Scranton is a city in the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, United States, and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the
2020 U.S. census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
,
Scranton is the largest city in
Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is
the sixth largest city in Pennsylvania. The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban area act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while the city of Scranton itself is a mid-sized city, the larger Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Area contains nearly half a million residents in roughly 200 square miles. Scranton is the cultural and economic center of a region called Northeastern Pennsylvania, which is home to over 1.3 million residents.
Scranton hosts a
federal court building for the
. The city is conventionally divided into thirteen districts: North Scranton, Southside, Westside, Eastside/Hill Section, Central City, Minooka, East Mountain, Providence, Bellevue, Hyde Park, Tripps Park, The Plot, Bullshead and Green Ridge, though these areas do not have legal status. The city is the geographic and cultural center of the
Lackawanna River valley (a local name for a small part of the Wyoming Valley) and Northeastern Pennsylvania, as well as the largest of the former
anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
mining communities in a contiguous quilt-work that also includes
Wilkes-Barre,
Nanticoke,
Pittston
Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...
, and
Carbondale. Scranton was incorporated on February 14, 1856, as a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in
Luzerne County and as a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
on April 23, 1866. It became a major industrial city and a center of mining and railroads; it attracted thousands of new immigrants. It was the site of the
Scranton General Strike in 1877.
People in northern Luzerne County sought a new county in 1839, but the Wilkes-Barre area resisted losing its assets. Lackawanna County did not gain independent status until 1878. Under legislation allowing the issue to be voted by residents of the proposed territory, voters favored the new county by a proportion of 6 to 1, with Scranton residents providing the major support. The city was designated as the county seat when Lackawanna County was established in 1878, and a judicial district was authorized in July 1879.
The city's nickname "Electric City" began when electric lights were introduced in 1880 at the
Dickson Manufacturing Company
Dickson Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of boilers, blast furnaces and steam engines used in various industries but most known in railway steam locomotives. The company also designed and constructed steam powered mine cable ...
. Six years later, the United States' first
streetcars powered only by electricity began operating in the city. Rev. David Spencer, a local Baptist minister, later proclaimed Scranton as the "Electric City".
The city's industrial production and population peaked in the 1930s and 1940s, fueled by demand for coal and textiles, especially during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. But while the national economy boomed after the war, demand for the region's coal declined as other forms of energy became more popular, which also harmed the rail industry. Foreseeing the decline, city leaders formulated the Scranton Plan in 1945 to diversify the local economy beyond coal, but the city's economy continued to decline. The
Knox Mine disaster
Knox may refer to:
Places United States
* Fort Knox, a United States Army post in Kentucky
** United States Bullion Depository, a high security storage facility commonly called Fort Knox
* Fort Knox (Maine), a fort located on the Penobscot River i ...
of 1959 essentially ended coal mining in the region. Scranton's population dropped from its peak of 143,433 in the
1930 census
The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...
to 76,089 in the
2010 census. The city now has large health care, academic, and manufacturing sectors.
Scranton is located north of
Allentown, north of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, and northwest of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
History
Pre-industrial (1776–1845)
Present-day Scranton and its surrounding area had been long inhabited by the native
Lenape tribe, from whose language "Lackawanna" (or ''lac-a-wa-na,'' meaning "stream that forks") is derived. In 1778, Isaac Tripp, the area's first known white settler, built his home here; it still stands in North Scranton, formerly a separate town known as Providence. More settlers from
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
came to the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries after the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, as their state claimed this area as part of their colonial charter.
They gradually established mills and other small businesses in a village that became known as Slocum Hollow. People in the village during this time carried the traits and accent of their New England settlers, which were somewhat different from most of Pennsylvania. Some area settlers from Connecticut participated in what was known as the
Pennamite Wars, where settlers competed for control of the territory which had been included in royal colonial
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
s to both states. (This claim between Connecticut and Pennsylvania was settled by negotiation with the federal government after independence.)
Arrival of industry (1846–1899)
![D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/D.L._%26_W._R.R._yards%2C_Scranton%2C_Pa._between_1890_and_1901.jpg)
Though
anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
was being mined in Carbondale to the north and Wilkes-Barre to the south, the industries that precipitated the city's early rapid growth were
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
. In the 1840s, brothers Selden T. and
George W. Scranton
George Whitfield Scranton (May 11, 1811 – March 24, 1861) was an American industrialist and politician, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from March 4, 1859, until his death in 1861. Moving to Penns ...
, who had worked at
Oxford Furnace
Oxford Furnace is a historic blast furnace on Washington Avenue, near the intersection with Belvidere Avenue, in Oxford, Oxford Township, Warren County, New Jersey. The furnace was built by Jonathan Robeson (c. 1695–1766) in 1741 and produced ...
in Oxford, New Jersey, founded what became Lackawanna Iron & Coal, later developing as the
Lackawanna Steel Company. It initially started producing iron nails, but that venture failed due to low-quality iron. The
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
's construction in New York State was delayed by its having to acquire iron rails as imports from England. The Scrantons' firm decided to switch its focus to producing
T-rails for the Erie; the company soon became a major producer of rails for the rapidly expanding railroads.
In 1851, the Scrantons built the
Lackawanna and Western Railroad
__NOTOC__
Lackawanna (; from a Lenni Lenape word meaning "stream that forks") is the name of various places and later businesses in the mid-Atlantic United States, generally tracing their name in some manner from the Lackawanna River in Pennsylvani ...
(L&W) northward, with recent Irish immigrants supplying most of the labor, to meet the Erie Railroad in
Great Bend, Pennsylvania
Great Bend is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Scranton. According to 2020 Census data, Great Bend's population was 634, down 13.6% from 2010. Great Bend sits along the Susquehanna River, less than two miles ...
. Thus they could transport manufactured rails from the Lackawanna Valley to New York and the Midwest. They also invested in coal mining operations in the city to fuel their steel operations, and to market it to businesses. In 1856, they expanded the railroad eastward as the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
(DL&W), in order to tap into the New York City metropolitan market. This railroad, with its hub in Scranton, was Scranton's largest employer for almost one hundred years.
The Pennsylvania Coal Company built a
gravity railroad
A gravity railroad (American English) or gravity railway (British English) is a railroad on a slope that allows cars carrying minerals or passengers to coast down the slope by the force of gravity alone. The speed of the cars is controlled by a bra ...
in the 1850s through the city for the purpose of transporting coal. The gravity railroad was replaced by a steam railroad built in 1886 by the Erie and Wyoming Valley Railroad (later absorbed by the Erie Railroad). The
Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal Company, which had its own gravity railroad from Carbondale to
Honesdale
Honesdale is a borough in and the county seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 4,458 at the time of the 2020 census.
Honesdale is located northeast of Scranton in a rural area that provides many recrea ...
, built a
steam railroad that entered Scranton in 1863.
During this short period of time, the city rapidly transformed from a small, agrarian-based village of people with New England roots to a multicultural, industrial-based city. From 1860 to 1900, the city's population increased more than tenfold. Most new immigrants, such as the Irish, Italians, Jewish, and south Germans and Polish, were Catholic, a contrast to the majority-Protestant early settlers of colonial descent. National, ethnic, religious and class differences were wrapped into political affiliations, with many new immigrants joining the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
(and, for a time in the late 1870s, the
Greenbacker-Labor Party.)
In 1856, the Borough of Scranton was officially incorporated. It was incorporated as a city of 35,000 in 1866 in Luzerne County, when the surrounding boroughs of Hyde Park (now part of the city's West Side) and Providence (now part of North Scranton) were merged with Scranton. Twelve years later in 1878, the state passed a law enabling creation of new counties where a county's population surpassed 150,000, as did Luzerne's. The law appeared to enable the creation of
Lackawanna County, and there was considerable political agitation around the authorizing process. Scranton was designated by the state legislature as the county seat of the newly formed county, which was also established as a separate judicial district, with state judges moving over from Luzerne County after courts were organized in October 1878. This was the last county in the state to be organized.
Creation of the new county, which enabled both more local control and political patronage, helped begin the
Scranton General Strike of 1877. This was in part due to the larger
Great Railroad Strike, in which railroad workers began to organize and participate in walkouts after wage cuts in
Martinsburg, West Virginia. The national economy had lagged since the Panic of 1873, and workers in many industries struggled with low wages and intermittent work. In Scranton, mineworkers followed the railroad men off the job, as did others. A protest of 5,000 strikers ended in violence, with a total of four men killed, and 20 to 50 injured, including the mayor. He had established a militia, but called for help from the governor and state militia. Governor
John Hartranft
John Frederick Hartranft (December 16, 1830 – October 17, 1889) was the United States military officer who read the death warrant to the individuals who were executed on July 7, 1865 for conspiring to assassinate American President Abraham Lin ...
eventually brought in federal troops to quell the strike. The workers gained nothing in wages, but began to organize more purposefully into labor unions that could wield more power.
