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The D&H Canal Park at Lock 31 has 16 beautiful acres to explore. The site features the historic Daniels Farmhouse (circa 1820s), the D&H Canal, and Canal lock 31. Throughout the park you can read the many interpretive signs giving a brief history of the site. A walk along the towpath reveals many local tree varieties (some rare!), scenic views and many species of wildlife living along the Lackawaxen River. The newly built ADA accessible pavilion in the bed of the canal features a life sized exhibit of the interior of a canal boat cabin. The pavilion is available for rental. Call (570) 253-3240 for further information.

The park is open dawn to dusk.

The Delaware & Hudson Canal is a 108-mile-long civil engineering achievement, built over three years largely by hand. The D&H Canal was conceived by the Wurts brothers as a means to transport anthracite coal from their Pennsylvania mines to the Hudson River at Kingston, New York, from where it was shipped downriver to New York City. This 108-lock waterway operated from 1828 until 1898. After 70 years of operation it no longer was practical to transport the coal and other materials on the canal when compared to using the railroads. In 1898 the last coal boat made the trip from Honesdale to Kingston. After the canal was closed it was drained and the canal land was sold and split up.

Click here for park history page.

If you would like more information on the park and its events, please contact the Wayne County Historical Society (570-253-3240) or scroll down this page for out latest park newsletter and upcoming events.

2023 Calendar of Events

April 22, 9 AM - Tree Harvest & Clean-up

May 6, 9 AM -Spring Clean-up -followed by a pot luck barbeque

May 13. 10 AM -Towpath Guided Walk-with reservations of $10.  Register here!

May 18. 5 PM-6:30 PM -Native and Invasive Species in the Canal Park. Donations appreciated, registration required on our website by day prior. This event is offered in cooperation with PA Native Species Day initiative. Register here!

June 17. 6 PM -Canal Boat Pavilion Grand Opening and Dedication Dinner. Reservation Required $65 per person. For more information click here!

August 19. 10 AM to 4 PM Annual Canal Festival-Please help make this popular event possible by becoming a sponsor (see form) or volunteer for a few hours.

Oct. 7, IO AM -Towpath Guided Walk-with reservations of $10. Register here!

Dedication and Grand Opening

of Clinton H. Leet Boat Pavilion at D & H Canal Park at Lock 31

     A crowd of eighty history lovers celebrated the grand opening of the canal boat pavilion and watched the dedication of the replica canal boat on Saturday, June 17 at a special dinner and ceremony at Lock 31.  U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright spoke to the group and presented WCHS with a certificate honoring the work that has been done to complete this massive project. Wayne County Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer attended, bringing good wishes from the County Commissioners. The replica boat is now named “Clinton Leet” in memory of the man who first dreamed of creating a canal park at this site in 1995.  Trustee Tom Colbert has been the organizer for the various phases of planning and building and Tom received the certificate from Rep. Cartwright. Chef Alan Kehoe created a delicious meal which was enjoyed by those gathered.  Many volunteers helped to make the evening a memorable and special event.

     WCHS wishes to thank all those who donated money, time and talents for the last decade as this impressive replica boat was planned and finally finished.  The boat rests in the canal bed at D&H Canal Park at Lock 31; it is the same size as the canal boats that worked the canal in the late 1800s, about   95 feet long and 14 feet wide.  The Canal Park address is 179 Texas Palmyra Highway, Hawley, PA 18428.  The park is open from sunrise to sunset every day of the year, and an in-person visit will allow you to see the impressive structure.  You will be amazed!

Summer 2023 Newsletter

     It has been a very busy spring with walking tours; work days; planting grass seed; painting the west and south sides of Daniels Farmhouse; installing spot lights on Daniels Farmhouse, road sign and canal boat pavilion and finishing the details on the latter. As the canal boat details have been added, and it is an impressive sight as you drive by, drawing many into the park to take a closer look.

     The park also has a new bench. Members of Honesdale's I.O.O.F., Freedom Lodge #88 recently gathered at the        D & H Canal Park at Lock 31 to present a bench to the Wayne County Historical Society. The TREX bench was placed on the park's mile-long Towpath Trail, overlooking the canal for the public’s enjoyment.

     10^th Annual Canal Festival is scheduled for August 19. If you haven’t already volunteered to help make WCHS’ biggest event of the year possible, please consider helping set up tents the evening prior or taking them down starting at 4 PM the day of, or providing home baked goods, or work at least a two hour shift greeting the public, serving food or shop keeping. Please e-mail Sally for more details.

Also, e-mail Sally if you know of six-over-six window sashes for the Farmhouse’s remaining fourteen windows and Sally will provide the dimensions.

