- Gwynn Murray, Broadway actress
- Joseph R. Sarnoski, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient (World War II)
- Patrick DeLacey, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient (Civil War)
- General Jerome F. O'Malley
- Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey (family from Carbondale Township)
- Pennsylvania State Auditor General Robert Casey, Jr. (family from Carbondale Township)
- The founders of the pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson were from Carbondale
- Eli E. Hendrick, industrialist
- Mary B. McAndrew, educator
- Jack Race, author and pilot
- General Alvin Ungerlider
Some important Carbondale "firsts"
- 1829: the Delaware & Hudson Gravity Railroad from Carbondale to Honesdale began operations on October 9, 1829. This was the first commercially successful railroad to operate in America. ·
- 1831: the first deep underground shaft anthracite coal mine in America was opened here in 1831 (just West of the Seventh Avenue crossing on the Delaware & Hudson tracks) ·
- 1850: the first eisteddfod (a Welsh musical and literary festival) in America was held in Carbondale on Christmas Day, 1850. Among the literarians and musicians who attended were Daniel Davies, Rev. John Moses, Thomas Eynon, Rev. Thomas J. Phillips, and Edward Jones. These were the pioneer eisteddofdwyr of America. ·
- 1851: Carbondale was incorporated as a city on March 15, 1851, making it the oldest city (the "Pioneer" city) in Lackawanna County, and the fourth oldest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York) ·
- 1853: the first lodge in America of the ancient Welsh fraternal order of Ivorites was opened in Carbondale in the fall of 1853; the first public Ivorite celebration in America took place in Carbondale in August 1855, when a procession and other public exercises took place, under the direction of Thomas Voyle, Esquire, chief marshal, and Edward Roberts, Esquire. ·
- 1859: the first anthracite coal breaker in America, the Racket Brook Breaker, was erected by the D&H, adjacent to the company's coal and rail operations in the vicinity of the Artesian Well.
Carbondale USA
There are ten cities/communities in the United States with the name Carbondale.
They are located in
- Amador County, California
- Garfield County, Colorado
- Jackson County, Illinois
- Warren County, Indiana
- Polk County, Iowa
- Osage County, Kansas
- Menominee County, Michigan
- Athens County, Ohio
- Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
- Fayette County, West Virginia
Mayors' Portrait Exhibit
Many years ago, the Historical Society installed an exhibition of paintings and photographs of the mayors of Carbondale in City Council Chambers. This project was initiated by Society Treasurer Joseph Pascoe.
There are several mayors' portraits, some from the nineteenth century and some from the twentieth century, that we have not been able to locate.
If you have access to photographs of any Carbondale mayor, please contact the Historical Society.
