7 of the Most Unique Towns in the Poconos

Honesdale launched the first commercial steam locomotive in the United States on August 8, 1829, when the British-built Stourbridge Lion ran a short test along the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Jim Thorpe is named after the only athlete to win Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon and the decathlon (Stockholm, 1912) and whose body was relocated to the town in 1954 in a still-disputed deal. Tannersville now holds the largest indoor waterpark in Pennsylvania under one roof. Each of the seven Poconos towns below earns its uniqueness the long way.

Honesdale

Honesdale is the Wayne County seat (population about 4,300) that holds the title of "Birthplace of the American Railroad." On August 8, 1829, the British-built Stourbridge Lion locomotive ran a short test along a wooden trestle near the Delaware and Hudson Canal, becoming the first commercial steam locomotive operated on commercial-grade rails in the United States. The actual run was a failure (the locomotive was too heavy for the rails and was retired after that single trip), but the date held.

The Wayne County Historical Society Museum on Main Street holds a full-scale working replica of the Stourbridge Lion built in 1932 from the original drawings. The Stourbridge Line scenic railway runs 25-mile excursions along the Lackawaxen River from spring through fall, with seasonal Christmas-themed and fall-foliage trips that book out months in advance. The town's Highest in Pennsylvania designation (the highest county seat in Pennsylvania at about 950 feet elevation) does not get used much in the marketing.

Jim Thorpe

The town of Mauch Chunk (Lenape for "Bear Mountain") was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954 after his widow, Patricia, made a deal with the town to bury Thorpe there in exchange for naming rights. Thorpe was the only athlete in Olympic history to win gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon (Stockholm, 1912) and a Hall of Fame professional football and baseball player. He had no actual connection to Mauch Chunk during his lifetime, and his descendants sued for repatriation of his remains to Sac and Fox Nation land in Oklahoma. The case ran through federal courts from 2010 to 2015 before a final ruling left him in Jim Thorpe.

The 1859 Asa Packer Mansion Museum on Packer Hill is the surviving home of the Lehigh Valley Railroad founder and Lehigh University founder; the Italianate Victorian mansion holds original furnishings. The 16-mile Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway runs through the gorge along the Lehigh River with seasonal foliage and waterfall tours. The town's compact downtown holds dozens of independent shops along Broadway in 1880s coal-baron-era brick buildings.

Stroudsburg

Stroudsburg is the Monroe County seat and the largest town in the Poconos by population (about 5,800), with the most defined downtown core in the region. The 1890 Monroe County Courthouse on Main Street, a Romanesque Revival sandstone structure with a clock tower, anchors the public square. The 1795 Stroud Mansion across the courthouse green is the home of the Monroe County Historical Association and includes 18th-century period rooms and rotating exhibits.

Main Street holds Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitter (a 65-year-old family-run sporting goods store), the Sherman Theater (a 1926 vaudeville house restored in 2003 for touring concerts and films), and Pocono Cinema and Cultural Center for arthouse films. The 5-mile Brodhead Creek bike path connects downtown with the southern edge of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The annual Stroudfest each September fills downtown with live music and craft vendors.

Bushkill

Bushkill is the small unincorporated community in Pike County that owns the marketing rights to "The Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania," a phrase that has been applied to Bushkill Falls since the 1900s. The falls are a privately owned attraction (in continuous family ownership since 1904) with a series of eight cascade waterfalls along the Little Bushkill Creek connected by about two miles of footbridges and stairs. The main falls drop 100 feet across multiple ledges.

Most of Bushkill village is inside the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which protects 70,000 acres along 40 miles of the Delaware River as it passes through the Kittatinny Ridge. The recreation area includes Dingmans Falls (a 130-foot waterfall, the second-tallest in Pennsylvania) and the Pocono Environmental Education Center, which runs nature programming year-round.

Delaware Water Gap

The borough of Delaware Water Gap (population about 700) sits at the base of the Kittatinny Ridge where the Delaware River cuts through the Appalachian wall, a feature geologists call a water gap (the rocks are about 400 million years old, and the river predates the ridge's uplift, which is why it could erode straight through). The town's signature view climbs Mount Minsi from the Appalachian Trail's Pennsylvania entrance.

The Deer Head Inn, a 1900s-era inn on Main Street, is the longest continuously operating jazz venue in the country (since 1953), with regular weekend bookings of touring acts. The annual Celebration of the Arts (COTA) Jazz Festival each September fills the town's small streets with three days of concerts and jam sessions. The Castle Inn complex now houses Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery and a working potter's studio.

Tannersville

Tannersville is an unincorporated village in Pocono Township (population around 5,000) that has been transformed by the buildout of Camelback Resort over the past 20 years. The resort holds Camelback Mountain Adventures with year-round zip-lining, mountain coaster, and rope-course activities; Camelback Mountain Waterpark (Pennsylvania's largest outdoor waterpark); and Aquatopia, the largest indoor waterpark in Pennsylvania at 125,000 square feet under a single transparent ETFE roof. The combined resort runs more than 1 million visitors a year.

The Pocono Premium Outlets, also in Tannersville, holds about 100 outlet stores along a single mile-long strip. Camelback Mountain itself runs as a ski resort from late November through March with 39 ski trails. The Big Pocono State Park summit at 2,131 feet sits directly across the ridge for hiking access in summer.

Tobyhanna

Tobyhanna in Monroe County is the small village (population about 2,500) that hosts Kalahari Resort, the largest indoor waterpark in the United States at 220,000 square feet. The resort, opened in Tobyhanna in 2015, is themed around East African Kalahari Desert geography (a curious choice for a forested mountain region of northeastern Pennsylvania, but the brand's other resorts in Wisconsin Dells and Round Rock, Texas, run the same theming).

Beyond the resort, Tobyhanna State Park covers a 5,440-acre area with a 170-acre lake for swimming, fishing, and non-motorized boating. The Tobyhanna Army Depot, the largest electronic communications maintenance facility in the Department of Defense, sits on 1,500 acres just east of the village and employs more than 3,200 civilian workers (the depot has been the dominant local employer for over 70 years). The depot's history dates to the 1909 Tobyhanna Army Training Center.

Seven Distinct Anchors

The Poconos run on a mix of 19th-century industrial heritage and 21st-century resort scale that few other US mountain regions have managed. Honesdale's August 1829 first locomotive. Jim Thorpe's name-rights deal and Olympic legacy. Stroudsburg's 1890 sandstone courthouse and 1795 mansion. Bushkill's privately owned 1900s-era falls. Delaware Water Gap's longest-running jazz venue. Tannersville's largest indoor waterpark in the state. Tobyhanna's largest indoor waterpark in the country. Pick the anchor, plan accordingly.