The nation's first successful, continuously operating electrified
streetcar (trolley) system was established in the city in 1886, inspiring the nickname "The Electric City". In 1896, the city's various streetcar companies were consolidated into the
Scranton Railway Company, which ran trolleys until 1954. By 1890, three other railroads had built lines to tap into the rich supply of coal in and around the city, including the Erie Railroad, the
Central Railroad of New Jersey and finally the
New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W).
As the vast rail network spread above ground, an even larger network of railways served the rapidly expanding system of coal veins underground. Miners, who in the early years were typically Welsh and Irish, were hired as cheaply as possible by the coal barons. The workers endured low pay, long hours and unsafe working conditions. Children as young as eight or nine worked 14-hour days separating slate from coal in the
breakers. Often, the workers were forced to use company-provided housing and purchase food and other goods from stores owned by the coal companies. With hundreds of thousands of immigrants arriving in the industrial cities, mine owners did not have to search for labor and workers struggled to keep their positions. Later miners came from Italy and eastern Europe, which people fled because of poverty and lack of jobs.
Business was booming at the end of the 19th century. The tonnage of coal mined increased virtually every year, as did the steel manufactured by the Lackawanna Steel Company. At one point the company had the largest steel plant in the United States, and it was still the second largest producer at the turn of the 20th century. By 1900, the city had a population of more than 100,000.
In the late 1890s, Scranton was home to a series of early
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
baseball teams.
Labor history
Given its industrial basis, Scranton has had a notable labor history; various coal worker unions struggled throughout the coal-mining era to improve working conditions, raise wages, and guarantee fair treatment for workers. The Panic of 1873 and other economic difficulties caused a national recession and loss of business. As the economy contracted, the railroad companies reduced wages of workers in most classes (while sometimes reserving raises for their top management). A major strike of railroad workers in August 1877, part of the
Great Railroad Strike, attracted workers from the steel industry and mining as well, and developed as the
Scranton General Strike. Four rioters were killed during unrest during the strike, after the mayor mustered a militia. With violence suppressed by militia and federal troops, workers finally returned to their jobs, not able to gain any economic relief.
William Walker Scranton, from the prominent family, was then general manager of Lackawanna Iron and Coal. He later founded Scranton Steel Company.
The labor issues and growth of industry in Scranton contributed to Lackawanna County being established by the state legislature in 1878, with territory taken from Luzerne County. Scranton was designated as the county seat. This strengthened its local government.
The unions failed to gain higher wages that year, but in 1878 they elected labor leader
Terence V. Powderly
Terence Vincent Powderly (January 22, 1849 – June 24, 1924) was an Americans, American labor union leader, politician and attorney, best known as head of the Knights of Labor in the late 1880s. Born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, he was later ele ...
of the
Knights of Labor as mayor of Scranton. After that, he became national leader of the KoL, a predominately Catholic organization that had a peak membership of 700,000 circa 1880. While the Catholic Church had prohibited membership in secret organizations since the mid-18th century, by the late 1880s with the influence of Archbishop
James Gibbons
James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...
of
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, it supported the Knights of Labor as representing workingmen and union organizing.
The landmark
Coal strike of 1902 was called by anthracite miners across the region and led by the
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
under
John Mitchell. The strike was settled by a compromise brokered by President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. A statue of John Mitchell was installed in his honor on the grounds of the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton, "the site of the Coal Strike of 1902 negotiations in which President Roosevelt participated. Because of the significance of these negotiations, the statue and the Courthouse were added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1997. John Mitchell is buried in Cathedral Cemetery in Scranton."
Growth, prosperity and consequences (1900–1945)
![Old Post Office, Scranton, PA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Old_Post_Office%2C_Scranton%2C_PA.jpg)
By the
United States Census of 1900, the population of Scranton was about 102,026, making it the third largest city in Pennsylvania and 38th largest U.S. city.
At the turn of the 20th century, wealthy businessmen and industrialists built impressive
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
mansions in the Hill and Green Ridge sections of the city. Most were descended from colonists and belonged to the Republican Party. The industrial workers, who tended to be later immigrants from Ireland and southern and eastern Europe, were predominately Catholic. With a flood of immigrants in the market, they suffered poor working conditions and wages.
In 1902, the dwindling local iron ore supply, labor issues, and an aging plant cost the city the industry on which it was founded. The Lackawanna Steel Company and many of its workers were moved to
Lackawanna, New York
Lackawanna is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States, just south of the city of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo in western New York (state), New York State. T ...
, developed on
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
just south of
Buffalo. With a port on the lake, the company could receive iron ore shipped from the
Mesabi Range
The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. ...
in Minnesota, which was being newly mined.
Scranton forged ahead as the capital of the anthracite coal industry. Attracting the thousands of workers needed to mine coal, the city developed new neighborhoods dominated by Italian and Eastern European immigrants, who brought their foods, cultures and religions. Many of the immigrants joined the Democratic Party. Their national churches and neighborhoods were part of the history of the city. Several
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
churches were founded and built during this period. A substantial Jewish community was also established, with most members coming from the Russian Empire and eastern Europe. Working conditions for miners were improved by the efforts of labor leaders such as
John Mitchell, who led the
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
.
The sub-surface mining weakened whole neighborhoods, however, damaging homes, schools, and businesses when the land collapsed. In 1913 the state passed the Davis Act to establish the Bureau of Surface Support in Scranton. Because of the difficulty in dealing with the coal companies, citizens organized the Scranton Surface Protection Association, chartered by the Court of Common Pleas on November 24, 1913 "to protect the lives and property of the citizens of the City of Scranton and the streets of said city from injury, loss and damage caused by mining and mine caves."
In 1915 and 1917, the city and Commonwealth sought injunctions to prevent coal companies from undermining city streets but lost their cases. North Main Avenue and Boulevard Avenue, "both entitled to surface support, caved in as a result" of court decisions that went against civil authorities and allowed the coal companies to continue their operations.
"The case of ''Penman v. Jones'' came out differently. The Lackawanna Iron & Coal Co. had leased coal lands to the Lackawanna Iron & Steel Co., an allied interest, which passed the leases on to the Scranton Coal Co. Areas of central Scranton, the Hill Section, South Side, Pine Brook, Green Ridge and Hyde Park were affected by their mining activities. Mr. Penman was the private property owner in the case. The coal operators were defeated in this case."
[Cheryl A. Kashuba, "Scranton takes on mining, cave-ins"](_blank)
, ''The Times-Tribune,'' October 10, 2010, accessed May 23, 2016
The public transportation system began to expand beyond the trolley lines pioneered by predecessors of the Scranton Railways system. The
Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad
The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad, more commonly known as the Laurel Line, was a Pennsylvania third rail electric interurban streetcar line which operated commuter train service from 1903 to 1952, and freight service until 1976. Its main li ...
, commonly referred to as the Laurel Line, was built as an interurban passenger and freight carrier to
Wilkes-Barre. Its Scranton station, offices, powerhouse and maintenance facility were built on the former grounds of the Lackawanna Steel Company, and operations started in 1903. Beginning in 1907, Scrantonians could also ride trolley cars to the northern suburbs of
Clarks Summit
Clarks Summit is a borough in Lackawanna County, northwest of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 5,108 at the 2020 census. It is also the northern terminus of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, I-476.
History
T ...
and
Dalton. They could travel to
Lake Winola
Lake Winola is a public, glacial lake in Overfield Township, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The lake is composed of an eastern and western basin, separated by a peninsula entering the lake from north to south. The lake is manag ...
and
Montrose using the
Northern Electric
Northern Electric was an electricity supply and distribution company serving north east England.
History
It had its origins as the North Eastern Electricity Board, formed as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Elect ...
Railroad. After the 1920s, no new trolley lines were built, but bus operations were started and expanded to meet service needs. In 1934, Scranton Railways was re-incorporated as the Scranton Transit Company, reflecting that shift in transportation modes.
Starting in the early 1920s, the
Scranton Button Company
The Scranton Button Company was a United States, U.S. corporation, founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1885.
