Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city, after Scranton, in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 census and is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after the Delaware Valley, Greater Pittsburgh, and the Lehigh Valley with an urban population of 401,884.
Luzerne County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 906 square miles (2,350 km2), of which 890 square miles (2,300 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 325,594, making it the most populous county in the northeastern part of the state. The county seat and largest city is Wilkes-Barre. Other populous communities include Hazleton, Kingston, Nanticoke, and Pittston. Luzerne County is included in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a total population of 555,426 as of 2017.
Berwick is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Wilkes-Barre. As of the 2020 census, Berwick had a population of 10,355. It is one of the two principal communities of the Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area, which covers Columbia and Montour counties, and had a combined population of 85,562 at the 2010 census.
Hanover Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,424, making it the most populous township in the county.
Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 1770s; it was incorporated as a borough in 1857. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,349, making it the most populous borough in Luzerne County.
Plains Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,816 at the 2020 census. The municipality is the birthplace of Chicago White Sox hall of famer Ed Walsh and John J. Yeosock, a United States Army general who commanded the 3rd U.S. Army during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Mohegan Pennsylvania is a casino in Plains Township.
Wyoming is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 5 miles (8 km) north of Wilkes-Barre, along the Susquehanna River. The population was 3,097 as of the 2020 census.
The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan area, it is known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, after its principal cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. With a population of 567,559 as of the 2020 United States census, it is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, after the Delaware Valley, Greater Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, and the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical areas.
Pennsylvania Route 309 is a state highway that runs for 134 miles (216 km) through eastern Pennsylvania. The route runs from an interchange between PA 611 and Cheltenham Avenue on the border of the city of Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township north to an intersection with PA 29 in Bowman Creek, a village in Monroe Township in Wyoming County. The highway connects Philadelphia and its northern suburbs to Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, and Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre in the Wyoming Valley.
Pennsylvania Route 115 (PA 115) is a 35.7-mile-long (57.5 km) north–south state highway in eastern Pennsylvania. It stretches from U.S. Route 209 (US 209) in Brodheadsville, Monroe County, northwest to Interstate 81 (I-81) and PA 309 near Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County. PA 115 passes through rural areas along its route, intersecting PA 903 in Tunkhannock Township, I-80 and PA 940 in Tobyhanna Township, and I-476 in Bear Creek Township. The road serves as a connector between the Pocono Mountains and the Wyoming Valley.
Greater Pittston is a 65.35 sq mi (169.3 km2) region in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in reference to the area in and around Pittston. As of 2010, the total population of Greater Pittston is 48,020. This region includes Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Exeter Boro, Exeter Township, Hughestown, Jenkins Township, Laflin, Pittston Township, West Pittston, West Wyoming, Wyoming, and Yatesville.
The Market Street Bridge is a stone arch bridge that spans the Susquehanna River between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania. The current structure is the third bridge built at its current location and is the second oldest remaining bridge in Harrisburg. The bridge carries BicyclePA Route J across the river.
The State Street Bridge, also known as the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge, is a 1,312-foot (400 m) concrete, deck arch bridge that spans Pennsylvania Route 230 and Paxton Creek in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The bridge was completed in 1930 and was intended to be the principal entrance into downtown Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex from the east.
The Delaware & Lehigh Canal National and State Heritage Corridor (D&L) is a 165-mile (266 km) National Heritage Area in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It stretches from north to south, across five counties and over one hundred municipalities. It follows the historic routes of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Lehigh Navigation, Lehigh Canal, and the Delaware Canal, from Bristol to Wilkes-Barre in the northeastern part of the state. The backbone of the Corridor is the 165-mile (266 km) D&L Trail. The Corridor's mission is to preserve heritage and conserve green space for public use in Bucks, Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania. It also operates Hugh Moore Historical Park & Museums, which includes the National Canal Museum.
Forty Fort Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house at River Street and Wyoming Avenue in the Old Forty Fort Cemetery in Forty Fort, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1806–08 in a New England meeting house style with white clapboard siding and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Harry Livingston French was an American architect based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He designed in a variety of styles, including classical architecture and Gothic revival. His built works included numerous banks, schools, and armories.
The Luzerne County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse located in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The building houses the government of Luzerne County.
Bridge in City of Wilkes-Barre is a historic stone arch bridge spanning Mill Creek in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is a 75-foot-long (23 m) bridge with a single 39-foot-long (12 m) span. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Ashley Planes was a historic freight cable railroad situated along three separately powered inclined plane sections located between Ashley, Pennsylvania at the foot, and via the Solomon cutting the yard in Mountain Top over 1,000 feet (300 m) above and initially built between 1837-38 by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company's subsidiary Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (L&S). One result of the 1837 updates of omnibus transportation bills called the Main Line of Public Works (1824), the legislation was undertaken with an eye to enhance and better connect eastern settlement's business interests with newer mid-western territories rapidly undergoing population explosions in the Pre-Civil War era. But those manufactories needed a source of heat, and the Northern Pennsylvania Coal Region was barely connected to eastern markets except by pack mule, or only through long and arduous routes down the Susquehanna then overland to Philadelphia.
Thomas Henry Atherton Jr., was an American architect and decorated World War I officer. He designed many public buildings in New York and Pennsylvania and a war memorial in France. A number of his works, including numerous National Guard armories in eastern Pennsylvania, are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Market Street Bridge
Pylon and span
Market Street Bridge entering Wilkes-Barre
Postcard showing the bridge and Wilkes-Barre skyline
North face
Suggested plan for the bridge
Construction
Northeast pylon with Hotel Sterling in background
Facing east from the bridge
East entrance of bridge
East entrance of bridge
East entrance of bridge, with flood walls installed
View of stairs and guardrail
Underside of a span
Aerial view of Wilkes-Barre and the Market Street Bridge (seen on right)