Spring 2023 Newsletter

D & H Canal Park at Lock 31 – Spring 2023  by Sally Talaga, Canal Park Committee Secretary

     Daniels’ Farmhouse Interior Restoration – With warmer weather, volunteers will begin renovating the kitchen “wing” with hopes of having it host our Canal Store for the canal festival. This will allow the store’s temporary location to be interpreted as a bedroom and central hall. Plans are underway to add a bar to the first floor’s northwest room where one is thought to have been, during the Hintze hotel era (1878-1901). Elsewhere, original woodwork will be replaced and refinished doors rehung.

     Canal “Boat” Pavilion – Electrical service and above deck details will be finished this spring. A June 17^th dinner with music and a slide show will celebrate this project’s completion and honor former trustee Clinton Leet with its naming, who in 1995 proposed the “Towpath to Trail” project, now our wonderful park. Seating is limited so register on our website with payment of $65/person by June 11. Purchase here!

Spring Work Days

April 22, 9am start - Tree Harvest/Clean Up

May 6, 9am start - Annual Spring Clean Up followed by pot-luck lunch

Spring Guided Tours

May 13, 10:00–11:30am – Guided Canal Park and House Tour

Register on our website with $10 payment by day prior.

May 18, 5:00-6:30pm - Native and Invasive Species in the Canal Park

Donations appreciated, registration required on our website by day prior.

This event is offered in cooperation with PA Native Species Day initiative.

Canal Boat Pavilion Grand Opening and Dedication Dinner

Saturday, June 17, 6p-m

     10^th Annual Canal Festival is scheduled for August 19^th. Many prior participants are returning and we are looking for new ones, such as basket, broom and candle making demonstrators. This is the largest annual event the society organizes for the public and volunteers are essential for it to continue. 

     If you are not already a Friend of the Canal Park, please contact me to find out more about volunteering at any of the above events. In addition, our current grounds maintenance volunteers need help with weed whacking from mid-May to mid-June for about 10 hrs./week. And this year, we would like to open our Canal Store on weekends, Memorial Day through Columbus Day. But, to do so we need more storekeepers. Please volunteer at the Canal Park!

Spring 2022 Newsletter

Sponsorship Form

Spring 2022 Newsletter

by Sally Talaga, Canal Park Committee Secretary, sltalaga@gmail.com

Update of Projects:
Daniels' Farmhouse Restoration - Since last fall great progress bas been made on obtaining the lock house's Certificate of Occupancy, which is required for it to be open to the public. Volunteers installed well disguised electrical wiring to five rooms and 1st Alarm Security rerouted the fire alann system's temporary wiring to be less conspicuous. Volunteers have been stripping wallpaper, scrapping loose paint, hanging new wall board where plaster could not be restored and more, preparing for the arrival in April of Mulligan & Philips, the plaster restoration company.

Canal "Boat" Pavilion - Work on the "boat" details and electrical service to the pavilion may begin this spring if a contractor is found. The existing structure is available for event rental. An application is posted on www.WayneHistoryPA.com or can be obtained bye­mailing me or calling 1he WCHS's main museum at 570 253-3240 and leaving a message for Executive Director Carol Dunn.

Ash Trees - Additional diseased ash trees along the towpath and other trees elsewhere will soon be professionally cut down. Volunteers will clean up after on April 23 and encouraged to take frre wood home.
2022

Calendar of Events:
April 23, 9 AM - Tree Harvest & Clean-up
May 7, 9 AM to Noon -Spring Clean-up -followed by a pot luck barbeque
May 14. 10 AM & 2 PM -Towpath Guided Walk-with reservations of $10
August 20. 10 AM to 4 PM-()di Annual Canal Festival-Please help make this popular event possible by becoming a sponsor (see form) or volunteer for a few hours.
Oct. 8, IO AM & 2 PM-Towpath Guided Walk-with reservations of $10
Oct. 15, 4:30 PM -Annual Friends of the Canal Park Thank You Dinner & Meeting - You're a friend of the park if you have ever donated your time, money and/or in-kind materials or services. Please RSVP by October 8th with number attending and what you're bringing to share.

Contact me if interested in learning more about our many volunteer opportunities at the canal park or just show up on April 23 and/or May 7.

Spring 2021 Newsletter

by Sally Talaga, Canal Park Committee Secretary, sltalaga@gmail.com

Pavilion’s canal “boat” cabin and details
Before winter arrived, volunteers enclosed most of the north end of the pavilion, providing secure storage for grounds maintenance equipment. Donated rider and push mowers were then moved inside.  A replica of an interior of a canal boat cabin is now viewable through a large window from the south side of the enclosure. Electric service to the building and canal “boat” details will soon be added by professional contractors. Click here for slideshow of  pavilion progress and projected completion.

Lock House Restoration – Last fall volunteers installed additional supports from the basement to two dance hall ‘s sagging beams, bringing the building closer to obtaining its Certificate of Occupancy.

Electrical Plan - its approval and installation has not yet been accomplished.

Plaster repairs - will hopefully still be done this year by professional restorers.