For much of its early history it was controlled by Canadians, Canadian immigrant William Connell (Pennsylvania), William Connell (Septem ...
(founded in 1885 and a major maker of shellac buttons) became one of the primary makers of phonograph records. They pressed records for
Emerson (whom they bought in 1924), as well as
Regal,
Cameo,
Romeo,
Banner
A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...
,
Domino,
Conqueror. In July 1929, the company merged with Regal, Cameo, Banner, and the U.S. branch of
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...
(makers of Pathé and
Perfect
Perfect commonly refers to:
* Perfection, completeness, excellence
* Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages
Perfect may also refer to:
Film
* Perfect (1985 film), ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama
* Perfect (2018 f ...
) to become the
American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company.
Overview
ARC was created in January 1929 by Louis G. Sylvester, president of Scran ...
. By 1938, the Scranton company was also pressing records for
Brunswick,
Melotone, and
Vocalion. In 1946, the company was acquired by
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, which continued to produce
phonograph records
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...
through the end of the vinyl era.
By the mid-1930s, the city population had swelled beyond 140,000
due to growth in the mining and
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
textile industries. World War II created a great demand for energy, which led to the highest production from
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
in the area since World War I.
Post–World War II (1946–1984)
![WyomingAveGlobeStore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/WyomingAveGlobeStore.jpg)
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, coal lost favor to
oil and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
as a heating fuel, largely because the latter types were more convenient to use. While some U.S. cities prospered in the post-war boom, the fortunes and population of Scranton (and the rest of Lackawanna and
Luzerne counties) began to diminish. Coal production and rail traffic declined rapidly throughout the 1950s, causing a loss of jobs.
In 1954,
Worthington Scranton and his wife,
Marion Margery Scranton, contributed one million dollars to establish the Scranton Foundation (now the
Scranton Area Community Foundation), which was launched to support charitable and educational organizations in the city of Scranton.
The
Knox Mine Disaster
Knox may refer to:
Places United States
* Fort Knox, a United States Army post in Kentucky
** United States Bullion Depository, a high security storage facility commonly called Fort Knox
* Fort Knox (Maine), a fort located on the Penobscot River i ...
of January 1959 virtually ended the mining industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The waters of the
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
flooded the mines. The DL&W Railroad, nearly bankrupted by the drop in coal traffic and the effects of Hurricane Diane, merged in 1960 with the Erie Railroad.
Demand for public transportation also declined as new highways were built by federal subsidies and people purchased automobiles. In 1952, the Laurel Line ceased passenger service. The Scranton Transit Company, whose trolleys had given the city its nickname, transferred all operations to buses as the 1954 holiday season approached; by the end of 1971, it ceased all operations. The city was left without any public transportation system for almost a year until the Lackawanna County government formed
COLTS, which began operations in late 1972 with 1950s-era GM busses from New Jersey.
Scranton had been the hub of its operations until the
Erie Lackawanna merger, after which it no longer served in this capacity. This was another severe blow to the local labor market. The NYO&W Railroad, which depended heavily on its Scranton branch for freight traffic, was abandoned in 1957. Mine
subsidence
Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...
was a spreading problem in the city as pillar supports in abandoned mines began to fail; cave-ins sometimes consumed entire blocks of homes. The area was left scarred by abandoned coal mining structures, strip mines, and massive
culm dumps, some of which caught fire and burned for many years until they were extinguished through government efforts. In 1970, the Secretary of Mines for Pennsylvania suggested that so many underground voids had been left by mining underneath Scranton that it would be "more economical" to abandon the city than make them safe. In 1973, the last mine operations in Lackawanna County (which were in what is now
McDade Park
McDade Park is a community park located in Scranton in Lackawanna County, in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is named after former U.S. Representative Joseph M. McDade. The park is located on of land, containing an outdoor pool, a fishing pond a ...
, and another on the Scranton/
Dickson City line) were closed. During the 1960s and 1970s, the silk and other textile industries shrank as jobs were moved to the South or overseas.
In 1962, businessman
Alex Grass
Alexander Grass (August 3, 1927 – August 27, 2009) was an American businessman and lawyer who founded Rite Aid, one of the United States' largest drugstore chains.
Early life
Grass was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents, Louis ...
opened his first "Thrif D Discount Center" drugstore on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton.
The store, an immediate success, was the progenitor of the
Rite Aid national drugstore chain.
[
During the 1970s and 1980s, many downtown storefronts and theaters became vacant. Suburban development followed the highways and suburban shopping malls became the dominant venues for shopping and entertainment.
]
Stabilization and restoration (1985–present)
Since the mid-1980s, the city has emphasized revitalization. Local government and much of the community at large have adopted a renewed interest in the city's buildings and history. Some historic properties have been renovated and marketed as tourist attractions. The Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is buil ...
captures the area's once-prominent position in the railroad industry. The former DL&W train station was restored as the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. The Electric City Trolley Museum
The Electric City Trolley Museum is a transport museum located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site. The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna ...
was created next to the DL&W yards that the Steamtown NHS occupies.
Since the mid-1980s the Scranton Cultural Center
The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple (formerly the Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral) is a theatre and cultural center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Cultural Center's mission statement is "to rejuvenate a national architect ...
has operated the architecturally significant Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral, designed by Raymond Hood, as the region's performing arts center. The Houdini Museum was opened in Scranton in 1990 by nationally known magician Dorothy Dietrich.
In 2003, Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide, Hilton.
The original company was founded by C ...
opened th
Hilton Scranton Hotel & Conference Center
at the corner of Adams Avenue & Lackawanna Avenue in the heart of downtown Scranton. Due to the rage for paranormal-themed televisions shows, a popular downtown historic Scranton Ghost Walk has been expanded to operate 365 days a year. Other attractions include the Montage Mountain ski resort
Montage Mountain is a ski area in Pennsylvania, located from downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is located about northwest of Philadelphia and New York City. There are 26 trails, two terrain parks, and one of Pennsylvania's longest snow tubin ...
(formerly Snö Mountain), the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
; the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (formerly the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees and, before that, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons), AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
; and their PNC Field
PNC Field is a 10,000-seat minor league baseball stadium that is located in Moosic, Pennsylvania in the Wyoming Valley, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area that was built in 1989 and rebuilt in 2013. The stadium is home to the Scranton/Wilke ...
, and the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
The Pavilion (originally known as the Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center) is an outdoor amphitheater located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, within the Montage Mountain Ski Resort. A temporary fixture was originally built in 1992, known as the Mo ...
concert venue.
According to ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the city was close to bankruptcy in July 2012, with the wages of all municipal officials, including the mayor and fire chief, being cut to $7.25/hour. Financial consultant Gary Lewis, who lives in Scranton, was quoted as estimating that "on 5 July the city had just $5,000 cash in hand."
Since the revitalization began, many coffee shops, restaurants, and bars have opened in the downtown, creating a vibrant night-life. The low cost of living, pedestrian-friendly downtown, and the construction of loft-style apartments in older, architecturally significant buildings have attracted young professionals and artists. Many are individuals who grew up in Scranton, moved to big cities after high school and college, and decided to return to the area to take advantage of its amenities. Many buildings around the city that were once empty are currently being restored. Many of the restored buildings will be used to entice new business into the city. Some of the newly renovated buildings are already being used.
File:Scranton_-_Scranton_Electric_Building_(48472743896).jpg, Scranton Electric Building
File:Scranton_-_Scranton_City_Hall_(48472742281).jpg, Scranton City Hall
Scranton City Hall is located at Washington and Mulberry (US 11/ PA 307) streets in the downtown section of that city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is a three-story limestone ashlar Victorian Gothic Revival building with sandstone trim, de ...
Image:St._Peter%27s_Cathedral.JPG, St. Peter's Cathedral
Image:Electric_City_Mural.JPG, Electric City Mural
Image:First_Liberty_Building.JPG, First Liberty Building
Image:Scranton_Post_Office.JPG, US Post Office and Federal Building
File:Scranton_-_Scranton_Cultural_Center_(48472741161).jpg, Scranton Cultural Center
Image:Brooks_Building.JPG, Brooks Building
Image:Downtown_Scranton_at_night.JPG, Downtown Scranton at night
File:Scranton_-_Scranton_Times_Building_(48472734656).jpg, ''Scranton Times'' Building
File:Scranton_-_Radisson_Lackawanna_Station_Hotel_(48472745076).jpg, Lackawanna Station Hotel
Geography
Scranton's total area of includes of land and of water, according to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
. Scranton is drained by the Lackawanna River.
