MCHA Gift Shop • Institutional Histories

Monroe County 175th Anniversary

Various writers. 2011. Softcover, 8.5 x 11, 104 p.
Published in observance of the 175th Anniversary of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and subtitled "History, Demographics, Business & Industry." More than 20 articles from local historians.

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Various writers. 2011. Softcover, 8.5 x 11, 104 p.
Published in observance of the 175th Anniversary of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and subtitled "History, Demographics, Business & Industry," this commemorative book highlights the history, demographics, business and industry of the area, with many interesting "then and now" comparative photographs.

More than 20 articles from local historians, including:

The Land: What Was It Like?
The First Settlers - Conflicts with the Natives - Forts, Villages & Towns are Built
Sullivan's March
The Formation of Monroe County, its Townships and Boroughs
The Birth of Monroe County: 1836
A. Mitchell Palmer
Monroe County's Courthouse: In the Beginning
Scenic Rail Line to the Poconos
Early Industries & Commerce
Our Heritage of Education in Monroe County
The Beginnings of Tourism in Monroe County
What Monroe County is Today, What Will it be Tomorrow?
150th Anniversary of America's Civil War: 1861-2011
90th Anniversary of the West End Fair
Monroe County Demographics in 2010
Monroe County Government in 2011
Recreational and Cultural Amenities in Monroe County

Pocono Medical Center: 75 Years of Loyal Dedicated Service, 1815-1990

By Dr. John Appel et al. 1992. Softcover, 8.5 x 11, 88 p.
Subtitled “A History of the First 75 Years.” Self-published history of Monroe County’s community hospital.

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Pride and Promise: A Centennial History of East Stroudsburg University

By Lawrence Squeri, Neil Hogan and Peter Nevins. 1993. Hardcover, 8.75 x 11.25, 208 p.
Self-published history of East Stroudsburg University, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Monroe County’s only four-year institution of higher learning.

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The Spirit of Swiftwater: 100 Years at the Pocono Labs

By Jeff Widmer. 1997. Hardcover, 9.25 x 11.75, 150 p.
Corporate history of the vaccine laboratory founded in Swiftwater in 1897, today known as Sanofi Pasteur.

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By Jeff Widmer. 1997. Hardcover, 9.25 x 11.75, 150 p.
Corporate history of the vaccine laboratory founded in Swiftwater in 1897, today known as Sanofi Pasteur. (Pasteur Merieux Connaught at the time this book was written.)

In the early 1890s, an American with Canadian ancestry fled Brooklyn, N.Y., for the clean air of Pennsylvania to recuperate from cholera. There, at the Swiftwater Inn, Dr. Richard Slee met and married the innkeeper’s daughter and settled on land across Route 611 to claim his fortune.

His timing was perfect. Expansionism was sweeping America. Eastman, Rockefeller, Edison, and Ford ruled the Industrial Revolution. It was a time of Manifest Destiny, and Dr. and Ella Slee embraced it wholeheartedly.

Just as entrepreneurs had started to conquer the land, Louis Pasteur and others had begun to conquer disease. But the smallpox vaccines of the era caused infections. Euphoria gave way to public backlash. Dr. Slee traveled to the Pasteur Institute in France to acquire a new formula that promised fewer side effects.

In 1897, Slee established Pocono Biological Laboratories in Swiftwater, Pa., to manufacture and distribute smallpox vaccine.

From cottage industry to global leader, the Swiftwater facility influences health and healthcare policy throughout the world. Its history is more than a tale of bricks and mortar, of test tubes and machines. The Spirit of Swiftwater: 100 Years at the Pocono Labs is a study in human character, a saga of more than a thousand people who, despite the odds, have shown a remarkable ability to thrive.

Monroe County Historical Association

Stroud Mansion Museum & Library • Stroudsburg, Pa.

Monroe County 175th Anniversary

Pocono Medical Center: 75 Years of Loyal Dedicated Service, 1815-1990

Pride and Promise: A Centennial History of East Stroudsburg University

The Spirit of Swiftwater: 100 Years at the Pocono Labs