Poyntelle, Pennsylvania

This community was once designated as a depot of the Scranton Division of the New York, Ontario & Western (O&W) Railway, but today, when it is referred to outside of its immediate vicinity, it is largely known for being the location of Camps Westmont{{cite web|url=http://www.campwestmont.com/|title=Camp Westmont|author=Camp Westmont, Inc.|website=Camp Westmont|publisher=NewtekCamps.com|access-date=22 April 2015}} and Poyntelle, since the reputation and commercial reach of both, like those of most rural American summer camps, extend beyond the community in which the camps are physically located.

{{see also|Local government in Pennsylvania#Unincorporated communities}}

File:Poyntelle PennDOT Sign.JPG

Two Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) signs on Crosstown Highway identify the community as the "Village of Poyntelle." In Pennsylvania, a village is an unincorporated community within a township, but PennDOT identifies most villages with roadside signs, a fact that might reasonably lead those unfamiliar with this practice to believe that these communities are incorporated municipalities administered separately from the townships in which they are located. Since Pennsylvania's villages, including Poyntelle, are, in fact, not municipalities in their own right, they do not have official boundaries, and the United States Census Bureau does not collect statistics for them (unless, unlike Poyntelle, they are census-designated places).

In spite of this, because of strong local consensus, as well as the fact that many features are named for the villages they are associated with, it is almost always possible to consistently determine whether a particular feature is in one village or another.

Notable natural features located in Poyntelle include Bone Pond (also called Summit Lake {{cite report|author=Water Supply Commission of Pennsylvania|date=1917|title=Water Resource Inventory Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nONAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA29|publisher=Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer|volume=4|page=29|access-date=25 April 2015}}), Independent Lake (partially in Orson, Pennsylvania, and formerly known as Independence Pond{{cite book|last=Goodrich|first=Phineas G.|date=1992|orig-year=1880|title=History of Wayne County|location=Baltimore|publisher=Gateway Press, Inc.|page=239}} or Independent Pond,Water Supply Commission of Pennsylvania. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nONAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA90 p. 90]. and sometimes known today as Lake Independence{{cite web|url=http://www.campwestmont.com/?pagename=why_map|title=Camp Map|author=Camp Westmont, Inc.|website=Camp Westmont|publisher=NewtekCamps.com|access-date=10 November 2014}} or Lake Independent{{cite web|url=http://independentlake.com/camp-map/|title=Map|author=|date=2015|website=Independent Lake Camp|publisher=1.I.L., Inc.|access-date=10 March 2015}}), Lake Lorain (also called Five Mile PondWater Supply Commission of Pennsylvania. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nONAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA65 p. 65].), and Poyntelle Lake (also called Pointed Pond{{cite report|first1=Israel Charles|last1=White|first2=John M.|last2=Dolph|date=1881|title=The Geology of Susquehanna County and Wayne County|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97kbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA23|publisher=Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania|volume=23|page=23|access-date=25 April 2015}}).

In addition, the Equinunk, Riley, and Johnson Creeks run through Poyntelle, and some of the small, unnamed streams that are the source of the West Branch of the Lackawaxen River begin in the southern part of the village (the rest are in Orson).

