White Haven, Pennsylvania: The Coal Canal's Northern Gate

White Haven was named for Josiah White, the industrialist who co-founded the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and engineered a canal system to float anthracite coal out of the Pennsylvania mountains to Philadelphia markets. White's company built the upper section of its navigation network between eighteen thirty-seven and eighteen forty-three, and the little town at the northern end of that canal was originally called White's Haven in his honor. The borough incorporated in eighteen forty-two.

Lumber carried on the canal became a major source of revenue, with many sawmills opening in the surrounding hills. When the railroads eventually replaced the canal, White Haven adapted, becoming a railroad junction town nestled in the Pocono foothills.