When the road was completed in 1922, over 2,000 motor vehicles drove from Scranton to Binghamton and then back to New Milford for the festivities.
In attendance were the Governors of New York and Pennsylvania, US Senators and Congressmen, Assemblymen and State Senators from both states.
The Chief Council for the DL&W Railroad then presented the right of way transfer documents to Pennsylvania Governor William C. Sproul (known as the Father of Good Roads), for the consideration of one-dollar.
Never before (or since) have so many dignitaries been in New Milford at one time. Shortly thereafter the Lackawanna Trail was opened to the public and the Endless Mountains had a grand new highway.
Note: Route 11 between The Summit (elev. 1350 ft.) and the Tunkhannock Viaduct (elev. 820 ft.) in Nicholson, now has become increasingly popular with motorcyclists and bicyclists, as it gently winds downhill for 18 miles.
Back to Top ^
Prohibition
On January 16, 1920, Prohibition (a.k.a. The Noble Experiment) took effect. Immediately applications for religious or medicinal liquor permits shot up 800% and juice joints started popping up nearly everywhere. In New York City alone, there were over 5,000 speakeasies in the area around Times Square by the end of 1920.
Sportingmen and Rumrunners like Bill McCoy became famous and made millions of dollars smuggling the highest quality Canadian liquor into the United States, hence the 20's slang term "The Real McCoy".
Prohibition also turned brewery and distillery workers into homebrewers and moonshiners, while making criminals out of restaurant and bar owners. Taking legal businesses and making them illegal also played right into the hands of the gangsters and corrupt politicians, as never before could so much money be made illegally.
Shortly after 1920, the New York State legislature realized it was impossible to enforce these laws without the support of the people. With New York (then the largest and most powerful state) looking the other way and ultimately washing its hands of Prohibition enforcement, many other states followed. With only 1,500 federal enforcement agents, the Federal Prohibition Agency was overwhelmed.
In Washington, The Harding Administration was one of the most corrupt our country has ever seen. United States Attorney General Harry Dougherty, the man in charge of Prohibition enforcement, was on one Ohio bootlegger's payroll for over $300,000 a year, and turned a blind eye. The rest of the Presidential Cabinet known as the "Ohio Gang" was no better, as Teapot Dome and other big scandals rocked the Capital. President Harding although not on the take, was weak and subject to blackmail. A well-known drinker and gambler, Harding entertained lavishly with bootleg booze, fathered a child with his secretary and once lost the White House China in a card game.
Back to Top ^ |
