East Side Borough Hall is located at 100 North Sheaman Road, White Haven PPA 18661.
Phone: 570‑443‑7993.
Beginnings [1]
East Side borough enjoys the distinction of being the smallest incorporated town in Pennsylvania. It was formerly known as East Haven, lying directly opposite White Haven on the east bank of the Lehigh river.
It is bounded on all sides excepting the west by Kidder township, of which it formed a part until January 22, 1892, when the borough was incorporated conformably to a decree of court. The western boundary is marked by the Lehigh. In 1900, the year when its first census was taken, the town had a population of 210. During the succeeding decade, this number was augmented by but ten. There are less than forty voters in the place.
Almost without exception the men of the village are employed as railroaders. The Wyoming division of the Lehigh Valley road passes through the town, while the Lehigh and Susquehanna division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey is on the opposite bank of the river. The place is pleasantly situated and practically all of the people own the homes which they occupy. A single school is maintained, but there is no church, the inhabitants worshiping at White Haven.
In common with White Haven, the borough is noted as a health resort. Sunnyrest Sanatorium, the first private institution to be opened in Pennsylvania for the treatment of tuberculosis, is here located.
The free hospital for poor consumptives was opened at White Haven in July, 1901, the location being chosen for its pure, bracing air, its dry soil, and its accessibility. The success of the treatment at the free sanatorium was so gratifying that at once there was a demand for a private sanatorium.
It was to meet this demand that Sunnyrest Sanatorium was opened by Elwell Stockdale, in November, 1901. Previous to this time Mr. Stockdale had been the superintendent in charge of the free hospital.
The institution is situated in an attractive park, among beautiful trees and shrubbery, and consists of an administration building, a central dining hall, cottages, bungalows, and tent houses, a nurses' home and quarters for other employes. A dairy and a poultry farm of more than fifty acres are conducted in connection with the sanatorium.
The institution has been successful and prosperous from the start, its prestige drawing patients from all parts of North and South America, and even from the islands of the Pacific ocean. The place has an elevation of twelve hundred feet above sea level.