Zane Grey (1872-1939)
Lackawaxen Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The prolific author of western novels lived on this property, 1905-1918. Among his books written here was the famed "Riders of the Purple Sage" (1912). He had a lifelong love for this area, and his remains now rest within view of the house.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Between 1905 and 1918, along the Delaware and Lackawaxen rivers, Zane Grey turned this quiet corner of Pennsylvania into the workshop where he built the modern Western. Here he wrote "Riders of the Purple Sage" (1912), the sweeping tale of the sagebrush country that became one of the best-selling novels of its age and helped fix the mythic cowboy West in the American imagination. Grey loved the surrounding countryside so deeply that he chose to be laid to rest within sight of the house.
Why it matters
Grey's novels shaped how generations of readers and, later, moviegoers pictured the American frontier, making this modest home the birthplace of an enduring national myth.
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Related people
- ¡ Zane Grey
Themes & tags
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