How the Shawnee Area Developed

Long ago, Northeastern Pennsylvania was covered by glacial ice fields. One of the last
glaciers, the Wisconsin Glacier, as it melted, carved the Delaware Water Gap and
deposited fertile topsoil in the Delaware River Valley. This massive glacial movement
created the two large islands on either side of the village that is known today as Shawnee
on Delaware.

The First Inhabitants

The fertile soil eventually attracted the first inhabitants of this area. There is
archaeological evidence that Paleolithic man lived here at least 10,000 years ago, after
the glacial period. The thick forests, temperate climate, substantial shad run, abundance
of game, and natural fertility of the land made this a desirable place to live. A dig in the
early 70’s, by the National Geographic Society, confirmed this fact through the carbon
dating of arrowheads and other tools found in the area.

The Lenape Indians Settle the Area

Archeologists have established that the Lenape Indians dominated the Delaware Region
perhaps as early as the 11th Century. The Lenapes were comprised of three main clans,
the wolf, the turtle and the turkey clans. The Wolf clan settled in the Shawnee area and
was also know as the Minsi tribe. Their main village was located on the New Jersey side
of the river opposite modern day Shawnee on Delaware. The turtle and turkey clans
settled elsewhere.

Shawnee Indians in the Area

In the late 17th century, large groups of the Shawnee or “Shawna” Indians migrated into
Pennsylvania and lived on the Minisink lands east of the present day Stroudsburg. They
stayed in this area until they were engaged in what would be later labeled “The
Grasshopper War.” The war was apparently started between two Indian children, one a
Minsi and the other Shawnee, who could not agree upon which had caught a grasshopper.
The importance of this incident became so exaggerated, that the two tribes eventually met
in battle. The result was that the Shawnee lost many warriors and fled from the valley.

Depuy Purchases 3,000 Acres

In 1727, Nicholas Depuy, a white settler from New Amsterdam, New York arrived in the
area. The beauty of the natural surroundings, along with its tempting fertile soil,
prompted him to purchase 3,000 acres from the Minsi on September 18, 1727. Nicholas
Depuy’s original home was turned into a fort during the French and Indian War. From
that time forward, the name of his home became Fort Depuy.

Village Receives the Name Shawnee

Disputes over actual ownership of the land caused William Penn to send Nicholas Scull
to survey the land. When Nicholas Scull arrived, he must have assumed the Indians
living in the area were the Shawnee. He wrote in his 1733 indenture for Manawalamink
Island “ the island is opposite the plantation where the said Nicholas Depuy now dwells,
the Great Shawna Island (now called Depuy Island) in the Delaware River, over against
Shawna Town.” These written words are how the village received the name Shawnee,
instead of Minsi or Lenape.

The Village of Shawnee is Established

By 1740, the small village of Shawnee had begun to grow. Aaron Depuy operated a store
and customers came from as far away as 50 miles. Depuy built a log church for services
conducted by ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church. The church built in 1753, is now
the Shawnee Presbyterian Church and its original cornerstone remains. The Shawnee
river valley became part of a new township named after an early landowner, John Smith –
called Smithfield.

The Rapid Growth of Shawnee Village

Beginning about 1793, there was a period of rapid population growth in Smithfield
Township. With its reliance on agriculture, the Shawnee community relied heavily on
the river as the primary transport for their products. A ferry that traveled between Depuy
and Shawnee Islands to New Jersey had operated in this region since 1736. Durham
boats transported products to towns and cities along the river. They could carry 2 tons on
the upstream trip and the equivalent of 150 barrels of flour downstream. The village
indeed was self-sufficient and in 1843 a post office was opened in Shawnee, PA and in
1853 a new red brick church was built on the foundation of the old stone church (this
church still stands today).

C.C. Worthington Comes to Shawnee

In the late 1890’s a native New Yorker and successful business owner, Charles Campbell
Worthington, took up summer residence in Shawnee. C.C. Worthington was an engineer
and inventor by trade. Worthington had always been an outdoorsman and never enjoyed
urban living. He decided to move to Shawnee where his summer home, Buckwood Park,
was located.

