The construction of the Delaware & Hudson Canal brought many laborers, management and entrepreneurs to the new town of Honesdale. It was being carved out of the laurel swamp at the confluence of the Lackawaxen and Dyberry. In the next 25 years, Honesdale became an established community with gracious homes, hotels and churches. A petition had circulated by 1828 by leading citizens to establish a Presbyterian Church. A list of the signers included virtually all of the “movers and shakers” of the new community, and the congregation “made do” with temporary quarters. The first church building was not completed until 1837 and had to be enlarged in 1848. The Presbyterian Church was followed shortly by the rapidly growing Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic congregations. This picture of the first Presbyterian Church is from the 1851 map of Honesdale.

From the files of the Wayne County Historical Society. The museum and library are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday through April.