Explore the real-world places that appear in Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Tocks Island Dam Site, The Elliot Family Farm Valley, The Barbershop on Main Street, Delaware Water Gap Overlook, Mount Tammany Ridge Trail and 5 more.
Delaware River — The threatened valley
The greedy developer's plan to dam and flood the valley hangs over Jack Elliot's summer of 1968. Jack, Pete, the middle brother and cousin Frankie watch the adults argue about whether neighbors will lose their land, and Jack realizes saving his family means saving their home as well as Pete. This real-world equivalent stands in for the flooding that menaces the Elliots' valley.
Tocks Island on the Delaware River was chosen in the 1960s as the site for a massive Army Corps of Engineers dam. The project would have flooded about 37 miles of valley and displaced thousands of residents. It was never completed and was formally deauthorized decades later.
The island and the surrounding land are part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Visitors can reach the river for boating, fishing and hiking nearby.
Visit: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (park)
Smithfield Township farmland — Home of Jack and his brothers
The Elliot home is the heart of the story, where Jack hatches his plan to make his oldest brother Pete famous so he cannot be drafted. Cousin Frankie arrives for the summer, and the boys' bonds of brotherhood are tested here. The valley's fields and creeks are the world Jack is desperate to protect.
The Delaware River valley in Monroe County was settled in the 18th century by farming families. In the 1960s many of these farms were condemned for the proposed Tocks Island reservoir. Entire rural communities were bought out and emptied.
Much of the former farmland is now publicly owned parkland, with remaining farm buildings and fields scattered through the area. This is a representative location, and no single property is open to the public.
Downtown Stroudsburg — Where Jack overhears the draft talk
Jack overhears the barbershop men grousing about the draft and the war, and learns that famous boys don't have to go. That remark sparks his scheme to turn Pete into the town's biggest celebrity. The barbershop is the town's gossip exchange, where the grown-up worries Jack absorbs first take shape.
Stroudsburg's Main Street has been the commercial center of Monroe County since the 19th century. Barbershops and diners there were traditional gathering places for local men. The street was a busy downtown through the Vietnam era.
Main Street Stroudsburg still has shops, restaurants and a historic downtown feel. The specific barbershop is fictional, but the street is walkable and open to visitors.
Visit: Downtown Stroudsburg Main Street Historic District (landmark)
Resort Point — The grand sweep of the valley
The ridgelines and gap above the river show the boys the scale of the valley they hope to save. Jack and Frankie study the landscape while planning their expedition to find a fighter jet that crashed many winters ago. The wild terrain makes the quest feel like a true adventure.
The Delaware Water Gap is a notch cut by the river through Kittatinny Ridge, a celebrated scenic landmark since the early 1800s. It became a major resort destination in the 19th century. The surrounding lands were later protected as a national recreation area.
Overlooks, trailheads and a visitor center welcome hikers and sightseers. Resort Point and nearby trails offer views of the river and ridges.
Visit: Resort Point Overlook (landmark)
Kittatinny Ridge — The search for the crashed jet
Jack and Frankie convince the older brothers to lead an expedition into the mountains to find a fighter jet that crashed many winters before. They hope that discovering it will make Pete a hero. The trek through rugged woods tests the brothers' loyalty and courage.
Mount Tammany rises about 1,200 feet above the Delaware River on the New Jersey side of the Gap. Its ridge was long a popular hiking destination. Rugged terrain like this has hidden wreckage and old homesteads for generations.
The Red Dot and Blue Dot trails are among the most popular hikes in the region. The summit gives sweeping views over the river and Pennsylvania's Mount Minsi.
Visit: Mount Tammany (Delaware Water Gap NRA) (park)
Pike County — The boys' wilderness swimming and wandering
Creeks and waterfalls like these are the boys' summer playground, a place for swimming, dares and quiet talks between brothers. They show the middle brother's growing distraction as a beautiful girl takes his attention. The woods give Jack freedom and also a glimpse of how fragile that freedom is.
Bushkill Falls was opened to visitors in the 1904 era by the Peters family and is known as the Niagara of Pennsylvania. It is a privately run scenic attraction with eight waterfalls. It has been a tourism staple of the Poconos for over a century.
The attraction offers boardwalk trails and viewing platforms over the cascading falls. It is open seasonally for visitors.
Visit: Bushkill Falls (park)
Milford — Where the plan to flood the valley is pushed
The greedy developer who wants to flood the Elliots' valley represents the forces that threaten the whole community. Townspeople fear losing their homes and he pushes ahead regardless. Jack comes to see that the danger to his family comes from more than the draft.
Milford, Pennsylvania, is a historic Pike County borough on the Delaware River, long a center for local business and law. It was home to figures such as Gifford Pinchot. Its location made it central to debates over the Tocks Island project.
Milford has a walkable historic district with shops, restaurants and the Grey Towers National Historic Site nearby. The developer's office is fictional.
Visit: Grey Towers National Historic Site (historic site)
Route 209 corridor — Trouble rolls into town
A wild motorcycle gang rumbles into town that summer, causing fights and fear among locals. Their roaring bikes and menace add to the sense that the old order is crumbling. The gang's trouble crosses the Elliot brothers' paths as Jack realizes it isn't just Pete who needs saving.
US Route 209 ran along the Delaware valley and carried traffic between Stroudsburg and Milford. Roadside taverns and stops served travelers and locals. Motorcycle culture grew across the Poconos in the postwar decades.
Route 209 is a busy highway lined with businesses and park access points. The hangout in the story is fictional and no specific site is marked.
Walpack area — The disturbed neighbor's fires
A disturbed neighbor sets fires around the valley, and the blazes add danger and dread to the boys' summer. Jack and his brothers must decide how to respond as smoke rises over the fields. The fires reveal how fragile the community is under pressure from the dam and the war.
Walpack Township in New Jersey was largely depopulated by the Tocks Island land acquisitions. Many farms and buildings were abandoned or demolished, leaving ghostly fields and structures. Wildfires have long been a hazard in the dry ridges of the region.
The area is part of the national recreation area, with remnant roads, historic buildings and trails. Walpack Center preserves a quiet, empty-village atmosphere.
Visit: Walpack Center Historic District (historic site)
Pike County — A last stop of adventure
The brothers' wanderings through the wooded creeks of the valley bring them to places like this cascade, where Jack reflects on love, loss and what the summer is costing them. The beauty of the land makes the threat of flooding more painful. It stands for what the Elliots are fighting to keep.
Dingmans Falls is a 130-foot waterfall in Pike County, long a tourist destination. A boardwalk trail was built to protect the gorge. It became part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
A short boardwalk leads from the visitor center to the base of the falls through hemlock forest. The park is open for hiking and picnicking.
Visit: Dingmans Falls Visitor Center (park)
More by Bill Rivers: All Bill Rivers books
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