{"id":299006,"date":"2026-10-03T10:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T10:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/299006\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T10:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T10:46:12","slug":"piece-of-bridge-in-drained-lackawanna-lake-stolen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/299006\/","title":{"rendered":"Piece of bridge in drained Lackawanna Lake stolen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The drawdown of the lake at Lackawanna State Park has exposed a bridge that predates the park \u2014 and apparently drew the attention of a thief.<\/p>\n

Officials say an original build placard on the bridge was chiseled off and stolen, and they are\u00a0asking the public for help getting it back.<\/p>\n

Park Manager Lee Dillon noticed the placard missing Tuesday while touring the lake with his boss. Officials drew down the 198-acre lake last month to replace part of the spillway on the 69-foot-high, 350-foot-long dam on the South Branch of the Tunkhannock Creek.\n<\/p>\n

With the community\u2019s help, park officials determined the placard was taken early Sunday morning, he said. A video posted Sunday on Facebook by Tunkhannock Twp. resident Mike Maxwell shows two people wearing gray hoodies on the bridge. A clinking noise can be heard as he pans around the lake, standing on the fishing pier.<\/p>\n

Maxwell, a frequent visitor to the park in Benton and North Abington townships, shot the video for followers of his Facebook account on Sunday while waiting to pick up his son from a camping trip with Scouting America Troop 518 of Tunkhannock. It was his first time seeing the drawn-down lake for himself.<\/p>\n

Seeing the video, Maxwell thought the people on the bridge were preserving part of it for when the water levels rise. But on Wednesday, Maxwell got multiple messages from followers telling him about the stolen placard and the rangers wanting to talk to him. He got in touch with Dillon on Wednesday and gave him access to the video.<\/p>\n

Dillon said because the video shows the people at a distance, it is hard to discern any details on them other than the hoodies.<\/p>\n

\u2018We just want the plaque\u2019<\/p>\n

The plaque states the year the bridge was completed \u2014 1932 \u2014 and the agency that built it, the Pennsylvania Department of Highways. It carried the original Route 407, the main road used to access the park. The area was filled prior to the park\u2019s opening in 1972, Dillon said.<\/p>\n

As a result of the theft, officials Tuesday removed for safekeeping a second placard with a date of 1936 from a stone wall next to the lake. Dillon said they are trying to figure out who built the wall, and haven\u2019t determined whether to preserve the placard and put it on display or place it back on the wall.<\/p>\n

Dillon, who also oversees Salt Springs, Prompton and Archbald Pothole state parks, said many people are disappointed and outraged about the theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some very upset people in the community over this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The missing placard \u201cserved as an historical resource of the landscape prior to the park and reservoir being created,\u201d officials said in a post on the park\u2019s Facebook page. Dillon said it is a part of park history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to have to go out and find somebody. We just want the plaque,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cLet us have the history back. If we get the history back, that\u2019s all we ultimately care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The chiseled off section of a bridge in Lackawanna Lake. Officials say a plaque marking the road\u2019s completion in 1932 was stolen and are seeking the public\u2019s assistance in getting it back. (Courtesy of Lackawanna State Park)\n<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People walk across the roadbed and original stone bridge known as Fleetville Waverly Road, which is has been sumberged under Lackawanna Lake at Lackawanna State Park for over 50 years in North Abington Twp. The 198-acre lake has undergone drainage to fix the 69-ft tall Lackawanna Dam. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People walk across the roadbed and original stone bridge known as Fleetville Waverly Road, which is has been sumberged under Lackawanna Lake at Lackawanna State Park for over 50 years in North Abington Twp. The 198-acre lake has undergone drainage to repair the 69-ft tall Lackawanna Dam. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Park<\/p>\n

Park rangers walk along Lackawanna Lake Thursday, October 1, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Route 438 runs along the dried up Lackawanna Lake at Lackawanna State Park Wednesday, September 30, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Lackawanna<\/p>\n

