Three towns in the Poconos are the latest to take part in a program that enhances communities along Route 6, a thoroughfare along the commonwealth’s northern edge.
Hawley, Honesdale and White Mills are the newest additions to the Heritage Communities Program, which is part of the PA Route 6 Alliance. The program is meant to capitalize on the unique character and assets of small towns along the popular corridor for tourists exploring northern Pennsylvania.
Communities in the program work with consultants to determine how to improve their towns for residents and visitors.
A total of 19 towns, from Union City in the west to Milford in the east, have been designated Heritage Communities. “They’re not what one writer called ‘Disneyfied,’ ” says Terri Dennison, executive director of the PA Route 6 Alliance. “They’re just wonderful towns.”
The north-central PA town of Smethport was named the first Heritage Community in 2005. Through that process, Dennison says, Smethport officials decided to use the town’s senior center as a visitors’ center, where volunteers point tourists to local attractions. The town also developed a walking tour of Smethport’s mansions and local high school students developed an interactive online display of historic Smethport.
Source: Terri Dennison, PA Route 6 Alliance
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen