Free Tours ...

Arthur Watres leads a walk in the woods

Col. L. A. Watres overlooks the Lodge mantle.

VISIT THE GREAT CAMP

SEE LAKE LACAWAC

2013 Schedule

TBA

    Lacawac Sanctuary on Lake Wallenpaupack is offering free guided tours of its historic estate complex. The first of the second homes in the Wallenpaupack basin, Coal Baron William Connell's elaborate summer estate featured every luxury available to a wealthy man when the buildings were constructed in 1903.

    Built in the Adirondack style favored by America's elite of the era, the residence boasted of central heat, hot and cold running water, gas lighting and refrigeration at a time that the surrounding countryside consisted of hard-scrabble subsistence farms. The main house is located on the shore of pristine Lake Lacawac, a 52-acre natural glacial lake which is the centerpiece of the estate.

    After Connell's death in 1909, the estate was acquired by Col. Louis A. Watres, a local industrialist, as part of the huge land assemblage he needed to build Lake Wallenpaupack as a power-generating facility. The tract of land needed for the power project was deeded in 1923 to the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. and the excess land constituting Connell Park was used by the Watres family as a summer residence until l966 when they formed the Lacawac Sanctuary Foundation.

    Tours take about an hour. Casual dress is suggested. Interior of main lodge may not be available on days when in use by a conference group. Tours are free, but donations are accepted and we welcome visitors to consdier becomming members of Lacawac.

    Group tours may be scheduled by calling the Sanctuary office at 570-689-9494 or email info@lacawac.org.