Tanners Falls is a village in Dyberry Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States, located in the Lake Region of the Poconos."New Buildings." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, July 25, 1867, p. 3 (subscription required)."Runaway." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, June 4, 1862, p. 3 (subscription required).
It is located roughly six miles from Honesdale, Pennsylvania."The Geography of Wayne County." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, January 26, 1882, p. e (subscription required).
History Established circa 1830, this village was served by the Honesdale branch of the U.S. Post Office during the 1850s and 1860s."Tanners Falls P.O.," in "A new mail route has been established." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, August 5, 1868, p. 2 (subscription required)."Honesdale Post - Office." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, March 17, 1859, p. 3 (subscription required)."The United States Mail." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, November 28, 1867, p. 3 (subscription required)."United States Mails." Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: The Luzerne Union, February 29, 1860, p. 4 (subscription required). The village was still largely a rural one during this time."Strayed or Stolen." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, July 11, 1867, p. 3 (subscription required).
A new tannery was established at Tanners Falls by Lewis B. Richtmyer during the early 1850s. Finishing its first hides in 1853, the operation quickly expanded its capacity to fifty-two thousand hides annually, using a manufacturing system of more than one hundred and seventy vats."Lewis B. Richtmyer" (death notice), in "Hereabouts and Thereabouts." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, August 30, 1900, p. 3 (subscription required). Richtmyer's older brother, Henry Richtmyer, subsequently became the village's first Postmaster when its new post office opened in 1856."Lewis B. Richtmyer" (death notice), in "Hereabouts and Thereabouts," The Herald, August 30, 1900.
During the 1860s, one of Wayne County's chief industries was the manufacture of shoe leather. As a result, the county was home to several tanneries and shoe and bootmakers."Tanners Falls," in "State Brevities." Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania: Tunkhannock Republican, September 18, 1885, p. 2 (subscription required). Thomas Conroy, an emigrant from Ireland, operated a shoemaking and boot repair business in Tanners Falls during the 1860s and 1870s."Dearer Than Wealth: The Romance of a Pennsylvania Irishman." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, November 15, 1878, p. 2 (subscription required)."Refusing a Fortune." Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: The Times Leader, November 6, 1878, front page (subscription required).
The tannery, which had been operating in the village during the early 1860s, was purchased in 1863 by Coe F. Young, a native of New York who had previously been associated with various canal and railway operations."Obituary: Coe F. Young." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, March 28, 1889, p. 3 (subscription required)."The tannery at Tanner's Falls," in "Neighboring Counties." Carbondale, Pennsylvania: The Carbondale Leader, September 28, 1886, p. 2 (subscription required).
The Hilltop church was built by members of the Catholic church in 1865 "to accommodate the faithful at Tanners Falls.""Personal and Pertinent." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Times, August 10, 1939, p. 6 (subscription required).
In May 1870, Wayne County officials initiated the process to begin rebuilding the bridge at Tanners Falls."Notice to Bridge Builders." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, May 19, 1870, front page (subscription required).
In September 1876, Tanners Falls was one of multiple communities facing disaster as wildfires swept across northwestern Pennsylvania."Terrible Ravages of Fire in Northwestern Pennsylvania." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury Gazette, September 8, 1876, p. 2 (subscription required).
Lumber industry and tannery operations were active in Tanners Falls during the 1870s and 1880s."Wayne County." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, January 27, 1879, p. 4 (subscription required)."The Mules Were Tough: A Remarkable Runaway in the Pennsylvania Lumber Region." Altoona, Pennsylvania: Altoona Times, December 28, 1886, p. 2 (subscription required)."C. F. Young's tannery," in "Hereabouts and Thereabouts." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, February 28, 1884, p. e (subscription required)."Coe F. Young's tannery," in "Personal." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, April 7, 1881, p. 3 (subscription required). The tannery owned by Coe F. Young ceased operations during the spring of 1887 because the area's tree bark supply had been exhausted."The tannery at Tanner's Falls," in "Neighboring Counties," The Carbondale Leader, September 28, 1886.
Mary W. Alberty was appointed Postmaster of Tanners Falls in January 1889."Hereabouts and Thereabouts." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, January 3, 1889, p. 3 (subscription required). Repairs were made to the Tanners Falls bridge in late 1889 with lumber supplied by Coe F. Young and labor performed by C. P. Bunnell at respective costs to Wayne County of $33.79 and $10.00."Statement of the Finances of Wayne County for the Year 1889." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, February 20, 1890, p. 4 (subscription required).
Oil and coal prospecting ventures were also tried by Coe F. Young and others beginning in the 1880s; they continued off and on into the early 1900s."Oil Fever in Wayne: Excitement Runs High in the Vicinity of Tanner's Falls." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, August 4, 1900, p. 2 (subscription required).
