle, in13 cluding the existing blockhouse replica at that

14 location, as depicted on a map entitled

15 ‘‘llll’’, numbered llll and dated

16 llll, comprising approximately llll

17 acres.

18 (B) MAP AND BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION.—

19 The map referred to in subparagraph (A) and

20 accompanying boundary description shall be on

21 file and available for public inspection in the of22 fice of the Director of the National Park Serv23 ice and any other office of the National Park

24 Service that the Secretary determines to be an
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1 appropriate location for filing the map and

2 boundary description.

3 (d) ADMINISTRATION OF THE HISTORIC SITE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall admin5 ister the historic site in accordance with this section

6 and the provisions of law generally applicable to

7 units of the National Park System, including the Act

8 of August 25, 1916 (commonly known as the Na9 tional Park Service Organic Act; 16 U.S.C. 1 et

10 seq.), and the Act of August 21, 1935 (commonly

11 known as the Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiq12 uities Act; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

13 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—To further

14 the purposes of this section, the Secretary may enter

15 into a cooperative agreement with any interested in16 dividual, public or private agency, organization, or

17 institution.

18 (3) TECHNICAL AND PRESERVATION ASSIST19 ANCE.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

21 provide to any eligible person described in sub22 paragraph (B) technical assistance for the pres23 ervation of historic structures of, the mainte24 nance of the cultural landscape of, and local

25 preservation planning for, the historic site.
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1 (B) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—The eligible per2 sons described in this subparagraph are—

3 (i) an owner of real property within

4 the boundary of the historic site, as de5 scribed in subsection (c)(2); and

6 (ii) any interested individual, agency,

7 organization, or institution that has en8 tered into an agreement with the Secretary

9 pursuant to paragraph (2) of this sub10 section.

11 (e) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY—The Sec12 retary may acquire by donation, exchange, or purchase

13 with funds made available by donation or appropriation,

14 such lands or interests in lands as may be necessary to

15 allow for the interpretation, preservation, or restoration

16 of the historic site.

17 (f) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the last day

19 of the third full fiscal year beginning after the date

20 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, in con21 sultation with the officials described in paragraph

22 (2), prepare a general management plan for the his23 toric site.

24 (2) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the general

25 management plan, the Secretary shall consult with
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1 an appropriate official of each appropriate political

2 subdivisions of the State of Pennsylvania that have

3 jurisdiction over all or a portion of the historic site.

4 (3) SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO CONGRESS.—

5 Upon the completion of the general management

6 plan, the Secretary shall submit a copy of the plan

7 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

8 of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of

9 the House of Representatives.

Æ