The Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, where
"Truth is Stranger Than Fiction."
LUZERNE & LACKAWANNA
COUNTIES
ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET
The history of Luzerne
and Lackawanna Counties, PA, is recalled through a mixture of colorful tales
and factual data in this NEW 82 Page Booklet, reprinted primarily
from two hard-to-find books: An Illustrated History of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania by William Egle, M.D., and Pennsylvania, a Guide to
the Keystone State, a WPA project published in 1940. The spiral-bound
booklet is printed one-sided on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier
reading. A clear vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.
The communities
mentioned include: Wilkes-Barre, Scranton (formerly Capouse), Bear Creek,
Stoddartsville, Duryea, Taylor, Avoca, Dupont, Pittston, West Pittston, Exeter,
Wyoming, Forty Fort, Kingston, Luzerne, Edwardsville, Larksville, Plymouth,
Avondale, Tillsbury Knob, Hunlock Creek, Shickshinny, Ashley, Mountain Top,
Freeland, Hazleton, Kelayres, McAdoo, Carbondale, White Haven, Troy, Conyngham,
Nescopeck.
The Egle history covers the early development of this area,
while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glimpse from a 1940 vantage
point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate
to sightseeing possibilities.
Among the many
and diverse subjects in the booklet are: Early Settlers; Physical Features;
Educational Institutions; Five-Year-Old Girl Captured by Indians, Found 60
Years Later; Ice Flood and Pumpkin Flood; Hudson and Delaware Canal and Anthracite
Coal; Mystery over Horrendous Massacre at Wyoming; Spelling Error of Town
Name; Queen Esther’s Rock; Six Page Section on Wilkes-Barre with Map; Underground
Fire Started in 1917, still burning in 1940; Coal and its Uses; Fort Wyoming,
Fort Durgee, Forty Fort and other Forts; Poisonous Snake Saves Count Zinzendorf,
Moravian Missionary; the Children’s Grasshopper War; the Wyoming Territorial
Dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Resulting in a Civil War;
Adventures of Capt. Amos Ogden and others; Battle of Wyoming in 1778; Col.
Zebulon Butler and his Brave Band of Grandfathers; a Vindication of Brant,
the Celebrated Mohawk Chief; Charles Miner’s Dialog of Hazleton Travelers;
and other interesting bits of history and trivia.
ILLUSTRATIONS
include Buttermilk Falls, Baltimore Company’s
Coal Mine; the Wyoming Valley from Prospect Rock (full page); the Public
Square in Wilkes-Barre; Churches in Carbondale; the Indian Massacre in Wyoming
(full page); Luzerne County Court House (full page); the First Glimpse of
the Wyoming Valley; the Lackawanna Falls; Stewart’s Block-House; View of Forty
Fort in 1778; Luzerne County Prison; Wyoming Seminary (two views).