Center City is about 750 feet (229 m) above sea level, although the hilly city's inhabited portions range about from . The city is flanked by mountains to the east and west whose elevations range from .
Climate
Scranton has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
( Köppen ''Dfa''), with four distinct seasons. Summers have occasional heat wave
A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
s bringing temperatures well above , while winters can have cold snaps bringing temperatures below . The monthly daily average temperature in January, the coldest month, is , while the same figure in July, the warmest month, is . Extremes in temperatures have ranged from down to on January 21, 1994; there is an average of 15 days of + highs, 39 days where the high fails to rise above freezing, and 3 days where the minimum is at or below . Precipitation is generally ''slightly'' greater during late spring and summer, while winter is generally the driest. On average, each month sees 10 to 13 days of precipitation, and the mean annual total is . Snowfall is variable, with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing numerous snowstorms. For the 1991–2020 period, snowfall has averaged per year, with January accounting for the most of the seasonal total; on average, the first and last dates of measurable (≥) snowfall are November 14 and March 31, respectively, with snow in October and April a rare occurrence.
Demographics
As of the 2020 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, there were 76,328 people and 31,039 households residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 83.1% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 5.9% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.1% Native American, 4.7% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race make up 14.8% of the population.
As of the 2010 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, there were 76,089 people, 30,069 households, and 18,124 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,006/mi2 (1,161/km2). There were 33,853 housing units at an average density of 1,342/mi2 (518/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 84.11% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 5.45% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.23% Native American, 2.98% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.04% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 4.69% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race make up 9.90% of the population. The largest ancestry in the city is Irish, making up 26.5% of the population.
There were 30,069 households, out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. The city had 36.7% of its households with single occupancy and 18.1% whose individuals was aged at least 65. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.01.
The age distribution of the population included 20.8% under 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% at least 65. The median age was 39. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females aged at least 18, there were 83.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,805, and the median income for a family was $41,642. Males had a median income of $30,829 versus $21,858 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $16,174. Found below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
are 15.0% of the population, 10.7% of families, 18.9% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those at least age 65.
As of the 2006 American Community Survey, the average family size is 2.95. Of the population that's 25 years old and over, 83.3% of them have graduated from high school. 18.7% of them have a Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
or higher. In labor force (population 16 years and over), 57.6% of them work. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
(in 2006 inflation-adjusted dollars) is $17,187.
Arts and culture
Landmarks and attractions
Many of Scranton's attractions celebrate its heritage as an industrial center in iron and coal production and its ethnic diversity. The Scranton Iron Furnaces
The Scranton Iron Furnaces is a historic site that preserves the heritage of iron making in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania and is located in Scranton, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. It protects the remains of four stone blast furnaces ...
are remnants of the city's founding industry and of the Scranton family's Lackawanna Steel Company. The Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is buil ...
seeks to preserve the history of railroads in the Northeast. The Electric City Trolley Museum
The Electric City Trolley Museum is a transport museum located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site. The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna ...
preserves and operates pieces of Pennsylvania streetcar history. Tourists may go for trolley rides from Downtown Scranton to PNC Field on Montage Mountain. The Lackawanna Coal Mine
The Lackawanna Coal Mine is a museum and retired coal mine located in McDade Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
History
The Lackawanna Coal Mine was opened by Continental Coal Company in 1903. Lackawanna County, including ...
tour at McDade Park
McDade Park is a community park located in Scranton in Lackawanna County, in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is named after former U.S. Representative Joseph M. McDade. The park is located on of land, containing an outdoor pool, a fishing pond a ...
, conducted inside a former mine, describes the history of mining and railroads in the Scranton area. The former DL&W Passenger Station is now the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.
Museums in Scranton include the Everhart Museum
The Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art is a non-profit art and natural history museum located in Nay Aug Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1908 by Dr. Isaiah Fawkes Everhart, a local medical doctor ...
in Nay Aug Park, which houses a collection of natural history, science and art exhibits; and the Houdini Museum, which features films, exhibits, and a stage show in a unique, century-old building. Terence Powderly
Terence Vincent Powderly (January 22, 1849 – June 24, 1924) was an American labor union leader, politician and attorney, best known as head of the Knights of Labor in the late 1880s. Born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, he was later elected mayor ...
's house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
, still a private dwelling, is one of the city's many historic buildings and, with Steamtown, the city's other National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. In addition, The Lackawanna Historical Society, founded in 1886 and located at the George H. Catlin House in Scranton's Hill Section, focuses on the history of Lackawanna County. Tripp House, built by the Tripp family in 1771, is the oldest building in the city.
The city's religious history is evident in the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Ann
The Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Ann is a Minor Basilica and National Shrine of the Catholic Church located in Scranton, Pennsylvania within the Diocese of Scranton.
Description
The first temporary chapel on this site, founded by the Pa ...
, which draws thousands of pilgrims to its annual novena
A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pen ...
, and St. Stanislaus Cathedral, the seat of the Polish National Catholic Church
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.http://www.saplv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/ ...
in North America. The history of the founding of this denomination is tied to Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
immigration to Scranton in the late 19th century.
Since the 1970s, Scranton has hosted ''La Festa Italiana'', a three-day Italian festival that takes place on Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
weekend on the courthouse square. The festival originally took place around Columbus Day, but was moved because Scranton generally receives cold weather in October.
Scranton's large Irish population is represented in the annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade, first held in 1862. Organized by the St. Patrick's Day Parade Association of Lackawanna County, it is the nation's fourth largest in attendance and second largest in per capita attendance. Held on the Saturday before Saint Patrick's Day, the parade includes more than 8,000 people, including floats, bagpipe players, high school bands and Irish groups. In 2008, attendance estimates were as high as 150,000 people.
For recreation, there is Montage Mountain Ski Resort
Montage Mountain is a ski area in Pennsylvania, located from downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is located about northwest of Philadelphia and New York City. There are 26 trails, two terrain parks, and one of Pennsylvania's longest snow tubin ...
, known as Sno Mountain for a short period, which rivals the numerous resorts of the Poconos in popularity and offers a relatively comprehensive range of difficulty levels. The Steamtown Marathon
The Steamtown Marathon is an annual marathon (26.2 mi or 42.2 km) in northeastern Pennsylvania, held the Sunday before Columbus Day. The race starts at Forest City High School in Forest City and finishes at Courthouse Square in downto ...
has been held each October since 1996 and finishes in downtown Scranton. Nay Aug park is the largest of several parks in Scranton and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
, who also laid out Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City. The city is the home to numerous artistic organizations, including th
Scranton Fringe Festival
(a performing arts festival held in the downtown section of the city in fall).
Scranton's primary concert venue is the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
The Pavilion (originally known as the Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center) is an outdoor amphitheater located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, within the Montage Mountain Ski Resort. A temporary fixture was originally built in 1992, known as the Mo ...
, a partially covered amphitheater that seats 17,500. Its summer concerts have included James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
, Dave Matthews Band, and many other musical acts.
Scranton Cultural Center
The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple (formerly the Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral) is a theatre and cultural center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Cultural Center's mission statement is "to rejuvenate a national architect ...
at the Masonic Temple is an impressive piece of architecture which houses several auditoriums and a large ballroom. It hosts the Northeast Philharmonic, Broadway Theater and other touring performances.
The tallest building in Scranton is the Scranton Times Tower, a lattice radio tower on the Times building, which is illuminated during Christmas season.
Libraries
The Lackawanna County Library System administers the libraries in Scranton, including the Albright Memorial Library, the Lackawanna County Children's Library and the Nancy Kay Holmes Library. As of 2008, Scranton libraries serve more than 96,000 people and have a circulation of over 547,000.
Sports
Scranton's professional sports date to 1887, when the minor-league Scranton Indians became the city's first professional baseball team. Many more followed, including teams in the Pennsylvania State League
The Pennsylvania State League was an American minor league baseball sports league that operated from 1892 to 1895, then became the first Atlantic League (1896–1900), Atlantic League. The league member teams were exclusively based in Pennsylvania ...
, Eastern League, Atlantic League, New York State League, New York–Penn League and the New York–Pennsylvania League. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...
of the International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
play their home games at PNC Field
PNC Field is a 10,000-seat minor league baseball stadium that is located in Moosic, Pennsylvania in the Wyoming Valley, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area that was built in 1989 and rebuilt in 2013. The stadium is home to the Scranton/Wilke ...
in Moosic
Moosic ( ) is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, south of downtown Scranton and northeast of downtown Wilkes-Barre, on the Lackawanna River.
