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is the largest and northernmost township in Pike County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,154 at the 2000 census. The Delaware River, which marks the eastern boundary of the township, joins the Lackawaxen River at Lackawaxen Village.
Named for the Lackawaxen River that flows twelve miles (19 km) through the township, it was named Lackawaxen Township in 1798 after the Indian word for "Swift Waters". Lenape and Iroquois Indians lived in the area through the early 19th century; although there were no villages of any size, the land was used for hunting. Tools, pot shards and bone fragments have been found at Indian rock shelters and camp sites.
The first permanent European settlers in the area were Jonathan Conkling and John Barnes in 1770. In the Battle of Minisink in 1779, 40-50 settlers were killed in an engagement with a band of Indians and Loyalists under English Colonel Joseph Brant.
During the early part of the 19th century, logging was the principal commercial activity in the area; as much as 50 million board feet (120,000 m³) of lumber were produced annually. Logs were floated to market in Easton or Trenton.
In 1829, the Delaware and Hudson Canal began operating between Honesdale, Pennsylvania and Kingston, New York. In its time, the canal company was the largest private commercial enterprise in the nation. There were 28 locks in Lackawaxen Township, raising the elevation of the canal . Some of the old locks are still visible and several lock houses are now in private hands. Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, built by John A. Roebling, famed engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge, was constructed in 1848 as part of the canal, and is now preserved by the National Park Service.
The canal linked New York City with the rich coal deposits of the Carbondale, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas, providing fuel for the city's foundries and residential areas. In 1848, the New York and Erie Railroad was built through the area and although the canal continued to operate for another fifty years, railroads would eventually make canals obsolete.
Bluestone quarrying became a major enterprise in the area starting in the mid 1800s; bluestone was used extensively in the construction of the region's buildings and sidewalks.
The railroad also brought tourism to the area; the rugged countryside of the Delaware Valley became a popular destination for urban tourists. Stations were built at Lackawaxen, West Colang and Mast Hope and elaborate hotels were built nearby.
From 1905 to 1918, western author Zane Grey lived in Lackawaxen; his early stories relate his experiences fishing along the upper Delaware. Grey's home from 1914 to 1918 is preserved by the National Park Service as part of Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River as a museum; he is buried nearby.