Honesdale’s Allen House was designed by Henry Heath and built in 1858, the first concrete building in Pennsylvania. The hotel was owned and operated by Samuel Allen. After a three-story addition was built in 1881, it was capable of housing 100 guests in the upper two floors. The ground floor was occupied by the medical office of Dr. Charles A. Dusinberre and a barbershop. The basement contained a laundry room, bar and pool tables. The cement for the hotel was brought to Honesdale by canal from the Rosendale Cement factory at Rondout, NY. The cement and cracked stone were mixed on the ground and carried up ladders by hod carriers to form exterior walls 18 inches thick and interior walls 12 inches thick. The walls were unable to save the hotel, which was destroyed by a fire on November 5, 1978. Twelve lives were lost in the blaze, one of the most devastating in Wayne County history. A drifter named Frederick Blady was convicted of arson; the site is now occupied by The Dime Bank.

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.