Moosic is in a former coal-mining region. A few older industries existed at one time, includ ...
, south of Scranton.
In football, the Scranton Eagles, a discontinued semi-pro/minor league team, dominated their Empire Football League, winning 11 championships. The former arena football Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, who played eight seasons at the Mohegan Sun Arena
The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...
, formerly Wachovia Arena, in Wilkes-Barre Township made the playoffs in their last six years of existence and contended for the ArenaCup VIII
The 2007 AF2 season was the eighth season of the AF2. It was preceded by 2006 and succeeded by 2008. The regular season began on Friday, March 30 and ended on July 28. The league champions were the Tulsa Talons, who defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scr ...
in 2007 and the ArenaCup X
The 2009 AF2 season was the AF2's 10th and final season. It was preceded by 2008. The regular season began on Friday, March 20 and finished on Saturday, July 25. The league champion was the Spokane Shock, who defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pi ...
in 2009, their final year, but lost both times. Another semi-pro/minor league team the North East Pennsylvania Miners of the [Big North East Football Federation started play in the area in 2007.
The NEPA Shock are a Semi-Pro/Minor League team that currently operate out of the Dickson City borough. The Shock were established in 2012 and participate in arena style football as a member of the Great Eastern Football Association.
Scranton previously had pro basketball teams, including the Scranton Apollos, Scranton Miners and Scranton Zappers. Syracuse Orange, Syracuse University men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim played for the Miners before turning to coaching. In 2012, the city played host to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers of the Premier Basketball League. The team went inactive after that season, and no professional teams played in the city. In 2018, the Scranton Shamrocks joined the American Basketball Association (2000–present), once again bringing professional basketball to the region.
Professional ice hockey arrived in 1999 when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
began play at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township. The team won conference championships in 2001, 2004, and 2008.
The Electric City Shock SC
Below is a list of all the teams that ever have ever played, or will play, in the Men's Premier Soccer League (MPSL) or National Premier Soccer League
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's soccer league. The NPSL is a s ...
semi-professional soccer team was founded in 2013 as part of the National Premier Soccer League
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...
. The team is on the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid
The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...
and plays at the University of Scranton's Fitzpatrick Field.
Watres Armory in Scranton hosted a World Heavyweight Championship fight between titlist Larry Holmes and challenger Lucien Rodrigues of France on March 27, 1983. Holmes retained his title via a unanimous 12-round decision without losing a single round in any official scorecard.
Starting in 2014, Scranton also became home to the Skyliners Drum and Bugle Corps, a professional marching drum corps in the Drum Corps Associates circuit. They compete with other corps throughout the nation, as well as play multiple community parades, events and performances. The Skyliners have won numerous awards for their performances, including national and world open titles.
Education
Primary and secondary education
The city's public schools are operated by the Scranton School District (SSD), which serves almost 10,000 students. The city has two public high schools for grades 9–12: Scranton High School just northwest of the downtown and West Scranton High School
West Scranton High School, is a community-based school in the "West Side" neighborhood of Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of the oldest schools in the area, having opened to the public in 1935, first as a junior high facility and ...
located on the West Side of the city. The district also has three public middle schools for grades 6–8: Northeast Intermediate, South Scranton Intermediate, and West Scranton Intermediate. In addition, SSD maintains 12 public elementary schools for grades K–5.
Scranton has two private high schools: Scranton Preparatory School, a private Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
school, and Yeshiva Bais Moshe, an Ultra Orthodox
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
school. Holy Cross High School in Dunmore is a Catholic high school operated by the Diocese of Scranton
The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868. The seat of the bishop is St. Peter's Cathedral in th ...
that serves students in Scranton and the surrounding area. The diocese also operates several private elementary schools in the city. Protestant schools that serve the Scranton area include Abington Christian Academy, Canaan Christian Academy, The Geneva School, Summit Academy, and Triboro Christian Academy. The Pennsylvania Department of Education provides oversight for the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children
The Scranton School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children is a specialized private school located in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania serving deaf and hard of hearing students from Northeast and Central Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly administe ...
. The Scranton State School for the Deaf
Scranton State School for the Deaf (SSSD) was a residential school for the deaf established in 1880 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. Its students ranged in age from birth to 21. At the end of the 2008–09 school year, the school was turn ...
, a state-run school was replaced by the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.
Penn Foster High School
Penn Foster High School is a for-profit online high school based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The high school is regionally and nationally accredited and is the largest high school in the United States with over 60,000 students currently enrolled ...
, a distance education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
high school, is headquartered in Scranton. Merakey Education Center is a small private school located in North Scranton.
Scranton, West Scranton, Scranton Prep and Holy Cross all compete athletically in Pennsylvania's Lackawanna League which is a part of District 2 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Colleges and universities
The city hosts five colleges and universities: The University of Scranton, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) is a private medical school associated with the Geisinger Health System and located in northeastern and north central Pennsylvania. GCSOM offers a community-based model of medical education wit ...
, Johnson College
Johnson College is a private technical school in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Johnson College was founded in 1912 as a trade school by Orlando S. Johnson, a wealthy coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed ...
, Lackawanna College, Marywood University
Marywood University is a private Catholic university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Established in 1915 by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marywood currently enrolls more than 2,800 students in a variety of undergraduate, gradu ...
, and two technical schools, Fortis Institute
Fortis College (also Fortis Institute and Fortis College of Nursing in some locations) is a Private for-profit college with multiple campuses throughout the United States. It was established in 2008 and is operated by Education Affiliates and owne ...
and The Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County. The Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
operates a Commonwealth Campus
The Pennsylvania State University is a geographically dispersed university system with campuses located throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While the administrative hub of the university is located at its flagship campus, University Pa ...
, Penn State Scranton
Penn State Scranton (formerly known as Penn State Worthington Scranton) is a Commonwealth Campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. The Scranton campus was named in memory of Worthington Scranton, a prominent indu ...
, north of the city, in the borough of Dunmore. LCCC, a community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
operating out of Nanticoke in Luzerne County, operates a satellite campus at The Marketplace at Steamtown
The Marketplace at Steamtown (formerly The Mall at Steamtown) is a shopping mall in Scranton, Pennsylvania. United States. It was conceived in the mid-1980s as the keystone of downtown revitalization, though the project was not completed until 1993 ...
. Penn Foster Career School, a distance education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
vocational school
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...
, is headquartered in Scranton.
Media
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is the 55th largest U.S. television market. Local television stations include:
* WNEP-TV ABC affiliate
* WBRE-TV NBC affiliate
* WYOU-TV
WYOU (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with ...
CBS affiliate
* WVIA-TV PBS affiliate
* WOLF-TV
WOLF-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is the flagship property of locally based New Age Media, LLC, and is co-ow ...
FOX affiliate
* WQMY MyNetworkTV affiliate
* WSWB
WSWB (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with New Age M ...
CW affiliate
* WQPX Ion Television affiliate
Local public-access television and government-access television (ECTV) programming is aired on Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
channels 19 and 21.
Scranton hosts the headquarters of Times-Shamrock Communications Times-Shamrock Communications is an American media company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The company, owned by the Lynett and Haggerty families of Scranton, lists among its assets four daily newspapers, six weekly newspapers, and nine radio stati ...
, which publishes the city's major newspaper, '' The Times-Tribune'', a Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning broadsheet daily founded in 1870. ''Times-Shamrock'' also publishes the'' Electric City'', a weekly entertainment tabloid, and '' The Citizens' Voice'', a daily tabloid based in Wilkes-Barre. '' Times Leader'' is a daily paper that primarily covers nearby Wilkes-Barre. The ''Times Leader'' also publishes ''Go Lackawanna'', a Sunday newspaper serving Scranton and surrounding municipalities, and the ''Weekender'' is a Wilkes-Barre-based entertainment tabloid with distribution in Scranton.
''The Aquinas
''The Aquinas'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Print editions are published every Thursday during the semester and distributed to buildings throughout the university's campus.
History
''T ...
'' is the weekly student newspaper
A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
of the University of Scranton. ''The Scranton Post'' is a weekly general interest broadsheet which bills itself as the city's first online newspaper. There are several other print publications with a more narrow focus, including the ''Union News,'' ''La Voz Latina,'' and ''Melanian News.''
