History of Wilkes-Barre

Wilkes-Barre was settled in 1769 and reached the height of its prosperity in the 19th century when coal reserves were discovered nearby. This discovery led to the city being nicknamed “The Diamond City”. With the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the city’s economy flourished due to new resources and an expanding workforce. The Wyoming Valley held the largest anthracite coal field in the United States at the time. During Wilkes-Barre’s reign as an industrial and economic force, a number of franchises planted their roots in the city, such as Bell Telephone, HBO, and Stegmaier.

For more on Wilkes-Barre's history, please visit:
 Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society and Luzerne County Historical Society

Wilkes-Barre Historical Timeline

Local contributions to chapters in American History

Complied by Councilman Tony Brooks

For thousands of years various Native American tribes would live in Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley leaving behind evidence of their existence. On the dawn of contact with European settlers, tribal names such as Nanticoke, Shawanese, and Delaware would be invited to live here by the great Iroquois Confederacy to the north. The Iroquois would “sell” lands to both the Colony of Connecticut and the Province of Pennsylvania in and around present-day Wilkes-Barre. 

Wilkes-Barre was named by Captain John Durkee of the Susquehannah (Land) Company of Connecticut in honor of two British members of Parliament, John Wilkes and Issacs Barré, who support the American cause during the Revolution.

For nearly three centuries Wilkes-Barre would contribute to several chapters in American history including constitutional history, industrialization, labor history, ethnic history, deindustrialization and revitalization.