| The park is in the Lackawanna Valley. Lacka-wanna is an American Indian word meaning “the meeting of two streams.”
An important Indian trail linked the valley to New York State. In the early 1800s, settlers followed this path & built farms in the Lackawanna Valley. The trail became old PA 407. From 1821 to 1826 the Philadelphia & Great Bend Turnpike was built on old PA 407, spawning many businesses.
In 1898, several area farmers organized the Maitland Fair & Driving Park Association. Annual fairs & horse races attracted large crowds for a dozen years. The racecourse was in the current park camping area on the Woodland Ponds Trail.
The price of H2O indirectly led to the creation of Lackawanna State Park. In 1912, the D.L. & W. Railroad felt that they were being overcharged for H2O & began purchasing land to build their own reservoir. The Scranton Gas & Water Company lowered their price & the lake was never built.
The land was leased to farmers until 1946 when Robert Moffat, a prominent Scranton coal operator, purchased the land & rented it to his employees.
In 1968, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the land & developed it into an outstanding recreation area whose primary attraction is Lackawanna Lake, the meeting place of many streams. The park was dedicated on June 10, 1972. |
Campground: Lackawanna State Park in Dalton Pennsylvania *