Harveys Lake
Harveys Lake, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
One of Pennsylvania's major recreational lakes. Benjamin Harvey encountered it in 1781. By the early 1900s it was a famous resort, reached by train and trolley. Its largest hotel, the Oneonta, was built in 1898 and burned in 1919. An amusement park operated 1891-1984, and public beaches were at Sunset and Sandy Beach. Between 1893 and 1932, many thousands of visitors rode Lake Transit Co. steamboats to various points here.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
First encountered by frontiersman Benjamin Harvey in 1781, this glacial lake in the mountains above Wilkes-Barre became one of Pennsylvania's grand recreational escapes. By the early 1900s, trains and trolleys delivered crowds to grand hotels like the Oneonta, an amusement park, and public beaches, while Lake Transit Company steamboats ferried thousands across the water. The resort era faded over the twentieth century, but its heyday captured a distinctly American appetite for lakeside leisure.
Why it matters
Harveys Lake shows how rail and trolley lines turned the natural landscape into an accessible playground for ordinary Americans in the resort age.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Harvey
Themes & tags
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