Stoddartsville Historic District

Stoddartsville was founded by John Stoddart in 1815,[3] who partnered with Josiah White (of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.) to improve navigation on the Lehigh River. Stoddart imagined a canal town with mills, shops, taverns and homes. The dams only allowed for a one-way canal, which was not ideal because arriving barges would need to be broken up and sold. As the mining industry in Luzerne County grew, two-way canals became an option, and Stoddart had hoped to extend a two-way canal by 12 miles from White Haven to Stoddartsville, but plans were abandoned. Over the years, the town became a vacation community filled with cottages.

Stoddartsville saw its share of misfortune, from floods in 1862 and fires in the 1950s. With the growth of resorts in the Pocono Mountains, visitors to Stoddartsville waned and it became a private, residential area.[3]

A descendant of John Stoddart, John L. Butler, acquired the property and lived in the house his grandfather built in 1875. He worked to preserve the lands and ruins—and to establish Stoddartsville as a registered historic landmark, a status it was granted in 1998. He constructed a small museum and hosted tour groups. Butler remained on his property throughout the rest of his life; in 2011 his estate sold the majority of the town's property to brothers who are continuing to preserve the town while opening it up to visitors.