King of The Peninsula

Joe Root was an Erie native, born in 1880. Little is known about his childhood; but, at some point, he fell in love with Presque Isle and, in his teens, made it his home. As one of the peninsula’s last permanent inhabitants, he built a number of shacks in various parts of the peninsula to suit the particular activity of any given day. He built these shacks out of driftwood, packing crates and anything else that washed up on shore. He sustained himself by fishing, gathering eggs, eating fruit, including cranberries, which grew in abundance on Presque Isle, and hunting without the use of a gun or bow and arrow. Joe would use a club or a rock and his exceptional woodsman skills to capture his prey. It is told that Joe could mimic any wild bird call with his high, squeaky voice.Joe Root loved children, and they grew to love him in return. A family would show up on the peninsula for a picnic meal and, as soon as they spread their blanket, Joe would magically appear. Joe would entertain the children with ventriloquism and stories about his friends, the Jee-Bees, little people who could accurately predict the weather. Joe was an accomplished ventriloquist, and he would carry on conversations with his hat or a hollow tree stump. He would usually get invited to a free picnic meal at the urging of the children. Eventually, families would pack extra food when visiting the peninsula, in hopes of seeing Joe Root.

On rare visits to town, Joe would swap stories of his business ideas in exchange for a drink. One idea was of a balloon factory, using the prevailing westerly winds to transport travelers to Buffalo. Another idea was a feather factory, using the abundance of birds that can be found on Presque Isle. Joe’s favourite idea was to begin a circus that would feature wild animals being transported in a wheelbarrow over a high wire stretched between the peninsula and the mainland.

Most people found Joe’s ideas amusing and harmless; he never found the financial backing to realize his dreams. Others feared Joe would claim squatter’s rights to the peninsula and, in an event shrouded in secrecy, he was committed to the State Hospital for the Insane in Warren, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1910, for an act of violence that eyewitnesses say Joe was the victim. Joe died in 1912, longing for just one thing, to return to his beloved Presque Isle. How much would Joe’s holdings be worth today if he had owned the peninsula? A restaurant at the entrance to Presque Isle is named after him.

Legend says that the sand replenishment needed each year is simply because Presque Isle loved Joe Root as much as he loved her. This is why she keeps slipping away in search of the “King of the Peninsula”.

Return to Presque Isle State Park, in the Parks section of this website.