Independent Lake, Bone Pond, and Lake Lorain are three of the four sources of the East Branch of the Lackawanna River{{cite report|last=McGurl|first=Bernard|editor=Arthur Popp|date=2002|title=The Lackawanna River Guide|url=http://www.lrca.org/LRCA/Library/pdf/River%20Guide%20Book%202nd.pdf|publisher=The Lackawanna River Corridor Association|others=Daniel Townsend, PhD, Len Gorney, Dominic Totaro, Jack McDonough, Pamela Lomax, Deilsie Heath Kulesa|edition=2|page=1|access-date=17 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305084122/http://www.lrca.org/LRCA/Library/pdf/River%20Guide%20Book%202nd.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}} (the fourth being Dunn Pond,{{cite gnis|id=1173620|name=Dunn Pond|entrydate=2 August 1979|access-date=17 November 2014|links=off}} or Dunns Lake,Water Supply Commission of Pennsylvania. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nONAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA57 p. 57]. in East Ararat, Pennsylvania). Lake Lorain has the highest elevation of any lake in Wayne County, hence the alternate name "Summit Lake."{{cite book|author=Pennsylvania State Commissioners of Fisheries|date=1897|title=Report of the State Commissioners of Fisheries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSg-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA275|location=Harrisburg|publisher=Clarence M. Busch|page=275|access-date=25 April 2015}} Poyntelle Lake feeds into the Equinunk.Pennsylvania State Commissioners of Fisheries. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QSg-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA270 p. 270]. Like most of the lakes in Preston Township, all of Poyntelle's are fed by natural springs on their lake bottoms.Pennsylvania State Commissioners of Fisheries. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QSg-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA269 p. 269].

{{see also|Pennsylvania State Route System#Location Referencing System}}

Poyntelle is located along Crosstown Highway, which is entirely concurrent with PA-370 (PA-370). Besides Crosstown, there are two other state routes in the village, Cribbs Road (PA-4031{{cite web|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/GHS/Roadnames/wayne_GHSN.PDF|title=GENERAL HIGHWAY MAP: WAYNE COUNTY|author=|date=2014|website=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation|publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|access-date=25 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20111106190011/ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/GHS/Roadnames/wayne_GHSN.PDF|archive-date=6 November 2011}}), which connects to Crosstown, and South Preston Road (PA-4033). All three of these are paved.

There are also eight township roads in Poyntelle. Three of them are entirely located within the village: Czapnik Road (designated Township Road 571, or T571{{cite web|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Type5/63217.pdf|title=PRESTON: SECOND CLASS TOWNSHIP MAP|author=|date=17 November 2014|website=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation|publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|access-date=25 April 2015}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}), which connects to both Cribbs and South Preston; Poyntelle Road (T722), which connects to Crosstown, Cribbs, and South Preston; and Lake Lorain Road (T729; referred to as "Lorain Road" on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Orson Quadrangle topographic map, which includes Poyntelle{{cite web|url=http://www.mytopo.com/products/quad.cfm?code=o41075g4|title=USGS ENHANCED QUAD: Orson|author=|date=1992|website=MyTopo|publisher=MyTopo, a Trimble Company|access-date=24 November 2014}}), which connects to just Crosstown. The other five cross into other villages: Paluch Road (T567; the USGS map says "Poluch Road"), which connects to Cribbs; Clark Road (T579), which connects to Crosstown; Dix Road (T594; referred to as "North Road" on the PennDOT General Highway Map for Wayne County), which connects to Paluch; Spruce Lake Road (T688), which connects to Crosstown and Clark; and O & W Road (T727; the USGS map says "Old State Road"), which connects to Cribbs and Poyntelle. Like many township roads in the state, Paluch, Czapnik, Clark, Dix, Spruce Lake, Poyntelle, O & W, and Lake Lorain are all unpaved.

Finally, there are seven officially-named (i.e., their names may be used in addresses) private roads in the community, all of which fall entirely within its boundaries. They are Bone Pond Lane, which connects to just Crosstown; Forest Road; Hemlock Lane, which connects to just Crosstown; Lake Drive, which connects to Forest; Lakehill Road, which connects to Clark, Forest, and Lake; Lakeside Drive, which connects to Spruce Lake, Forest, and Lake; and Spruce Road, which does not connect to any of the others. All of these are unpaved.

{{Geographic location

|Center=Poyntelle

|N=Preston Center

|NE=Lakewood

|E=Preston Corner

|SE=Rock Lake

|S=Pleasant Mount

|SW=Belmont Corners

|W=Orson

|NW=Wrighter Corner

}}

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{{Wayne County, Pennsylvania}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Unincorporated communities in Wayne County, Pennsylvania

Category:Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania