Wilkes-Barre (pronounced /ˈwɪlksbɛrə/ or /ˈwɪlksbɛri/) is a city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Luzerne County and the central city of the Wyoming Valley. Founded in 1769 and formally incorporated in 1806, the city has an estimated population of 43,123, according to the 2000 census. Wilkes-Barre is also one of the core cities of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which has ...
more
Wilkes-Barre (pronounced /ˈwɪlksbɛrə/ or /ˈwɪlksbɛri/) is a city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Luzerne County and the central city of the Wyoming Valley. Founded in 1769 and formally incorporated in 1806, the city has an estimated population of 43,123, according to the 2000 census. Wilkes-Barre is also one of the core cities of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which has an estimated 2007 population of 549,430.
Wilkes-Barre and surrounding Wyoming Valley are framed by the Pocono Mountains to the east, the Endless Mountains to the west and the Lehigh Valley to the south. The Susquehanna River flows through the center of the valley and defines the northwestern border of the city.
The Wyoming Valley was first inhabited by the Shawanese and Delaware Indian tribes in the early 1700s. By 1769, a group, led by John Durkee, became the first Europeans to reach the area. The settlement was named Wilkes-Barre after John...
less