Worthington Makes His Mark on Shawnee

On the Pennsylvania side in the village of Shawnee, Mr. Worthington built two parallel
streets running from the river inland and named them Worthington and Minisink streets.
These streets still exist today. Fort Depuy was renovated and converted into a home for
his family. Worthington also began operating the ferry, now known as Walker’s Ferry, in
1903. Construction of Worthington Hall (now known as the Shawnee Playhouse) began
in 1904.

Worthington’s Dream Become Reality

In the early 1900’s, Mr. Worthington began to implement plans for building his dream,
an exclusive resort hotel. Worthington decided to build a hotel of unique design with
floors and walls made of 12 inch concrete reinforced with iron and disregarded the
traditional construction of resort hotels in the area which were all made of wood and
highly flammable.
What Made Worthington’s Resort Special
Worthington wanted to make this resort, named the Buckwood Inn, one of the most
attractive establishments in the East. The buildings and grounds were especially
designed to blend with the natural environment. The decor of the Inn reflected his
discriminating taste and attention to detail. The food served in the dining room was
produced fresh from gardens on the premises as well as nearby farms. There was a
creamery, which provided fresh clean milk, cream and butter. The drinking water, of the
purest quality, was gravity fed directly into each room from Sunfish Pond, located
directly across the river in Buckwood Park (One can still hike to Sunfish Pond via the
nearby Appalachian Trail).

Worthington’s Gem
Worthington hired orchestras to play every afternoon and Sunday evening. Guests could
take the Ferry across the Delaware River to the New Jersey side, to visit Buckwood Park.,
a private park and wildlife sanctuary. In and around Shawnee Village, areas were set
aside for target shooting, a small petting zoo, an aviary and a teahouse. But, the single
most remarkable attraction was his meticulously planned golf course, which swiftly
became known as the Gem of the East. Mr. Worthington hired the famous A.W.
Tillinghast to design the 18-hole course on Shawnee Island.

Maintaining His Gem

Worthington realized that this course must be properly maintained and originally
employed a Scotsman with a flock of sheep and dogs to keep the fairways trim. The
experiment failed, turning his mind towards mechanical methods to solving the mowing
problem, he invented the first commercially successful gang mower for maintaining
putting surfaces and fairways. The response to his invention was so unexpectedly great
that he founded the Shawnee Mower Factory and soon sold mowers all over the United
States.

Making Golf History

In 1912, C.C. Worthington invited a group of professional golfers to be his guests at the
Buckwood Inn. It is said, that this meeting led to the formation of the present day PGA
and the first PGA Championships. Twenty-six years later, in 1938, Shawnee hosted the
PGA Championships. In this match, Sam Snead, Shawnee’s Touring Pro at the time,
narrowly lost to Paul Runyon. Throughout the early years of the Inn, many famous
golfers played the now famous private island course.

Times They Are A Changing…and so does the Owner

After World War I, the great depression occurred and this brought changes to the
vacation industry. Guests were no longer summer visitors who stayed for two or three
month periods. With the wide use of the automobile, they became tourists who only
stayed a week or two. The Inn was a seasonal operation, only open in the summer, and
this meant the revenue generated was grossly inadequate for proper maintenance. The
Inn fell into disrepair and the number of guest dwindled significantly. In 1943, a year
before C.C. died at the age of 91, he finally allowed his family to sell the Inn. The
Buckwood Inn was sold to Manawalamink, Inc, a corporation headed by famous choral
master, Fred Waring. Mr. Waring renamed the resort and so it became the Shawnee Inn.

Fred Waring Embraces Shawnee Inn

Despite the fact that seasonal resorts seemed economically unviable, Fred Waring was
determined to maintain Shawnee’s status as a seasonal, expensive and exclusive
establishment. In order to promote his image, which is the most valuable asset for the
Inn’s success, Waring centered all his musical activities on Shawnee Inn itself. He
created, rehearsed and broadcasted his famous radio programs from the stage of
Worthington Hall throughout the 1950’s and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians
became household words throughout the country.

