HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY

·         Wayne County is located in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania

·         Wayne County was established in 1798

BOOKS

1880 – History of Wayne County, Pennsylvania by Phineas G. Goodrich

1886 – History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties by Alfred J. Mathews

NEWSPAPERS

1978 – Wayne Independent (Centennial Issue)

1850 to 1900 – Wayne County Herald

·         Pennsylvania began in 1682

·         Was colonized first in 1681

·         Sylvania – “Woodlands”

·         Pennsylvania was also known as Pensilvania

LOCAL ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES

March 21, 1798 – Wayne; formed from Northampton

March 6, 1812 – Lehigh; formed from Northampton

March 26, 1814 – Pike; formed from Wayne

April 1, 1836 – Monroe; formed from Northampton and Pike

PUBLIC ROADS

1750 – Old Delaware

1762 – Connecticut & Wyoming

1768 – Wilderness

1788 – North & South (State)

1788 – Ellicott’s

1791 – Portage

1791 – Bingham

1791 – Belmont & Great Bend

1791 – Preston’s

1791 – Hillborn

1792 – Minisink Ford & Union Farm

1797 – Milford & Pleasant Mount

1800 – Cochecton & Great Bend

1801 – Bethany & Salem

TURNPIKES

1804 – Milford & Owego

1811 – Cochecton & Great Bend

1811 – Bethany & Dingman’s Choice

1812 – Belmont & Easton

1817 – Belmont & Oquagah

1820 – Luzerne & Wayne

1829 – Honesdale & Paupack Eddy

1830 – Honesdale & Clarksville

1831 – Bethany & Honesdale

1831 – Honesdale & Big Eddy

1840 – Honesdale & Cherry Ridge

1841 – Cherry Ridge & East Sterling

1850 – Honesdale & Mast Hope Plank

1851 – Honesdale & Delaware Plank

TRANSPORTATION

·         Rivers and Creeks were more than a means of transportation; the Delaware River extended along the eastern border of Wayne County

1791 – Pennsylvania General Assembly declared the Lackawaxen River, up to the falls near Hawley, a public highway

1808 – The public highway extended to include part of the river from the falls in Hawley to Honesdale (Dyberry Forks), up the Dyberry to Tanners Falls and up the West Branch to Seelyville; then up to Pleasant Mount

·         Earliest trails in Wayne County were the Wyoming Trail; this was likely a trail from the Leni-Lenape Camp located near Hancock to the camp of the Susquehannocks along the Susquehanna River.

·         Starrucca meant “the meeting of the waters”

TRAILS

·         Trails were little more than small paths with hatchet marks on trees, indicating the path to follow.  Marks were high in the tree so that a traveler could see them even in the dead of winter

·         “Highways” were numerous rivers and creeks used by the Native Americans and early settlers

·         Trails had numerous starting points on the Delaware River:

o   Cochecton

o   Narrowsburg (Big Eddy)

o   Lackawaxen (now Pike County)

They converged in Salem Township and into Cobb’s Gap (Mt. Cobb) to Wyoming on the Susquehanna River

·         Portion of the trail was used as part of the first road opened through Wayne County in 1762

·         Connecticut settlers and other New Englanders headed for rich lands along the Susquehanna River near Wilkes-Barre.  They came to Port Jervis on the Delaware River.  From Port Jervis the road extended to Milford, Lord’s Valley and Blooming Grove, into Paupack and Salem townships into the Wyoming valley

EARLY ROADS

·         The earliest roads were in Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania (as in Philadelphia and Easton area), New York and the New England states

·         They were constructed wherever there was a settlement large enough or important enough to warrant use of wheeled vehicles

March 17, 1788 – The North and South Road was to be built.  The North and South Turnpike ran from the extreme south in Dreher Township and connected with the Belmont Turnpike (an extension of the old North and South road)

1812 – The road followed the exact route as the North and South Turnpike

1817 – The Belmont and Ouaquaga Turnpike was formed to finish this road from Belmont to Ouaquaga, New York

