AMERICA’S FIRST LOCOMOTIVE…

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With the hope of finding a better way for hauling coal from Carbondale to Honesdale other than by using the Gravity Railroad, the D & H

One of the oldest Honesdale firms in existence, Murray’s was established in 1829. In those days a flourishing  

business was done “out the back door” which faced the

canal. The present building, the only 4 storied one on Main Street, was built in 1907 of concrete blocks made locally by hand. The stones for the foundation came from a church that was torn down on a lot behind St. John’s Roman Catholic Church on Terrace Street. Murray’s is now doing business “across the canal” on Commercial Street.

Canal Company  officers ordered a steam locomotive from Stourbridge , England. The engine was called the Stourbridge Lion, so named because of the large lion’s head painted on the front of the boiler. Horatio Allen ran the locomotive from Honesdale to Seelyville and back, past this point, on august 8, 1829. Unfortunately, the engine proved too heavy for the tracks, was abandoned, and for some reason or other, was never used again.

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During the days of the Delaware & Hudson Canal,  a huge basin of water was

In March, 1871, a young man, W. Jonas Katz, opened a small store in Honesdale.  His wares consisted of 

located in this area for the storage and repair of canal boats. A bridge carried Main Street over the feeder from Patmor’s Basin to the canal. Now the site is occupied by Honesdale Banks which have interesting histories also. The National Bank and Wayne County bank and Trust occupied other locations prior to the close of the canal when the basin was filled in.
The Honesdale National Bank began as the Honesdale Bank in 1836 and is the oldest bank in the county area. The present building was erected in 1896 and was built of local Forest City stone and trimmed in Indian limestone. The Honesdale Bank first occupied Dr. D. C. Brady’s building near the corner of 10th and Main. Afterward, a new building was built on the corner to house the bank.
The Wayne County Bank and Trust, first known as the Wayne County Savings Bank, has occupied three buildings, the first of which was located on the site of the present drive-in facility. The present bank building was built in 1924 on the same location as its predecessor which had been erected there in 1898.

$41.00 worth of merchandise he had bought from a salesman at the Allen House. His first day’s receipts totaled $31.14. It was a very good day. Jonas Katz was later joined by his brothers, Jacob and Samuel, and the firm became known as the Katz Brothers.