Looking Back

Ann O’Hara
Posted 8/21/12

Elihu Tallman, founder of Tallmansville in Preston Township, made his first mark in Wayne County in 1819 when he purchased a tract at Six Mile Lake and built a sawmill. A large tannery was built in …

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Looking Back

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Elihu Tallman, founder of Tallmansville in Preston Township, made his first mark in Wayne County in 1819 when he purchased a tract at Six Mile Lake and built a sawmill. A large tannery was built in 1859 by four entrepreneurs from Delaware County, NY, who bought a large tract of hemlock forest from pioneer Daniel Underwood. One of them, Leonard H. Allison, had just returned from a European trip and renamed the lake, calling it Lake Como after the famous lake in Italy. The tannery was sold in 1864 to Albert E. Babcock and burned, along with 3,000 cords of bark, in 1868. Completely rebuilt, it burned again in 1876 and was again restored. Eventually the tannery was purchased by a large New York City leather company, and when supplies of bark were exhausted they discontinued the business in the late 1880s. Lake Como became an agricultural center and is today a picturesque setting for summer cottages and tourism.

From the collection of the Wayne County Historical Society, 810 Main St., Honesdale. The museum and research library are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. and museum only 12 noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

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