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre radio market is ranked #71 in the country by Arbitron
Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The main highways that serve Scranton are Interstate 81, which runs North to Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
and Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and south to Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
; Interstate 84, which runs east to Milford Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
* Milford, Devon, a place in Devon
* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
and New England States; Interstate 380, which runs southeast to Pocono Pines and Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
east to New York City and west to San Francisco; Interstate 476/Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...
Northeast Extension, which runs south to Allentown and Philadelphia; U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...
, which runs east to Carbondale/Honesdale and parallel to I-84 to New England States and west to Erie; and U.S. Route 11
{{Infobox road
, country=USA
, type=US
, route=11
, map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map
, map_custom=yes
, map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...
, which runs parallel to I-81.
Scranton's provider of public transportation is the County of Lackawanna Transit System
The County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS) is the operator of public transport for the city of Scranton urban area and its surrounding area of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. It began operations in 1972, largely using routes established by p ...
(COLTS). COLTS buses provide extensive service within the city and more limited service that reaches in all directions to Carbondale, Daleville, Pittston
Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...
, and Fleetville. The other bussing company is the Luzerne County Transportation Authority
The Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) is the operator of mass transportation in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and portions of surrounding Luzerne County. Services provided by the LCTA replaced previously offered services of ...
(LCTA), which mainly runs through The Minooka section (closest to Luzerne County) and Downtown Scranton by The Mall at Steamtown. LCTA takes passengers from Scranton to the Mohegan Sun Pocono racino in Plains
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is located in nearby Avoca. The airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
is serviced by American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
, Regional Sky
Regional Sky is an airline based at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and headquartered in Avoca, Pennsylvania that flies scheduled commuter flights marketed by Public Charters, LLC as well as charter flights.
History
In April 2018, Re ...
and United.
Martz Trailways
Martz Group is a bus company headquartered in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, operating intercity commuter buses, charter buses, and tours. The company operates Martz Trailways, which is a part of the Trailways Transportation System. Martz Trailways ...
and Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...
provide coach bus transportation from its downtown station to New York City, Philadelphia and other places in the Northeast.
Private operators such as Posten Taxi and McCarthy Flowered Cabs service the Scranton area. They are hired by telephone through central dispatch and cannot be hailed on the street as in larger cities.
Railroads
Rail transportation, in both freight and passenger, were vital to the city's historic growth. The city was a hub, serving the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), the Delaware and Hudson Railway
The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
(DLW), the Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
, and the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad
The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad, more commonly known as the Laurel Line, was a Pennsylvania third rail electric interurban streetcar line which operated commuter train service from 1903 to 1952, and freight service until 1976. Its main li ...
(LWV), with routes radiating in all directions, to New York State's Southern Tier, to several points in Pennsylvania, and to parts in northern New Jersey. The CNJ station and the DLW station were the last to lose passenger service, in the early 1950s and in 1970, respectively.
Freight rail remains important and vital even today in Scranton.
The Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
runs freight trains on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) line between Scranton and Binghamton, having taken over operations from the Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
(Delaware and Hudson Railway division) in 2015. The Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad
The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad , sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. The RBMN provides freight service on of track. Its mainl ...
serves the former DL&W Keyser Valley branch in the city.
The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, as designated operator of county-owned rail lines, oversees the former Delaware and Hudson line from Scranton north to Carbondale, the former DL&W line east to the Delaware Water Gap and the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad third-rail interurban streetcar
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...
line south to Montage Mountain, Moosic
Moosic ( ) is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, south of downtown Scranton and northeast of downtown Wilkes-Barre, on the Lackawanna River.
Moosic is in a former coal-mining region. A few older industries existed at one time, includ ...
and the Minooka Industrial Track. These lines host the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is buil ...
and the Electric City Trolley Museum
The Electric City Trolley Museum is a transport museum located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site. The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna ...
and are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority
The Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) is a bi-county creation of both Lackawanna and Monroe counties to oversee the use of common rail freight lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The designated freight operator of the Pe ...
.
The PNRRA was created by Lackawanna County and Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe:
* Monroe County, Alabama
*Monroe County, Arkansas
* Monroe County, Florida
* Monroe County, Georgia
*Monroe County, Illinois
*Monroe County, Indian ...
to oversee the use of common rail freight lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including one formerly owned by Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
running from Scranton, through the Pocono Mountains towards New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and the New York City market.
One of its primary objectives is to re-establish rail passenger service to Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
and thence by connection to New York.
Indeed, regular passenger train service to Scranton is slated to be restored under a plan to extend NJ Transit service from Hoboken via the Lackawanna Cut-Off. That project is ongoing as rail is being laid down in New Jersey. The trains would pass the Lackawanna Station building and pull in at a new Scranton station on Lackawanna Avenue along the northernmost track east of Bridge 60 (the railroad bridge over the Lackawanna River) and the Cliff Street underpass.
Fire department
The Bureau of Fire was incorporated as a paid service in 1901. It is a full-time service consisting of about 142 firefighter
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
s. Its headquarters is on Mulberry Street in Central City. The fire department has seven operating fire stations. It has nine firefighting vehicles, including five engines, two trucks (ladders), one rescue
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...
, and an assistant chief's vehicle.
Police
Police headquarters is located on North Washington Avenue in downtown Scranton. Special Units include Arson Investigations, Auto Theft Task Force, Child Abuse Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Investigation, Juvenile Unit, Special Investigations Unit, Special Operations Group (SWAT/SOG), Canine Unit, Community Development and Highway Unit. The Police department has recently opened two new satellite stations. The Highway Unit was relocated to one new station at N. Keyser Ave & Morgan Highway. The second was opened at the Valley View Housing complex. There are plans for at least one more, and possibly two.
Notable people
Arts
* J. Grubb Alexander, silent film screenwriter
* Pete Barbutti, actor
* Walter Bobbie, theatre director and choreographer
* Alan Brown, filmmaker
* Sonny Burke, big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
leader
* Mark Cohen, photographer
* Karl R. Coolidge
Karl R. Coolidge (March 29, 1890 – March 2, 1964) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 73 films between 1913 and 1935. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and died in Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
* Riders of the ...
, screenwriter
* Ann Crowley
Ann Crowley (1765 – 1826) was a British Quaker minister.
Life
Crowley was one of the eight daughters of William and Catherine Crowley. She was born on 8 May 1765 in Shillingford in
Oxfordshire where her father was a maltster and mealman. Ann w ...
, singer and actress
* Emile de Antonio
Emile Francisco de Antonio (May 14, 1919 – December 15, 1989) was an American director and producer of documentary films, usually detailing political, social, and counterculture events circa 1960s–1980s. He has been referred to by Randolph Le ...
, documentary film director and producer
* Carrie De Mar
Carrie De Mar (April 1, 1875/76 - February 23, 1963)''American and British Theatrical Biography'' page 300 by J. P. Wearing c.1979 ISBN 0-8108-1201-0''Silent Film Necrology'', p.130 2nd edition c.2001 by Eugene M. Vazzana ISBN 0-7864-1059-0 was a ...
, actress, singer, and vaudevillian
* Dorothy Dietrich, stage magician
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...
, escapologist
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and ot ...
, co-owner of Houdini Museum
* Margot Douaihy
Margot Douaihy, Ph.D, is an American writer whose works include ''Scorched Grace'' (Gillian Flynn Books, 2023), ''Scranton Lace'' (Clemson University Press), ''Girls Like You'' (Clemson University Press), a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, ''Bandit ...
, writer and author
* Cy Endfield, screenwriter, film and theater director, author, magician, and inventor
* Ann Evers, film actress
* Wanda Hawley
Wanda Hawley (born Selma Wanda Pittack; July 30, 1895 – March 18, 1963) was an American actress during the silent film era. She entered the theatrical profession with an amateur group in Seattle, and later toured the United States and Can ...
, silent film actress
* Allan Jones, singer and actor
* Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
, writer and activist
* Gloria Jean, singer and actress
* Stephen Karam
Stephen Karam (born ) is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays ''Sons of the Prophet'', a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and '' The Humans'' were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, ...
, playwright and screenwriter
* JP Karliak, actor, voice actor, and comedian
* Jean Kerr
Jean Kerr (born Bridget Jean Collins, July 10, 1922 – January 5, 2003) was an Irish-American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who authored the 1957 bestseller ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' and the plays ''King of Hea ...
, author and playwright
* Michael Patrick King, television and film writer, director and producer, co-creator of ''2 Broke Girls
''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cumm ...
'' and '' The Comeback''
* William Kotzwinkle
William Kotzwinkle (born November 22, 1943) is an American novelist, children's writer, and screenwriter. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He has won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for ''Doctor Rat'' in 1977, and has also wo ...
