Lehigh Valley Railroad Engine House, White Haven

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Lehigh Valley Railroad Engine House is in White Haven, PA. This engine house was for the Lehigh Valley Railroad and was built in 1889. Railroads became popular in this area of Pennsylvania after the canal was washed out by a flood in 1862. In 2002, the building was purchased to be rehabilitated into a library for the areas use. This project has been mostly completed as of 2016, aside from phase 4 which will install and elevator and staircase to upstairs offices and more will be available for the library's use.

Images

Original engine house

Rehabilitated engine house as public library

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Many Eastern European immigrants worked on the railroads due to the harsh work environment and little pay. Many of these immigrants were Slovak, who typically lived and worked together. Many Slovak's prior to emigration, worked outside in the brutal heat, which transferred well to the hot and heavy labor required in the mines, mills, and on railroads. The purpose of the engine house was to serve as a repair shop for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, which followed the Lehigh River. Today the building is still standing, but has been converted into a public library, funded partly by the Delaware & Lehigh Corridor Commission.

Sources

Engine House Project, White Haven Area Community Library. Invalid date. Accessed April 24th 2020. https://www.whitehavenlibrary.com/about-us/engine-house-project/.

White Haven, Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. Accessed April 24th 2020. https://delawareandlehigh.org/map/town/white-haven/.

Laurence, Patricia Ondek. The Garden in the Mill: The Slovak Immigrant's View of Work. MELUS, ser. Expressions of Ethnic Identity, vol. 10, no. 257 - 68. 1983. JSTOR.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

White Haven Library