Little Ireland Road, Starrucca The history of the Barnes House on Depot Hill in Starrucca is firmly intertwined with that of the mill. In 1888 Homer Spencer had a large clapboard house built and lived there while a substantial three-story grain mill was erected nearby. Arthur Laribee and Miles Kenyon bought the property in 1899 and operated the mill as Laribee and Kenyon In 1910 Stephen Decatur Barnes purchased the house and mill. He and his wife, Hattie Armstrong Barnes, raised their family in the large house. Stephen extended the southern end of the mill, using lumber from an old creamery in Thompson, and had the wooden dam replaced with concrete. Water power was used until 1940. Stephen's son Chester married Helen Stephens of Carbondale in 1925. Their children grew up in the homestead. Their son Stephen and his wife Pat became the third generation to run the mill. After Stephen's untimely death and Chester's retirement in 1986 the mill was closed. It is now scheduled for demolition. William and Valerie Tilton purchased the house in 1994 They have updated the beautiful old homestead, and enjoy the view of the countryside from the large, wrap-around porch.

From 1993 through 2008 the Honesdale National Bank published an annual wall calendar, each featured 13 historic sites. The sites were chosen and researched by a committee of the historical society and artwork was commissioned to Judy Hunt and William Amptman by the bank.

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.