, novelist and screenwriter
* Michael Kuchwara
Michael Charlies Kuchwara (February 28, 1947 – May 22, 2010) was an American theater critic, columnist and journalist. Kuchwara worked as both a critic and journalist for the ''Associated Press'' for more than from 1984 until 2010, writing pi ...
, theater critic, columnist, and journalist
* Gershon Legman
Gershon Legman (November 2, 1917 – February 23, 1999) was an American cultural critic and folkloristics, folklorist, best known for his books ''The Rationale of the Dirty Joke'' (1968) and ''The Horn Book: Studies in Erotic Folklore and Bib ...
, cultural critic and folklorist
* Bradford Louryk
Bradford Louryk is an American theater artist and actor. Louryk is best known for his solo performance work, which often incorporates gender reversal. He is also known for his odd taste in fashion.McGlone, Jackie; July 14, 2005"From GI to Glamour ...
, theater artist and actor
* Charles Emmett Mack, actor
* Jeanne Madden, singer, star of musical theater and 1930s films
* Carl Marzani, political activist, volunteer soldier in Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, organizer for the Communist Party USA, U.S. intelligence official, documentary filmmaker, author, and publisher
* Judy McGrath
Judith Ann McGrath (born July 2, 1952) is an American television executive.
Early life and education
She is a graduate of Scranton High School in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Career
In 2004, McGra ...
, MTV Networks CEO
* Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur (November 5, 1895 – April 21, 1956) was an American playwright, screenwriter and 1935 winner of the Academy Award for Best Story.
Life and career
MacArthur was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven chil ...
, playwright and screenwriter
* The Menzingers, punk band
* W. S. Merwin, 17th U.S. Poet Laureate
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...
* Jason Miller, actor, director, and Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
–winning playwright of '' That Championship Season''
* Russ Morgan
Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being the one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock ...
, big band-era bandleader
* Motionless in White
Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2004, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky "Horror" Olson, drummer Vinny Mauro and bassist Ju ...
, gothic metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
band
* Bruce Mozert
Robert Bruce Moser (November 24, 1916 – October 14, 2015), known as Bruce Mozert, was an American photographer. He was considered to be a pioneer of underwater photography and his images of Silver Springs, Florida, were widely circulated during ...
, photographer
* Jay Parini
Jay Parini (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and academic. He is known for novels, poetry, biography, screenplays and criticism. He has published novels about Leo Tolstoy, Walter Benjamin, Paul the Apostle, and Herman Melville.
Early l ...
, writer and academic
* Jerry Penacoli
Jerry Penacoli (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and entertainment reporter, and served as a host with the US syndicated magazine show ''Extra (U.S. TV program), Extra'' for 20 years.
Reporting career
Before going national, Penacoli serve ...
, actor and director
* Byrne Piven, stage actor
* Cynthia Rothrock, martial artist and star of martial arts films
* Lizabeth Scott, actress and singer
* Katy Selverstone
Katy Selverstone (born February 4, 1966 in New York City) is an American actress. She is primarily known for her work on ''The Drew Carey Show'' as Lisa Robbins, Drew Carey's girlfriend in the first and second seasons.
Life & career
Selverstone ...
, actress, Lisa Robbins on '' The Drew Carey Show''
* Melanie Smith, television actress
* Thomas L. Thomas
Thomas Llyfnwy Thomas (23 February 1911 – 17 April 1983) was a Welsh American baritone concert singer who achieved fame for his performances both in concert halls and on television and radio, most notably on ''The Voice of Firestone'', where he ...
, concert singer
* Tigers Jaw, indie rock, emo band
* Beverly Tyler, actress and singer
* Sally Victor
Sally Victor (née Josephs; February 23, 1905 – May 14, 1977) was a prominent American milliner from the late 1920s through the 1960s. Her designs were popular with Hollywood actresses such as Irene Dunne, Helen Hayes, and Merle Oberon, as wel ...
, milliner
* Ned Washington
Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Life and career
Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...
, Academy Award-winning lyricist
* Lauren Weisberger
Lauren Weisberger (born March 28, 1977) is an American novelist and author of the 2003 bestseller '' The Devil Wears Prada'', a ''roman à clef'' of her experience as an assistant to ''Vogue'' editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Early life and educa ...
, author, '' The Devil Wears Prada''
Government
* Joe Biden, 46th President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
(2021–), 47th Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
, U.S. senator from Delaware (1973–2009)
* John Blake, former Pennsylvania State Senator
* Marion Cowan Burrows
Marion Cowan Burrows (May 7, 1865? – November 13, 1952) was an American physician, pharmacist, and state legislator in Massachusetts.
Early life and education
Marion Cowan was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the daughter of James Cowan and Jan ...
, former Massachusetts state legislator
* Frank Carlucci, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and ambassador to Portugal
* Robert P. Casey
Robert Patrick Casey Sr. (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the ...
, former governor of Pennsylvania
* Robert P. Casey Jr.
Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Casey previously served as Pen ...
, U.S. senator
* Gaynor Cawley
Joseph Gaynor Cawley (June 19, 1941 – March 12, 2021) was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and professional baseball player.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he played minor league baseball for Detroit. He was s ...
, former Pennsylvania State Representative
* David J. Davis
David J. Davis (November 22, 1870 – November 19, 1942) was an American politician and military officer who served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1923 to 1927. Davis was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...
, former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor
* Mike Dunleavy, governor of Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
* Hugh E. Rodham, father of Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
* Hermann Eilts, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Bangladesh
* John R. Farr
John Richard Farr (July 18, 1857 – December 11, 1933) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Biography
John R. Farr was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and attended Scranton's School of the Lackawa ...
, U.S. Congresman
* Kathleen Kane
Kathleen Granahan Kane (born Kathleen Margaret Granahan; June 14, 1966) is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the 48th Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 2013 until her resignation in 2016 following her conviction for per ...
, former Pennsylvania attorney general and felon
* Terence V. Powderly
Terence Vincent Powderly (January 22, 1849 – June 24, 1924) was an Americans, American labor union leader, politician and attorney, best known as head of the Knights of Labor in the late 1880s. Born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, he was later ele ...
, former head of Knights of Labor
* Robert Reich, professor and political commentator, former U.S. Secretary of Labor
* Mary Scranton
Mary Lowe Scranton (April 27, 1918 – December 26, 2015) was an American consultant, community advocate and academic trustee. She served as the First Ladies of Pennsylvania, First Lady of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967 during the administration ...
, former First Lady of Pennsylvania
* William Scranton, former governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
* William Scranton III
William Worthington Scranton III (born July 20, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 26th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 in the administration of Governor Richard Thornburgh. He is the son of the late Pennsylv ...
, former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor
* Joel Wachs
Joel Wachs (, ; born March 1, 1939) is an American former politician and lawyer. He is the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City. He was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for 30 years, where he was k ...
, Los Angeles city council member
* John Anthony Walker, former U.S. Navy chief warrant officer convicted of spying
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
for the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
* Laurence Hawley Watres. U.S. Congressman
* Louis A. Watres
Louis Arthur Watres (April 21, 1851 – June 28, 1937) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the Pennsylvania Senate, District 20, 20t ...
, Pennsylvania lieutenant governor[
]
Sports
* Hank Bullough
Henry Charles Bullough (January 24, 1934 – November 24, 2019) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Michigan State and graduated in 1954. Bullough was a starting guard for the Spartans team that won the 19 ...
, NFL player and coach
* P. J. Carlesimo
Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, '' Th ...
, college, Olympic, and professional basketball coach and television broadcaster
* Jimmy Caras
James Caras (17 December 1908 – 3 December 2002) was an American professional pool player, most well known for winning five World Straight Pool Championship
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the ...
, professional pool player
* Nick Chickillo
Nicholas Angelo Chickillo (October 17, 1930 – February 5, 2000) was an American football player who played one season with the Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59), Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Car ...
, former NFL player
* Nestor Chylak
Nestor George Chylak Jr. (; May 11, 1922February 17, 1982) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1954 to 1978. He umpired in three ALCS (1969, 1972, 1973), serving as crew chief in 1969 and 1973. H ...
, Baseball Hall of Famer and former American League umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
* Joe Collins
Joseph Edward Collins (born Joseph Edward Kollonige; December 3, 1922 – August 30, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball player born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
On September 25, he began his major league career playing for the New York Y ...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player, six-time World Series champion
* Patty Costello Patty Costello (May 8, 1947, Washington, D.C. – April 16, 2009, Scranton, Pennsylvania) was an American left-handed professional ten-pin bowling, ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA). She was one ...
