Park & Main Streets. Honesdale In 1827 as the D&H canal was being constructed, Charles Forbes built a large hotel on the corner of Main and Park Streets. Called the Forbes House, the wooden structure with long two-story porches was a local meeting place. Philip Hone, the first president of the D&H Canal Company and later mayor of New York City, stayed there when he was in town. His name was given to the rapidly growing town first known as Dyberry Forks. Later owners included Joseph and Fanny Atkinson, Henry and Emeline Dart, Isaac and Mary Foster, Ezekiel and Sarah Reed, and Henry and Maggie Ball. By 1891 John Weaver was the owner and in 1893, he had the present large brick building constructed around the old wood hotel. When the new structure was completed, the old one within it was razed. The Weavers owned the building until it was sold in 1946 to Floyd and Mabel Brock. Floyd Brock died in 1949 and in 1957 his daughter and son-in-law, Dorothy and Robert Fives, became the owners. In 1981 it was sold to James Bresset. The present owners, Leonard and Margery Schwartz, purchased the hotel in 1988. The brick exterior is just as it was when built, with HOTEL WAYNE in dark brick high on the street-facing facades. The beautiful iron posts and balustrade of the porch were recently restored. Just west of the porch was once the entrance to the livery stable, and is now a commercial space. The old lobby is now the bar which has the original wood floor and tin ceiling. The dining room has the original brick wall that separated it from the stable, twelve-foot high tin ceilings and a large bronze and crystal chandelier. The Schwartz family commissioned the four large paintings of local scenes by Howard Becker. Two more of Becker's paintings hang in the bar. The hotel has twenty air-conditioned rooms, each with a private bath. The dining room is open Thursday through Monday from noon until nine.For 175 years, from the Forbes House of 1827 to the Wayne Hotel in 2002, this corner has hosted visitors, served food and drink to the public, and been an important meeting place for all.

This page was one month of the calendar and was made possible through the Wayne County Commissioners and a Tourism Promotion Committee’s Tourism Grant.