Six over six window sashes -  Salvaged from a soon to be demolished Honesdale home, eighteen six over six window sashes  are now ready to replace non-original two over two sashes, in nine of first floor windows. Volunteers were able to reuse most of the original glass panes after layers of paint were removed from the frames. Hopefully, we will soon be able to do the same to the remaining sashes, thereby restoring the lock house’s exterior to its original appearance.

Fall 2021 Newsletter

by Sally Talaga, Canal Park Committee Secretary, sltalaga@gmail.com

8th Annual Canal Festival on August 21st - fell on a weather “window” with heavy rain just prior to setting up and after tear down. 1,760 people attended setting a record! New this year was the popular PA WoodMobile, which was provided free by the PA Hardwoods Development Council of the PA Department of Agriculture. This traveling exhibit, house in a 34-foot trailer, provided information on the state’s Forest resources and the state’s forest products industry.

Name the Park’s Mule Mascot Contest - was conducted during this event with e-mail submissions accepted prior to the Canal Park Committee’s meeting and voting on September 12th. Danial (aka Dan) to go along with the lock house’s name, was the winner submitted by Alan Kehoe.
Thanks to the following volunteers which made this successful event possible: Kelly Alogna, Betty LaTournous Barnes, Kay Bates, Peter Becker, Karen Burk, Joe & Sue Bouselli, Sarah & Elizabeth Canfield, Margi Coccodrilli, Tom Colbert, Emilia DeMaio, Don Drewett, Carol Dunn, Mike & Kim Fisch, Terry Grant, Roger Hermans, Sharon Herzog, Alan Kehoe, Dorothy Kieff, Erika Kuta, Ed & Jane McNulty, Linda Malakin,Fred Murray, Lisa Ohliger, Renee & Chris Palmer, Noah Parry, Peg Pearsall, Jorge Perez, Estella Rojas, Joan Russo, Connor Simons, Joy  Simons, Jason Smith, Roxanne Smith, Sally Talaga, Jim VanOrden, Frank Ward, Rod Werner & four of his grandchildren

Thanks also to the following sponsors - David Katz Foundation, AM Skier Insurance, Pioneer Construction, Grimm Construction Inc., REMAX Wayne, Wayne Memorial Hospital, Blue Ridge Communications, Spencer Printing, Wayne Bank, Woodloch, Honesdale National Bank, Dirlam Brothers Lumber, FNCB Bank, The Dime Bank, Watson Bros. Inc., Jennie’s Chapel Street Salon, Jane Varcoe, Lewis J. Dunn, Doris Rogers, Billie Ann Garbe, Alvin & Nancy Swingle, Leroy and Pat Spoor, C. Howard Teeple, Ron Brill, Doug & Kate Hayes. This event was also made possible by a grant from the Wayne County Hotel Tax Fund, in- kind donations from Hunt Signs  and Alan Kehoe, equipment loans from the National Park Service and Wayne County Public Library.

Annual Friends of the Canal Park Thank You Dinner & Meeting - was held on Saturday, October 9th  at 4:30 PM. You are a friend of the park if you have ever donated your time, money and/or in-kind materials or services. Friends potluck was shared under the new canal Pavillion utilizing the new tables and chairs, now availble for events.

Projects

Daniels’ Farmhouse Restoration - A PA licensed electrical is needed ASAP to move forward on obtaining the lock house's Certificate of Occupancy for a public building. This work needs to be completed prior to restoration of the building's plaster, funded 50% by a PHMC Keystone grant, which expires September 31, 2022. Please contact me at the above e-mail or by calling the main museum at 570 253-3240 for a copy of the architect's electrical plans if interested in doing the work. 

Canal “Boat” Pavilion – “Boat’ details and electrical service to it are on hold until spring. The existing structure is available for event rentals. An application is posted on www.WayneHistoryPA.com or by calling the main museum and leaving a message for Executive Director Carol Dunn.

If you like what is happening at the D & H Canal Park at Lock 31, please consider joining our committee. We meet monthly, January through October, usually on the third Sunday of the month.

If you now have an e-mail address or if you no longer wish to receive these newsletters please let me know, so we can save on the ever increasing cost of postage.

CLICK HERE FOR PARK RULES / PHOTOGRAPHY RULES / PAVILLION RENTAL RULES AND FORM

Accessibility Notes

Canal Park has handicap-accessible parking and ADA approved blue stone side walks leading to the Daniel's Farmhouse. Foot bridge over Lock 31 and towpath are wheelchair accessible.

Pet Friendly Notes

Dogs are welcome but must be on a leash. All animal waste must be bagged and disposed of.

Time Period Represented

1800s

Hours

Dawn to Dusk

Seasons Open

All Seasons

Admission

Free

Location

179 Texas Palmyra Hwy
Hawley, PA 18428

Park Site Map