The place that I come from.

[wnylib]

9. I'm from Erie, PA. It is still there, but like other

rust belt cities, its economy has suffered and it has lost population. When I lived there 50 years ago, it was the 3rd largest city in PA, but now is around 5th, I think.

All of the schools that I attended -- grade school, junior high, and senior high -- no longer exist. The school system structure was changed so that my junior high with 7th, 8th, and 9th grades became a middle school from grades 5 through 8.

Years later, all my old school buildings were condemned as too old.

My matermal great-grandparents came from the kingdom of Prussia in the German Empire. Now, Prussia no longer exists and the German Empire no longer exists. The 2 villages that my great-grandparents came from are now in Poland, with the German names changed to Polish.

But on the paternal side of my family, I have British ancestors who were Puritans in John Winthrop's MA Bay Colony. Also on the paternal side were Native Americans who preceeded the Puritans by about 10,000 years or more. Their original territory still exists, although much smaller in size. And, of course, MA is still there.