Kim Erickson

Honesdale Kim Erickson

Honesdale, Pennsylvania, nestled in the Pocono Mountains, is known for its picturesque views and colorful people. Named after Philip Hone, mayor of New York City and president of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, the area formerly known as Dyberry Forks was selected as the site to transport anthracite coal from the Wyoming Valley to New York City by gravity railroad and canal. Honesdale is the home of the Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to run on commercial tracks in the Western Hemisphere. Helping to shape Honesdale were such notable people as songwriter Dick Smith, five-star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer, artist Jennie Brownscombe, and authors Homer Greene and Washington Irving. Honesdale is noted for having the world's smallest Jewish temple, and during the canal days, it had the world's largest stockpile of coal.