Here are a few of many short pieces of information about Presque Isle State Park compiled over many years.

1. The winter of 2007-08 saw the return of a winter visitor to the park for the first known time since the early 1900s. A 200-plus-pound black bear made himself at home in the park. He raided bird feeders and garbage cans and ripped up logs working for his meals. Finally, the bear made its way inland with the return of warm weather.

2. Birders’ World magazine once rated Presque Isle as one of the top birding locations in the country.

Radio transmitters:Erie Bird Observatory uses tiny technology to study Presque Isle migrations

3. Because the park contains many different and distinctive habitats, many of Pennsylvania’s endangered, threatened and rare species of plants grow there.

4. The Presque Isle Bay area right off the Sturgeon Bay parking area was known as the Stinkhole for many years. This area is located right by the Lily Pond and the park ranger offices. From the 1800s to the early 1900s, sturgeon were plentiful in the bay and lake water. Many fishing boats worked these waters and sold their catches to a processing plant on Presque Isle. The plant milked the caviar from the sturgeon before the fish were salted and buried in the beach sand. After three or four weeks of sun-drying the fish flesh, it would be sliced off and sold throughout the eastern U.S. and became a well-known product of Erie. The carcasses of the fish were then thrown into the bay.

More:Before we went fishing for fun, it was a major industry in Erie from 1850 to the mid-1920s

5. In 1921, Presque Isle was named the second state park in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The first, Valley Forge, was founded in 1893 and given to the National Park Service in 1976.

More:From 'Doc' Ainsworth to James Thompson: 15 names to know in Presque Isle State Park history

6. It is thought that more than 635 species of plants can be found on Presque Isle.

7. Thirteen types of amphibians and nineteen reptile species live on the park.

8. Many of the species of birds that rest and nest at Gull Point are not seen anywhere else in Pennsylvania.

9. The Erie Water Works now uses the old pumphouse within the Waterworks area to clear the water lines of zebra mussels. The other half of the building is used as a bike and sports equipment rental business during the spring, summer and fall.

Presque Isle State Park history:How Waterworks became a destination site

10. The old lighthouse-like structure on the bayside of Waterworks was never a lighthouse. It was simply a water pumping station for the old Erie Water Commission. It was never used because its function was to draw water from the Presque Isle Bay and send it to the water system across the bay at the foot of Chestnut Street in an emergency. A few years ago, it was disconnected, moved away from the water, repaired, painted and relocated to a nearby display area.

More:How an iconic piece of Presque Isle was restored

11. A law from the 1920s, which has never been repealed, stated that horses could not exceed the speed of 20mph in the park. They also had the right-of-way over the “new-fangled” automobile.

12. Lake Erie measures 241 miles in length and ranges from 30 miles to 57 miles in width.

More:Lake Erie isn't deep, but has depth of character among the Great Lakes

13. During the summer of 2007, the first pair of bald eagles established a nest on Presque Isle since the 1970s, when the marina was built. Each year since then, at least one pair has nested on the park.

14. At one time in the 1930s to the 1940s, the road going by the Presque Isle Lighthouse ran between the lighthouse and the water. The road was always subject to flooding and erosion. Finally, in 1948, the road was moved to its present inland location.

15. From 1936 until 1941, men were required to wear bathing suits with tops on all Presque Isle beaches.

16. The first roads built in the park were to give tourists a scenic view of the lakefront and beach areas. At the time, they were built very close to the lake. This caused many road flooding problems and caused the closing of these roads many times each year.

See you at the park!

More:The Presque Isle Lighthouse is getting a facelift. Here's what visitors can look forward to

Gene Ware is the author of 10 books. He serves on the board of the Presque Isle Light Station and is past chairman of the boards of the Tom Ridge Center Foundation and the Presque Isle Partnership. Email him at ware906@gmail.com.