CITY HALL..

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The society presently occupying the beautiful edifice which was 

 No. Fire company. Old pictures of City Hall show an enormous dome built on the southeast corner of the building. The dome was later taken off because of maintenance problems.
Protection Engine Co. No. 3, which now occupies a section of the building, is Honesdale's oldest fire company, having been organized in 1853. One of the companies two horse-drawn steam fire engines, the A.M. Atkinson, built in 1874, has been restored by No. 3 firemen and is proudly displayed in the truck room. 
Honesdale has four fire companies situated in different sections of the town. No. 1 organized in 1909, No. 2 in 1898, No. 3 in 1853, and No.4 in1898. 
When passing the post Office on main Street, be sure to go in and see the Depression Era murals in the lobby.

once theoffices of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. Visiting hours for the museum are posted alongside thedoor and visitors are most welcome to browse among the exhibits and visit the museum’s shop or research the county’s history in the library.

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In 1981, this building was moved from the original site on the grounds of the Wayne 

Immediately to the rear of the Wayne County Historical society’s building is the site of the beginning of the 

Memorial Hospital,Park St., by the citizens of Honesdale and Wayne County.It was the real estate office of the Torrey family. Jason Torrey came to Mt. Pleasant in 1793, moved to Bethany in 1801. He was a land surveyor and by his own purchases became one of the largest land holders in Wayne County. He also owned a great deal of land in neighboring counties. The business was carried on by his son, John Torrey in 1836. At one time the Torrey family owned most of the land in and about Honesdale. Jason Torrey probably did the most to get Honesdale started as a town.

D & H canal, now occupied by railroad tracks. The hills behind (to the west), were once covered by enormous piles of coal awaiting transportation to the Hudson River by canal boat. The canal was an engineering masterpiece…dug by pick and shovel over 108 miles of mountainous terrain in two years. 
The canal opened in 1829 and continued to be used until 1898 when railroad transportation put it out of business. In its peak, over 5000 boats were travelling the canal at one time, carrying as much as 150 tons of coal apiece. Coal was transported to the canal during its entire existence over a gravity railroad stretching from Honesdale to Carbondale. “Heavy” and “light” tracks were built separately to carry loaded cars or empty ones, hence the term. Steam cables leading to a steam engine at the top of a “plane’, or “hill”, were hooked to the cars and hauled to the top. The cable was then unhooked and the cars traveled down the other side by gravity until the next “plane” was reached and the process repeated. The cables were revolutionary for their day, having been developed by John Roebling , who later built the famous Brooklyn Bridge. Roebling, built aqueducts that carried the D & H Canal over rivers, the most famous being the one at Lackawaxan, PA, over the Delaware River. This bridge still stands and is designated as a National Monument.