PLANK ROADS

1.      Plank roads could be made in all situations

2.      Less likely to be affected by frost

3.      Could be built and maintained at much lower cost

4.      Lasted 8 – 10 years

5.      Less fatiguing to horses and stage coach passengers

·         There were two tollbooths on the Honesdale and Big Eddy Turnpike

·         Oak, hemlock or pine was used for plank roads

·         Turnpikes were toll roads

·         Turnpike – derived from “pike” that turned

·         The user of the road was charged once for as many sheep or cattle he could pass through in one turn of the pike

·         Roads were dirt or mud and were followed by plank roads

HARD SURFACED ROADS

·         First hard surfaced road was constructed from about 1905 – 1910

·         Three small stretches of the road were constructed :

o   One led toward Bethany

o   To Prompton from Honesdale

o   Ran through the village of Mount Pleasant toward Wheeler Hill

·         The roads were originally made of concrete or macadam

·         The road from Indian Orchard started in 1919 and was originally concrete

·         Honesdale to Carbondale was poorly constructed and was never finished.  The new concrete route was completed in the 1960s parallel to the old road.  It was also once one of the earliest bus routes

1920s – A large number of routes were completed in Wayne County:

o   Honesdale to Pleasant Mount & Orson

o   Indian Orchard to Beach Lake & Narrowsburg

o   Wallenpaupack Lake through Lakeville to Hamlin

o   Bethany to Mt. Pleasant & certain portions of the North & South Turnpike, extending from Lake Ariel & Waymart

o   Concrete route from Hoadleys through Lake Ariel to Hamlin

o   Mount Pleasant to Orson

o   Short stretch of concrete road in the borough of Starrucca

·         Rock beds of these roads came from the stone walls along the road that were pulled down into the road

·         200 miles of all-weather roads had been built by now:

o   Honesdale to Hancock via Equinunk

o   Orson to Hancock

o   Starrucca to Preston Park Road

o   Delaware River route to Damascus

o   Honesdale to South Canaan

o   Honesdale to Milanville, by way of Tyler Hill

o   Hawley to Hamlin

1968 – Work began on the only section of Interstate to pass through Wayne County, designated as I-84.  Grading began in 1964, but the project went dormant for five years and in 1973 work began again.  December 1975, I-84 ran through the southern part of Wayne County in Sterling and Dreher Townships

COAL

·         There were no coal beds in Wayne County

THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL

·         The Old Connecticut Road passed over Cobb’s Mountain (Mt. Cobb) and came within a few miles of two mines that Maurice and William Wurts had opened farther up the valley from Carbondale

1825 – The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was born

December 5, 1828 – First ten boats loaded with coal left Honesdale on their way to Rondout

·         Operations ceased in 1898 due to the completion of railroads

THE STOURBRIDGE LION

April 23, 1823 – New York Legislature passed a special act

1827 – No experiments had been made

·         The “Stourbridge Lion” was built by Foster, Rastrick & Company; was completed and shipped from Stourbridge, England on February 1829 and reached New York on May 13, 1829

·         It reached Honesdale in late July 1829

·         It was then set up and made a trial trip on August 8, 1829

·         The track was strengthened and a second run was made on September 9, 1829

GRAVITY RAILROADS

1828 – Terminus was at Dyberry Forks (Honesdale)

·         The Gravity was built across the Moosic Mountains in 1828

·         The cars relied on gravity to run along the slightly graded planes, coming to a level plane where they slowed down

·         Was referred to as the Carbondale Railroad

·         It began in 1842 and was nearly completed in 1844

·         It was also known as “The Gravity Railroad” and “The Gravity”

1827 – Five inclined planes on the West Side of Moosic Mountain and three descending planes with connecting levels on the eastern side

·         The Gravity Railroad began in 1827 and was completed in October 1829

1837 – Railroad was changed to make it more efficient

1841 – 44 changes were made to provide a “light” track, which carried empty cars, and the “heavy” track upon which the loaded cars were run

·         There were five grades from Carbondale up to Rix’s Gap (Farview) and three graduated descents from there to Honesdale

·         Three more planes were added on the Carbondale side of the Moosic Mountains