Erie County apartments for rent

Erie County, Pennsylvania contains only two cities: the city of Erie and the city of Corry. The city of Erie is the county seat; as of 2010, Erie County’s population was 280,566.

Erie is the largest county in Pennsylvania, with a total area of 1,558 square miles; almost half of its area is water. The southern shore is the gateway to wine country in Pennsylvania and western New York; this area contains approximately 20,000 acres of grape vines, making it the country’s top grape-producing county outside of California and the ideal location for a vineyard tour.

Lake Erie Wine Country stretches for 40 miles; the wineries are located on both sides of Interstate 90 between the towns of North East in Erie County and Forestville in Chautauqua, New York.

At most wineries in Lake Erie Wine Country the tastings are free. Tastings of more expensive wines may incur a small fee, often refundable with the purchase of wine. Most of the Lake Erie area wineries are open daily from late morning until afternoon, although spring and winter hours tend to be reduced, especially during the week. Early to mid-October is a beautiful time to visit, as the grape harvest coincides with peak fall foliage.

The South Shore Wine Company, established in 1864, was Erie County’s first commercial winery. The original stone wine cavern, built in the 1860s and fashioned after French wine caverns, is one of very few of its kind in the United States.

Presque Isle Wine Cellars is a family-owned business, opened in 1968 as one of the first commercial wineries in Pennsylvania under the Pennsylvania Limited Wineries Act, producing award-winning wines from locally grown native, hybrid and vitis vinifera grapes.

Erie County is bordered on the northeast by Chautauqua County, New York, on the east by Warren County, on the south by Crawford County, and on the west by Ashtabula County, Ohio. Directly north of the county is Lake Erie.

The population of Erie County is 280,566 residents. Of those who can trace their ancestry, one-quarter are German, 12 percent Polish, 12 percent Italian, 10 percent Irish and six percent English. The median age here is 38.6 years.