Lackawanna County, our nearest neighbor to the west, may be the youngest of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, but its story is among the most extraordinary. Mary Ann Moran-Savakinus, Director of the Lackawanna Historical Society, will highlight the history of area from its earliest inhabitants, the Lenape, who gave the county its name, to the Moravian missionaries of the 1700s, to its rich deposits of iron ore and anthracite coal that fueled the industrial revolution, the canals and railroads that linked it to the world, and its waves of hard-working immigrants that created its thriving communities.
Lackawanna County boasts an impressive number of surprising facts and firsts—the first electric street car system, the largest vein of anthracite in the world, the first producer of Nottingham lace in America, the first commercially operated locomotive, a key stop on the Underground Railroad, to name just a few!
Mary Ann Moran-Savakinus graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in museum studies. After an internship at the Anthracite Heritage Museum, she worked at LHS for six years before being appointed executive director in 1997. When asked why we should care about history, Mary Ann responded, “We should care because it tells us where we come from and connects us to our past and to each other,”
Refreshments will be served following Mary Ann’s presentation. The program is sponsored by our Business Partner, Pivot Physical Therapy in Greentown.