Lackawanna Lake is drained due to the dam rehabilitation in North Abington Twp. Wednesday, September 30, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Route 438 runs along the dried up Lackawanna Lake at Lackawanna State Park in North Abington Twp. Wednesday, September 30, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Lackawanna<\/p>\n

Lackawanna Lake is drained due to the dam rehabilitation in North Abington Twp. Wednesday, September 30, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Lackawanna<\/p>\n

Lackawanna Lake is drained for dam repair at Lackawanna State Park in North Abington Twp. Tuesday, September 29, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A portion of the drained Lackawanna Lake at Lackawanna State Park in North Abington Twp. Tuesday, September 29, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A plaque marking the completion of an old bridge exposed in Lackawanna Lake by a drawdown of the lake for dam repairs.
\n(Courtesy of Lackawanna State Park)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A marker on the wall at Lackawanna Lake. Officials removed the marker after a plaque on a bridge in the lake was stolen. (Courtesy of Lee Dillon)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

The chiseled off section of a bridge in Lackawanna Lake. Officials say a plaque marking the road\u2019s completion in 1932 was stolen and are seeking the public\u2019s assistance in getting it back. (Courtesy of Lackawanna State Park)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

They said anyone with information on the theft should call state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Chief Ranger Rick Bacon at 570-945-3239.<\/p>\n

Dillon was familiar with the bridge in the lake prior to the project, having seen pictures from the last time the lake was drained, in 1999.<\/p>\n

For Maxwell, who came to the region 24 years ago from California, seeing the bridge has sparked his interest in the history of the road and the bridge. He didn\u2019t know it was there until the lake was drawn down and people began sharing memories of the road and the park in the comment section of his video.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history of it all just, it blows my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cSomebody took that piece of history and took it away from everybody. It wasn\u2019t just they\u2019re taking it for themselves. They actually stole from everybody, and that\u2019s terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maxwell said he hopes the placard can be recovered.<\/p>\n

Project with many variables<\/p>\n

The work on the dam, which dates to the late 1960s, involves repairing and replacing deteriorated concrete components, installing a new fiberglass access bridge, upgrading the control tower, improving the spillway and completing other infrastructure updates on the dam. Dillon expects it will be completed in January, but there are many factors that affect refilling the lake, mainly the amount of rain and snow the park gets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get a good snowpack and then we get a very wet January, February, it could fill up fairly quickly if we\u2019re able to fill it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo there are a lot of variables. It\u2019s really hard to predict how that\u2019s going to go at this point. Ultimately, if it doesn\u2019t rain we can\u2019t put water back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dam impounds 2,400 acre-feet of water, creating the lake, according to officials. It was classified as a \u201chigh hazard\u201d structure, meaning failure could impact nearby properties and lives, but the designation does not mean the dam was at risk of failing, park officials said.\n<\/p>\n

Dillon said most of the public feedback about the drawdown is positive, as people recognize the man-made dam needs work from time to time to make sure it holds up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you work on them, you have to take the water out, and people are very understanding of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

People enjoy seeing the drawn-down lake and the landscape that was there prior to the lake.<\/p>\n

The project caused officials to cancel fall trout stocking. Dillon is cautiously optimistic that fishing will be allowed next year, after the project is completed. The state Fish and Boat Commission eased some regulations on fishing at the lake in anticipation of the drawdown, allowing anglers to keep fish they catch, as opposed to releasing them.<\/p>\n

Dillon expects a majority of the fish population in the lake will survive the drawdown, with some going downstream. The Fish and Boat Commission will work with the park to restock the lake once it is refilled, he added.<\/p>\n

Visitors can still access the park during the dam project, and all park trails, parking areas and surrounding recreation facilities remain open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drawdown of the lake at Lackawanna State Park has exposed a bridge that predates the park \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[20083,1131,201,182,139,62209,708,28,727,178,180,179,289,181],"class_list":["post-299006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-benton-township","tag-environment","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-north-abington-township","tag-outdoors","tag-pennsylvania","tag-photos-and-videos","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}