Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton is a city located in Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 76,415 (2003 estimate: 74,320). It is the county seat of Lackawanna County{{GR|6}}. After Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading, Scranton is Pennsylvania's sixth most populous city.

History

1776 - 1845 Humble beginnings

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The present-day city of Scranton was originally occupied by the Lenape tribe of Native Americans. The name of the Lackawanna river valley in which it sits is derived from a Lenape phrase "le-can-hanna" meaning "stream that forks". Gradually, settlers from New England began to inhabit the area in the late 1700s, setting up mills and other small businesses, and the village became known as Slocum Hollow.

Related Topics:
Lenape - Native Americans - 1700s

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1846 - 1899 Industrial Foundations Established: Iron, Coal and Railroads

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Though anthracite coal was being mined in Carbondale to the north and Wilkes-Barre to the south, the industry that precipitated the city's growth was iron and steel. In 1847, brothers Seldon T. and George W. Scranton, began producing rails for the Erie Railroad in New York state. These were the first rails manufactured in the United States; prior to this they were made in England and shipped overseas. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) was founded in 1851 by the Scrantons to transport iron and coal products from the Lackawanna valley. A gravity railroad built by the Pennsylvania Coal Company also entered the city to transport the black diamonds. In 1856, the borough of Scranton was officially incorporated and named after its industrious founders. The Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal Company, which had its own gravity railroad from Carbondale to Honesdale, built a steam railroad which entered Scranton in 1863. Scranton was incorporated as a city of 35,000 in 1866 when the surrounding boroughs of Hyde Park (the present-day west side) and Providence (the present-day north side) were merged with Scranton borough. One of the first successfully electrified streetcar (trolley) systems was established in the city in 1886, giving it the nickname "The Electric City". In the late 1890s Scranton was home to a series of early International League baseball teams. By 1890, three other railroads had built lines to tap into the rich supply of coal in the city, including the Erie Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and finally the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad (NYO&W). Underneath the city, a network of coal veins was mined by workers who were exploited by the wealthy coal barons with low pay, long work days and horrendous, unsafe working conditions. Children as young as 8 or 9 worked 14 hour days separating slate from coal in the coal breakers.

Related Topics:
Anthracite coal - Iron - Steel - 1847 - Erie Railroad - Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad - 1851 - Gravity railroad - 1856 - Delaware and Hudson - Honesdale - 1863 - 1866 - Streetcar - 1886 - 1890s - International League - 1890 - Central Railroad of New Jersey - New York, Ontario and Western Railroad

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1900 - 1945 Growth and Prosperity

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With the 1900 Census, the population of Scranton passed the 100,000 mark, making it the 38th largest city in the United States at the time. The turn of the 20th century saw many beautiful homes of Victorian architecture built in the Hill and Green Ridge sections of the city. In 1901, the local iron ore supply was dwindling and the Lackawanna Steel Company moved operations to Lackawanna, New York, where iron ore from Minnesota was more readily available by ships on the Great Lakes. Despite the loss of the industry on which the city was founded, Scranton forged ahead as the center of the Pennsylvania anthracite coal industry. During the first half of the 20th century it was home to many groups of newly arrived immigrants from Europe. The remnants of this patchwork can still be seen in some of the Catholic and Orthodox churches that dot the city's south, north and west sides. In 1903, an electric interurban rail line known as the Laurel Line was built to connect sister city Wilkes-Barre 20 miles to the southwest. Working conditions for miners were improved by the efforts of such labor leaders as John Mitchell, whose statue is on the Lackawanna County Courthouse grounds in the city's center. By the mid 1930s, the city population had swelled to around 150,000 people due to the extensive growth of the mining and silk textile industries. During World War II, the country's insatiable need for energy to supply the war machine was cause for extensive strip mining operations throughout the area.

Related Topics:
1900 - Victorian architecture - 1901 - Lackawanna, New York - Minnesota - Catholic - Orthodox - 1903 - Interurban - Laurel Line - John Mitchell - 1930s - Silk - World War II - Strip mining

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1946 - 1984 The End of an Era

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After World War II, it became clear that coal was losing favor to other energy sources such as oil and natural gas. At the same time, the supply of coal in area mines was dwindling. In contrast to other cities in the United States which prospered in the post-war expansion, Scranton (and all of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties) saw its fortunes and population beginning to diminish. Coal production and rail traffic began to decline rapidly throughout the 1950s. In 1952, the Laurel Line ceased transporting passengers. The trolleys of the Scranton Transit Company that gave the city its nickname yielded all operations to busses as Christmas 1954 approached. In 1955, the east and south sides of the city were devastated by the floods of Hurricane Diane, and a total of 80 lives were lost in the area. The NYO&W Railroad, which depended heavily on its Scranton branch for freight traffic, was completely abandoned in 1957. January 1959 saw the Knox Mine Disaster, and almost immediately all mining in the area ended and thousands of jobs evaporated as mines became flooded by the waters of the Susquehanna River. The DL&W Railroad, nearly bankrupt by the drop in coal traffic and the effects of Hurricane Diane, merged with the Erie Railroad in 1960. Scranton had been the hub of DL&W operations; with the Erie Lackawanna merger, the city was no longer an important hub and many jobs left the city. Mine subsidence became a common problem in the city, as pillar supports in abandoned mines gave way; entire blocks of homes were consumed by these cave-ins. The area had become scarred by abandoned coal mining structures, strip mines and massive culm dumps, some of which burned for years until federal and state intervention put the fires out. During the 1960s and 1970s, the silk and other textile industries also saw a decline as jobs moved south or overseas. During the 1970s and 1980s, the center city area saw many of its stores and theatres close as suburban shopping malls began to dominate the scene.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1952 - 1954 - 1955 - Hurricane Diane - 1957 - 1959 - Knox Mine Disaster - Susquehanna River - 1960 - Erie Lackawanna - Subsidence - Culm - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s

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1985 - Present Stabilization and Restoration

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Since the mid 1980s, the center city has seen a revival. The former DL&W train station was renovated as a hotel. The Steamtown National Historic Site occupies the former DL&W Railroad yards, with the Electric City Trolley museum adjacent to it. The Steamtown Mall has revived downtown shopping, and many new businesses have renovated old buildings, or have built new buildings where decrepit buildings or vacant lots once stood. The University of Scranton campus is now a logical extension to the downtown. Nay Aug Park is being restored to its proper place as a recreation area for city residents. Not far from the downtown, the Montage Mountain Ski Resort, the Red Barons AAA Minor League baseball team, and the Montage Mountain Ampitheater have added to the city's cultural activities.

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The coal scarred land is disappearing, and is being replaced with parks, businesses and homes. Employment in the city today is produced by a more stable mix of manufacturing, government and service-oriented businesses.

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