Looking Back

Ann O’Hara
Posted 8/21/12

On the night of February 28, 1902, the Lackawaxen River was blocked by a huge ice gorge that formed above the Park Lake dam. Continuing heavy rain fell on melting snow and filled the banks of the …

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Looking Back

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On the night of February 28, 1902, the Lackawaxen River was blocked by a huge ice gorge that formed above the Park Lake dam. Continuing heavy rain fell on melting snow and filled the banks of the river to overflowing. The waters continued to rise after sundown, flooding streets, sidewalks and homes; in a very short time one-third of the town was inundated. Finally, about midnight, the ice jam broke, sending huge chunks of ice through the town, taking out the Main Street bridge and severing the gas line that serviced the upper end of the borough. At midnight the electricity went out. Many residents were out on March 1 taking photographs of the damage, like this one taken on Church Street. Honesdale was not the only community that suffered from the flood. River valleys throughout the East and Midwest states were nearly all swept by damaging floods.

From the collection of the Wayne County Historical Society (www.waynehistory.org), 810 Main St., Honesdale, open Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 a.m., January through mid-April.

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