Wilkes-Barre

By Elena Castrignano

Wilkes-Barre, located along the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Valley, is the county seat of Luzerne County. The city was founded in 1769 by John Durkee and was named for John Wilkes and Isaac Barr , both members of the British Parliament and supporters of the Colonists fight for liberty. The city was incorporated as a borough in 1806 and as a city in 1871. Wilkes-Barre has undergone many changes in its long history, evolving from a farming community into the industrial city it is now. Many changes occurred as a result of the Susquehanna River, which was once a source of both trade and tourism. It runs through the city and splits the Wyoming Valley in half. Through vintage postcards, Wilkes-Barre chronicles the evolution of this community and surrounding towns.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jan 2, 2008
• ISBN: 9781439635810

Elena Castrignano

A lifelong resident of Wyoming Valley, Elena Castrignano is a clerk in the library at Luzerne County Community College. She wrote the weekly community news column �Hanover Happenings� for the local newspapers for several years.

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INTRODUCTION

The city of Wilkes-Barre, nestled in the Wyoming Valley, was once a popular tourist destination. People came here from across the country, and musicians, actors, and actresses placed Wilkes-Barre on their tours to perform in the Music Hall or one of the many well-known theaters. They stayed at the Wyoming Valley Hotel, a six-story Victorian structure offering a magnificent view of the Susquehanna River.

Wilkes-Barre, the county seat of Luzerne County, is located in the northeastern section of Pennsylvania at the foot of the Pocono Mountains. The residents here see all four seasons in their full glory. The trees along the mountains that surround the valley are ablaze in color during the fall. The area receives at least one heavy snowfall every winter, although there have been some winters without snow. The trees, especially the cherry blossom trees that surround Public Square, make a beautiful display for residents in the spring, and the summers here rarely see temperatures above 100 degrees.

The Susquehanna River slices the Wyoming Valley in half, with West Pittston, Wyoming, Exeter, Forty Fort, Kingston, Larksville, and Plymouth to the west, and Pittston, Plains Township, Wilkes-Barre, Hanover Township, and Nanticoke to the east. State Route 11 travels through the towns and communities on the western side of the valley, connecting the towns to points south such as Harrisburg and Gettysburg and points north such as Scranton. Interstate Route 81 cuts through the eastern boundaries of the city, providing for travel to New York and Philadelphia, which are just a few hours from the valley.

The river was once the only form of travel in the valley. The Native Americans were the first settlers here, arriving by dugout on the river or by foot along the Warrior’s Path that runs parallel to the river. The next group of settlers in the Wyoming Valley was a group from Connecticut, who formed the Susquehannah Company in 1753 to settle what was then a frontier in northeastern Pennsylvania. The problem was that the land belonged to the colony of Pennsylvania and not to Connecticut as these settlers believed. The British king, Charles II, had granted title to the lands to both groups. When the Pennsylvanians, called Pennamites, arrived, conflicts broke out between the two groups of settlers and Wilkes-Barre was the site of the first civil war in America in 1762. After many years of conflict, the Yankee-Pennamite Wars finally ended in 1799, with title to the lands won by the state of Pennsylvania.

One of the first canals built in the state of Pennsylvania ran through the Wyoming Valley, carrying goods north and bringing the anthracite coal to points south. The 17-mile Wyoming division of the North Branch opened in 1830 in the Wyoming Valley, running alongside the Susquehanna River, except in Wilkes-Barre. To preserve the beauty of the river common, the canal was diverted along Back Street, today’s Pennsylvania Avenue, running under the South Street Bridge, returning to the riverside near Union Street near the Redoubt Basin where public loading docks were located. The canal then continued north to Pittston and the Lackawanna River. The canals were soon replaced by the faster-moving railroads. The Redoubt Basin was filled in and was soon the site of the grand new courthouse.

The river was also once home to steamboats, but long-distance travel was made impossible by ever-changing river levels. A dam was constructed in Nanticoke to allow the steamboats the ability to travel from Nanticoke to Wilkes-Barre and back again; the fare for the trip was a mere 50¢. The steamboats were replaced by trolley travel, with the final steamboat leaving the valley in 1902.

It is said that unknown to the early settlers, there were actually two rivers running through the Wyoming Valley—one, the Susquehanna River; the other unseen and underground, a river of coal. This river had its beginnings in what is now Susquehanna County in the northern part of the state, traveling south through Wyoming Valley and ending near Shickshinny, a few miles south of Wilkes-Barre. This river was said to be about six miles wide and hundreds of feet deep, containing the finest anthracite in the world. The discovery of this river would drastically change the face of the Wyoming Valley and the city of Wilkes-Barre forever. When the anthracite industry began in the early 1800s, immigrants from eastern Europe flocked to the area in search of jobs. These early miners formed communities where they and their families lived, creating churches and schools for their children to attend.

Several well-known people and businesses had their start here in Wilkes-Barre. Planters Peanuts was started with a roaster and a cart, and Mr. Peanut was a well-know figure on Public Square distributing bags of peanuts. Stegmaier Beer had its beginnings in Wilkes-Barre as well. MCI founder William McGowan graduated from King’s College and lived in Ashley. Two sons of Wilkes-Barre, Joseph and Herman Mankiewicz, left the valley to seek their fortune in Hollywood, where Herman became well known for his screenplay of Citizen Kane and Joseph for All About Eve, which he wrote and directed. Rose O’Neill, who grew up in the Heights section of the city, created the Kewpie doll.

The focus of this book is the beauty of the city of Wilkes-Barre of 100 years ago. Before the devastating floods of 1936 and 1972, those living along River Street had an unobstructed view of the Susquehanna River. The construction of the dikes and levees removed that view.