413 Fourteenth Street, Honesdale According to the 1872 Atlas of Wayne County, William H. Foster, listed as a dealer in general merchandise at Main and Ninth Streets, owned the land where this house is located. He also owned the adjoining property. now the Wayne County Library. Frederick Kreitner became the owner of this lot, and in 1903 he sold it to Charles J. Smith, who was president of G. Smith & Sons, Inc. in Seelyville. It was the leading general store in the county. Mr. Smith hired Frederick Kreitner to build the house. The barn, which is located to the rear of this property. was built about 1900 at another Fourteenth Street location. It was moved by oxen to its present site, and was used by both Charles Smith and T.B. Clark. They were the owners of the two adjacent homes. It has a laid-up stone foundation as well as a basement. In 1946 Mrs. Hortense Strongman Miller. of Bethany, was instrumental in purchasing both this property and what is now the Wayne County Library property for the Wayne County Home Associates. It became Seven Maples. a residential home for retirees. After Seven Maples closed, this property was sold to Russell and Evelyn Ridd in 1983. They extensively renovated the three-story Victorian house. Alfred and Katrina V. Alessi then owned the house. This is a front gabled house with a full-length front porch featuring an asymmetrical gable. The exterior wide trim, flat window lintels, and shutters are all painted white, as is the trim around the front door and window sidelights. The charcoal hue of the clapboards and the white trim give the house a striking appearance.

From 1993 through 2008 the Honesdale National Bank published an annual wall calendar, each featured 13 historic sites. The sites were chosen and researched by a committee of the historical society and artwork was commissioned to Judy Hunt and William Amptman by the bank.

This page was one month of the calendar and was made possible through the Wayne County Commissioners and a Tourism Promotion Committee’s Tourism Grant.