In 1891, Joseph Taylor entered into a partnership with John Reifler & Sons in creating and managing a large acid works factory in Tanners Falls."Joseph Taylor Dead." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, April 26, 1900, p. 3 (subscription required)."Hereabouts and Thereabouts." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, June 25, 1896, p. 3 (subscription required). Reifler, an emigrant from Gomeringen, Germany, had previously been involved in the tanning industry."Death of John Reifler at Honesdale This Morning." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Times, September 24, 1908, p. 5 (subscription required).
New stone arch and lumber work were completed on the Tanners Fall bridge in 1893 by John Reifler, J. Schilling, and Riefler & Sons at respective costs to Wayne County of $395, $6, and $344.47."Statement of the Finances of Wayne County for 1893." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, February 1, 1894, p. 2 (subscription required).
Telephone service became available for the first time in Tanners Falls in the summer of 1896."Hereabouts and Thereabouts." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, August 13, 1896, p. 3 (subscription required).
Additional stone arch work was completed again at the Tanners Fall bridge in 1898 by John D. Irwin at a cost to Wayne County of $738.62."Statement of the Finances of Wayne County for 1898." Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald, February 23, 1899, p. 4 (subscription required).
1900s On April 27, 1900, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued a new operating charter to the Spring Brook Creamery in Tanners Falls."New State Charters." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 28, 1900, p. 7 (subscription required). In December 1900, the Pennsylvania Bridge Company was awarded an $800 contract by Wayne County to build the middle span of the county's iron bridge at Tanners Falls."Wayne County." Carbondale, Pennsylvania: The Carbondale Leader, December 24, 1900, p. 6 (subscription required).
In May 1911, the Reifler Acid Company's Tanners Falls complex was destroyed during an early morning fire."Acid Factories at Tanners Falls Burn, Loss $50,000." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, May 22, 1911, p. 3 (subscription required). By mid-October, work was nearly completed on the construction of a new wood alcohol manufacturing facility."New Acid Factory Almost Completed." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, October 14, 1911, p. 15 (subscription required).
By the 1920s, the acid company had become such an integral part of Tanners Falls that it owned the majority of the village's buildings, including many of the houses that were then rented out to employees of the company and the providers of various shops and other community services who had been brought it to provide conveniences for those employees."The Declining Pennsylvania Chemical Industry." Altoona, Pennsylvania: Altoona Tribune, May 16, 1931, p. 6 (subscription required).
That situation changed, however, when the acid company was permanently closed on April 8, 1931. After its owners made their last shipment and terminated their workforce, the plant was auctioned off during a receiver's sale on May 5 of that year, along with eight thousand two hundred and fifty acres of forest land and thirty-five of the village's houses that the company had owned."The Declining Pennsylvania Chemical Industry," Altoona Tribune, May 16, 1931. The company had been placed into receivership due to an unpaid bill from 1928 of $4,000 that had accrued additional interest charges, as well as the company's indebtedness of $150,000 for its first mortgage, $160,000 owed by the company on two Series A and Series B debenture bonds, and additional unpaid debts of $75,000 and $25,000."Receiver Is Sought by New York Man: E. W. Lee Starts Proceedings Against Concern in Tanner's Falls." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, July 26, 1930, p. 3."Judge Names Receivers for Riefler & Sons, Inc." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Republican, July 28, 1930, p. 19.
As concern regarding the negative impact the plant's closure would have on Wayne County and the surrounding region, civic and business leaders investigated possible ways to mitigate the sale's damage and decided upon a plan that would enable the Pennsylvania State Game Commission to purchase seven thousand acres of the land, four thousand of which had been part of the acid factory's plant complex and three thousand that were "situated several miles northeast of the Riefler estate." Contained within the property boundaries were two lakes "regarded as a paradise by anglers," that were known for their stocks of smallmouth bass, pickerel and panfish. The lands were later opened to the general public as a preserve for fishing and other recreational activities."7,000 Acres Purchased by State Game Board; Public Is Cheered by Fine News." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Times, April 21, 1938, p. 25 (subscription required)."Wayne Group Indignant on Story 'Leak': Alleges Outsider Sought Publicity in Preserve Purchase." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, April 23, 1938, p. 10 (subscription required). The process was finalized on June 7, 1939 as "State game lands No. 159," becoming "one of the single largest tracts of game land purchased for the sportsmen" of the state. Much of the land included in the preserve was heavily wooded and home to deer, rabbits and ruffed grouse, Pennsylvania's state bird, as well as roughly twelve miles of "ideal trout streams," ponds and a marsh. The purchase of the land was funded by the diversion of seventy-five cents of every annual hunting license sold."Field Sports." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, June 8, 1939, p. 18 (subscription required)."Game Commission Buys Riefler Tract." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, May 6, 1938, p. 3 (subscription required).