PA Lawmaker Wants Trump To Rename Lake Erie

PENNSYLVANIA — First, the Gulf of Mexico abruptly became the Gulf of America. Then Lake Ontatrio suddenly became Lake America.

Now, in the wake of President Donald Trump unilaterally deciding to change the name of those bodies of water, a state lawmaker wants him to do the same to Lake Erie.

Subscribe

Rep. David Maloney, a Berks County Republican, announced this week he is preparing a resolution asking the president, Congress and the United States Secretary of the Interior to take whatever steps are necessary to rename Lake Erie as Lake Pennsylvania.

"This is Pennsylvania's only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it" Maloney said in a release.

"Ohio has plenty of shoreline. New York already has two Great Lakes. Canada has four others. Pennsylvania has one. Let's call it Lake Pennsylvania."

Maloney said that every summer, Pennsylvanians head toward the lake—north on I-79 from western Pennsylvania, west on I-80 from central and eastern Pennsylvania and along connecting highways from every corner of the state with boats, fishing gear and families in tow.

"They spend the weekend, and money, on Pennsylvania's Great Lake shoreline and return home Sunday to communities across the commonwealth," Maloney said. "Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs attract millions of visitors annually, and tourism is now one of Erie County's largest industries."

According to the environmental website eekwi.org, most of Lake Erie's southern shore was at one time was occupied by a tribe of Indians known as the Eries. The Eries' name for themselves was Erielhonan, or "Long Tail."

Early French writers thought this name referred to a wild cat or panther, and so they called Lake Erie, "Lac du Chat" meaning "Lake of the Cat." Later, the French began referring to it as Lac Erie. Over time, the name evolved into Lake Erie.

The lake's international boundary is split between the United States and Canada. Four states share the southern boundaries: Pennsylvania and Ohio on the south, New York on the east and south and Michigan on the west.

Water lines extend from each state's shore to the international border.