, professional bowler, International Bowling Congress Hall of Fame, and Pro Bowlers Tour Hall of Fame member
* Jim Crowley
James Harold "Sleepy Jim" Crowley (September 10, 1902 – January 15, 1986) was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen (American football), Four Horsemen" bac ...
, football player and coach, one-fourth of University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
's legendary " Four Horsemen" backfield
* Paul Foytack
Paul Eugene Foytack (November 16, 1930 – January 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 312 games in Major League Baseball between 1953 and 1964 for two American League clubs, the Detroit ...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher
* Charlie Gelbert, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player
* Joe Grzenda
Joseph Charles Grzenda (June 8, 1937 – July 12, 2019) was an American professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight seasons (1961; 1964–1967; 1969–1972) for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletic ...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player
* Cosmo Iacavazzi, college and AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
player
* Edgar Jones, college and professional football player
* Gary Lavelle, Major League Baseball player
* Bill Lazor, NFL offensive coordinator
* Dave Lettieri, Olympic cyclist
* Ralph Lomma Ralph John Lomma (March 13, 1924 – September 12, 2011) is often credited, along with his brother, Al, with popularizing miniature golf in the mid-1950s through their design and manufacture of now famous obstacles such as castles, clown heads and ...
, popularized miniature golf
Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...
* Mike Lynn
Michael Lynn III (May 18, 1936 – July 21, 2012) was an American football general manager and executive. He served as the general manager of the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings from 1975 to 1990.
Early life
Lynn's father died of ...
, general manager and executive Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
* Joe McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most vis ...
, Major League Baseball player
* Matt McGloin
Matthew James "Matt" McGloin (born December 2, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 2010 to 2012. McGloin was the first walk-on quarterback to start ...
, former NFL quarterback
* Gerry McNamara, assistant coach, Syracuse Orange
* Mike McNally
Michael Joseph McNally (September 13, 1893 – May 29, 1965), nicknamed Minooka Mike, was an American professional baseball player, Scout (sport), scout, Manager (baseball), manager and General manager (baseball), general manager. He played in Ma ...
, former Major League Baseball player, member of New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
first World Series championship team
* Mike Munchak, former head coach of NFL's Tennessee Titans, college and NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
* Joe O'Malley, football player
* Jim O'Neill, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player
* Steve O'Neill, former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player and manager
* Jackie Paterson
Jackie Paterson (5 September 1920 – 19 November 1966) was a Scottish boxer who was world flyweight boxing champion. He was also British champion at flyweight and bantamweight.
Early life
Born in Springside, Ayrshire, Paterson emigrated with ...
, Scottish boxer
* Jim Rempe
James Rempe (born November 4, 1947, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, US) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player, and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2002.
Career
Rempe began playing pool at th ...
, pocket billiards champion and member of the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame
* Adam Rippon, figure skater
* Tim Ruddy
Tim Ruddy (born April 27, 1972) is a former American football offensive lineman. He was born in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. Tim Ruddy was a center for the Miami Dolphins from 1994 to 2003. Tim went on to acting and writing as well as working on th ...
, college and National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
player
* Dutch Savage, professional wrestler
* Greg Sherman
Greg Sherman (born March 30, 1970) is the former general manager of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, a post he had held from June 3, 2009, to September 19, 2014. Sherman stepped into the role following seven years as a special ...
, general manager of NHL's Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
* Chick Shorten, Major League Baseball player
* Marc Spindler
Marc Spindler (born November 28, 1969) is a former American football player who was a defensive tackle and defensive end who played nine seasons in the National Football League. Since retiring from football, Spindler has worked for both WDFN
...
, college and NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player
* Brian Stann, mixed martial artist, UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
analyst for Fox Sports, former WEC Light Heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
champion
Others
* Joseph Bambera
Joseph Charles Bambera (born March 21, 1956) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Bishop of Scranton, serving since April 26, 2010.
Biography
Early life and education
Joseph Bambera was born in C ...
, Bishop of Scranton
* Mamie Cadden
Mary Anne "Mamie" Cadden (27 October 1891 – 20 April 1959) was an Irish midwife, backstreet abortionist, and convicted murderer. She was born 27 October 1891 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Irish parents Patrick and Mary Cadden. In 1895, Cadden ...
, Irish midwife
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...
and murderer
* Lisa Caputo, Citigroup group
* Howard Gardner, developmental psychologist and professor
* Frank Gibney, journalist and scholar
* Hugh Glass, American frontiersman
* Alex Grass
Alexander Grass (August 3, 1927 – August 27, 2009) was an American businessman and lawyer who founded Rite Aid, one of the United States' largest drugstore chains.
Early life
Grass was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents, Louis ...
, founder of Rite Aid
* Lansing C. Holden, architect
* Jeffrey Bruce Klein, investigative journalist, co-founded ''Mother Jones (magazine), Mother Jones'' magazine
* Gino J. Merli, Medal of Honor recipient during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
* John Mitchell, labor organizer, founding member and president, United Mine Workers of America
* Robert C. Morlino, Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison, Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin
* John O'Connor (cardinal), John Joseph O'Connor, former bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Bishop of Scranton
* Karen Ann Quinlan, key figure in right to die controversy
* William Henry Richmond, coal mine operator
* Martin F. Scanlon, U.S. Air Force general
* B. F. Skinner, behaviorist and author
* Mabel Cox Surdam, photographer
* Charles Sumner Woolworth, Charles Sumner "Sum" Woolworth, retailer, philanthropist, co-founder of F. W. Woolworth Company, Woolworth
* Mel Ziegler, co-founder, The Republic of Tea and Banana Republic (clothing retailer), Banana Republic
In popular culture
The Harry Chapin song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is about an actual fatal 1965 accident in Scranton, where a driver hauling bananas lost control of his truck as it barreled down Pennsylvania Route 307, Moosic Street.
Blue Valentine (film) was partially filmed in Scranton.
The film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award winning play, That Championship Season, is set in and was filmed in Scranton.
The city is home to the Pennsylvania Paper and Supply Company, Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, which was the inspiration for a branch of the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin on NBC's series ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office''. The Scranton branch is the setting for the majority of the show's episodes.
The city was the setting of the home of Roy Munson (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) in the 1996 American sports comedy Kingpin (1996 film), ''Kingpin''. The scenes were shot in Pittsburgh as a stand in for Scranton.
The city is imagined as a member of the class of interstellar Okies in James Blish's 1962 novel, ''A Life for the Stars'', in which 2273 AD Scranton, equipped with a space drive, flies away and leaves an impoverished Earth behind.
In 2017, Scranton got national recognition from late night television host John Oliver when he made jokes about how infatuated Scranton community members were with the little train that runs during the weather reports on Scranton's American Broadcasting Company, ABC-affiliated TV station WNEP-TV. The train had been featured in multiple of their Talkback16 segments. After a follow-up segment, Oliver donated a train set to WNEP. It was too big for their backyard, so they donated it to The Electric City Trolley Museum
The Electric City Trolley Museum is a transport museum located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site. The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna ...
.
Musician John Legend was the head of the music department and choir director of Scranton's Bethel AME Church from 1995-2004.
Lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith wrote the song, Winter Wonderland, while being treated at the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton for tuberculosis.
American singer, actress and television personality Cher lived in Scranton as a baby and spent time at a Catholic orphanage in the city run by the Sisters of Mercy. Cher wrote about the experience in the song, Sisters of Mercy.
Sister cities
Scranton has the following official sister cities:
* Naga, Camarines Sur, Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines
* Ballina, County Mayo, Ballina, County Mayo, Connacht, Ireland
* Guardia Lombardi, Campania, Italy
* Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, Russia
* Trnava, Trnava Region, Slovakia
* Perugia, Umbria, Italy
* City of San Marino, San Marino, San Marino
* Caronia, Sicily, Italy
* Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
* Chicago, Illinois, United States
See also
* Farley's Eatery and Pub
* The Office (American TV series), The Office
* Polish Cathedral style
* Scranton Army Ammunition Plant
* Weston Field (Scranton), Weston Field
Notes
References
External links
City of Scranton
{{authority control
Scranton, Pennsylvania,
1778 establishments in Pennsylvania
Cities in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Cities in Pennsylvania
County seats in Pennsylvania
Lackawanna Heritage Valley
Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1778