Stoddartsville Historic District
Why it's listed
Stoddartsville lies in a narrow valley of the Lehigh River at the Great Falls, straddling the Luzerne and Monroe county line. John Stoddart, an English-born Philadelphia merchant, founded the milling village around 1815 on the Easton and Wilkes-Barre Turnpike. In 1816 he began a five-story grist mill, 50 by 70 feet, designed on the automated model of Oliver Evans; it opened in 1818 and its walls still stand facing the falls. A sawmill, a store, a hotel, a blacksmith's house and cottages completed the community. Stoddart backed Josiah White's plan to make the upper Lehigh navigable for coal barges, and White's bear trap locks, the best-preserved examples of which survive here, gave the village its engineering importance. Floods in 1862 and a fire in 1875 ended milling, and the village turned to resort use. The remains are regarded as significant for transportation, commerce, engineering and archaeology.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | c.1815-1940 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Georgian, Colonial Revival, Federal, other: Rustic cottages |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Engineering, Commerce, Architecture |
| Acreage | 180 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Stoddartsville Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.