Waring and Golf

Mr. Waring was an enthusiastic golfer. Shawnee was the best of both worlds for him as
he could enjoy his favorite game, golf, and continue to be active in the entertainment
world. Fred Waring had many celebrity friends that visited Shawnee including Bob
Hope, Art Carney, George Goebel, Arnold Palmer, Lucille Ball, Ed Sullivan, Eddie
Fisher, Perry Como, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, but none caught Waring’s
enthusiasm for golf like Jackie Gleason. In 1959, Jackie attempted his first game of golf
scoring a 143. However, only 15 months later, with practice and lessons, Jackie Gleason
shot an amazing 75. It was during the time of Fred Warings ownership, that Bill Diddle,
golf architect, helped turn Shawnee’s 18 holes into 27.

More Changes…and another Owner

The seasonal resort industry was changing further. The affluent Americans that once
flocked to Shawnee, could now fly and vacation anywhere in the world. They could also
see Fred Waring’s group in these locations as well as on television. Fred Waring realized
he could no longer devote the time and energy necessary to keep the Inn operating
according to his high standards. He decided to sell the Inn and The surrounding area to
Karl Hope in 1974.

Shawnee Had A Brief, But Eventful Time with Hope

Mr. Hope, a real estate developer, was determined to turn the Inn into a profitable
business. He experimented with a new concept, resort timesharing. In 1975 he opened
Shawnee Village, the first timesharing development in the state and one of the first in the
country. The timesharing experiment meant that Shawnee Inn, which had been mostly
exclusive, was now open to a much wider segment of the population. To achieve year
round status he hired Jean Claude Kiley, a triple gold medal Olympic skier, to run the
operations for Shawnee Mountain. In 1977, after completing Depuy and Fairway
Villages, Mr. Hope sold his business interests to the current owners, Charles and Ginny
Kirkwood and their family.

Kirkwood’s Make Changes to Brighten Shawnee’s Future

To make Shawnee a cost effective year-round resort, he contracted Dick Farley and
“Swing’s the Thing” Golf School, built an indoor pool, miniature golf course, driving
range and opened Shawnee River Adventures on the beautiful Delaware River.
Improvements were also made at Shawnee Mountain with the addition of 100% snow
making capabilities and the construction of Shawnee Place, a recreational water park for
young children. In addition, the Kirkwood’s renovated Worthington Hall and began
productions at what is now know as Shawnee Playhouse. Professional actors from New
York and beyond were auditioned and performed shows May through December. They
introduced weekly free concerts to the public on the front lawn of the Inn that continue to
be a favorite activity at Shawnee.

Timesharing and the Inn Separate

In 1991, Shawnee divided into three separate companies: Shawnee Properties,
responsible for managing and marketing the timesharing; Shawnee Mountain, responsible
for managing the ski area; and the Inn. In 1994, the Kirkwoods renamed it The Shawnee
Inn and Golf Resort.

What the New Millennium Has Brought

The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort has embraced its history and taken a new
direction in marketing and guest service levels all while enjoying it’s unique location
- this majestic Inn on the banks of the Delaware River.  Returning to its roots in
golf, Shawnee opened the Tillinghast Golf Academy; and it’s state-of-the-art golf
practice facility.  The Red Brick House that was built in 1752 and stands near the
entrance of the Inn was renovated to serve as the home of The Tillinghast Academy
and its practice facility.  Recently, Sam Snead's Tavern opened near the academy
adding a unique fine dining experience for the guests of the Inn. 

The Future of Shawnee

The history of Shawnee is very important to us and we love to share it with our
guests.  We are reminded of our roots and what has been accomplished here.  We
pride ourselves on this history and we look forward to a future of ongoing excellence
in world-class golf, fine entertainment, and a unique, memorable experience for
visitors here in the beautiful village of Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania.