# Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s

> A small Back Mountain borough was becoming a road-linked school, church, library, and shopping center above the Wyoming Valley.

- Place: Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (41.336, -75.963)
- Years: 1950 to 1959
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/dallas-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1950s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=Dallas%2C%20Luzerne%20County%2C%20Pennsylvania%2C%20United%20States&at=41.3362,-75.9633&year=1955

## Looking around

Stand in Dallas and turn slowly. This is a borough of 1,658 people in 1950[1], set in the Back Mountain communities northwest of Wilkes-Barre[2][3]. The road out toward the valley is part of U.S. 309, widened here by 1950 between Luzerne and PA 415 in Dallas[7], and the highway continues toward Kunkle and the Wyoming County line, improved by 1956[8]. Near the center are school buildings: Dallas Borough School[9], Dallas Township High School[9], and, after 1951, Gate of Heaven Elementary School on Machell Avenue[10]. On the Dallas highlands stands College Misericordia, a Catholic women’s college[11], run in this decade by the Religious Sisters of Mercy[12]. Community life gathers at the Back Mountain Memorial Library[5] and the library auction[6], while the weekly Dallas Post[2][3] carries school, church, sports, classified, and local news.

## Work: Roads, schools, shops

Daily work here was not dominated by a single factory in the sources found; the clearest institutions are roads, schools, newspaper, library, college, and retail. By decade’s end the place has a named Back Mountain Shopping Center[14], while the Dallas Post[2][3] remains a local employer and news machine.

## Faith: Catholic growth beside older churches

Catholic institutions were highly visible: College Misericordia[11] stood on the Dallas highlands, and Gate of Heaven Elementary School[10] opened in 1951. The college was still an all-women’s Catholic college[12] in this decade.

## Law & power: Borough and school boards

Public authority was local and practical: school boards, borough officials, PTA committees, and county government shaped ordinary life. One small example is Dallas Borough PTA raising $630[9] for playground equipment.

## In the air: Community-building was civic work

The decade’s local argument was often how to build shared institutions. In 1950, residents met at Dallas Township High School[9] to discuss a Back Mountain Community Center, and the library’s survival depended in part on the annual auction begun in 1946[6].

## What people feared: Roads and winter travel

Road travel to and from Wilkes-Barre mattered and could be hazardous in winter. A remembered 1950 item described a man returning from the city who stopped to put on tire chains during snow and then died near the Trucksville Post Office[9].

## Home & table: Schools marked family life

Children’s routines were tied to several local schools: Dallas Borough School[9], Dallas Township High School[9], and after 1951 Gate of Heaven Elementary School[10]. A gap remains: ordinary Dallas house interiors are not described in the online sources opened here.

## Money: Small sums mattered

The most concrete local money figure found is civic rather than household: $630 raised by the Dallas Borough PTA[9] in 1950. This search did not uncover borough-specific wage rates or grocery prices for the 1950s.

## Roads & news: A weekly told the place

News arrived through the weekly Dallas Post[2][3], through highways, churches, schools, and trips to Wilkes-Barre. The newspaper’s surviving archive means the whole 1950s decade is well documented online[4].

## Year by year

- **1950** (here): Dallas borough was counted at 1,658 residents, while Luzerne County as a whole fell to 391,226 residents.[1]
- **1950** (here): A meeting at Dallas Township High School discussed plans for a Back Mountain Community Center.[9]
- **1951** (here): Gate of Heaven Elementary School opened for its first academic year on Machell Avenue.[10]
- **1953** (the country): The Korean War armistice ended open fighting in Korea, news that would have reached Dallas through papers, radio, churches, schools, and veterans’ circles.
- **1955** (here): The Back Mountain Memorial Library was rededicated on May 22.[13]
- **1956** (nearby): The widened U.S. 309 section between Dallas and the Wyoming County line was completed.[8]
- **1957** (here): Sister M. Celestine McHale established the Administrative Office of the President at College Misericordia.[11]
- **1957** (the world): The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, making space and science education a national subject of conversation in American schools and newspapers.

## What the sources say

- Dallas borough had 1,658 residents in the 1950 census, up from 1,484 in 1940. (from the sources)[1]
- Dallas was one of the Back Mountain communities of Luzerne County, a label the local weekly used for the area around Dallas, Kingston, Lehman, Jackson, Lake, and neighboring townships and boroughs. (from the sources)[2][3]
- The Dallas Post was the local weekly newspaper and described its work as church, community, school, sports, event, and classified news for the Back Mountain. (from the sources)[2][3]
- The Dallas Post archive covers issues from January 5, 1929 through December 22, 2013, so the 1950s are unusually well documented online for a small borough. (from the sources)[4]
- The Back Mountain Memorial Library stood at 96 Huntsville Road in Dallas and served the Back Mountain community. (from the sources)[5]
- The Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction began in 1946 after Dallas Post editor Howard Risley suggested an informal auction to support the new community library. (from the sources)[6]
- For many years, the library auction was held at the Risley barn, adjacent to the Dallas Post newspaper. (from the sources)[6]
- By 1950, U.S. 309 had been widened to a multilane road between Luzerne and PA 415 in Dallas. (from the sources)[7]
- By 1956, the U.S. 309 section between Dallas and the Wyoming County line had been completed after mid-1950s widening work. (from the sources)[8]
- A 1950 Dallas Post item remembered in 1960 reported a death after a man stopped at the Trucksville Post Office to put chains on his car while returning from Wilkes-Barre to Lehman during falling snow. (from the sources)[9]
- Dallas Borough PTA raised $630 in 1950 for playground equipment at the borough school. (from the sources)[9]
- A 1950 meeting at Dallas Township High School discussed plans for a Back Mountain Community Center. (from the sources)[9]
- Gate of Heaven Elementary School on Machell Avenue in Dallas opened for its first academic year in September 1951. (from the sources)[10]
- College Misericordia, founded in Dallas in 1924 by the Religious Sisters of Mercy, was Luzerne County’s first four-year institution of higher learning. (from the sources)[11]
- College Misericordia was an all-women’s Catholic college in the 1950s and did not become officially coeducational until 1979. (from the sources)[12]
- From 1924 until 1957, the Mother Provincial of the Diocese of Scranton was honorary president of College Misericordia, while the academic dean ran daily academic operations. (from the sources)[11]
- Sister M. Celestine McHale established the Administrative Office of the College President at College Misericordia in 1957. (from the sources)[11]
- In January 1956, the Dallas Post referred to the Back Mountain Memorial Library rededication held on May 22, 1955. (from the sources)[13]
- In April 1959, the Dallas Post carried advertising or news text referring to the Back Mountain Shopping Center. (from the sources)[14]
- Luzerne County had 391,226 residents in 1950, down 11.4 percent from 441,518 in 1940, so Dallas was growing while the wider county was shrinking. (from the sources)[1]
- No detailed online description found in this search gives the materials, sizes, or interior furnishings of ordinary Dallas houses in the 1950s. (not known)
- No opened source in this search gave 1950s Dallas wage rates or grocery prices specific to the borough. (not known)

## Sources

1. 1950 Census: Population of Pennsylvania by Counties: April 1, 1950. United States Census Bureau, 1950. https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/pc-02/pc-2-46.pdf
2. About Us | Dallas Post. The Dallas Post. https://www.mydallaspost.com/about-us
3. Dallas Post | Dallas News, Sports, Classified, and Events. The Dallas Post. https://www.mydallaspost.com/
4. Dallas Post Archive. Back Mountain Memorial Library / Luzerne Libraries. https://backmt.luzernelibraries.org/dallas-post/
5. Back Mountain Memorial Library Organization Details. Network of the National Library of Medicine. https://www.nnlm.gov/membership/directory/7427
6. Back Mountain Bidding Annual Library Auction Marking 50 Years Of Fund Raising. Times Leader Archive, 1996. https://archive.timesleader.com/article/892125/back-mountain-bidding-annual-library-auction-marking-50-years-of-fund-raising
7. Pennsylvania Route 309. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_309
8. US 309 (Decommissioned). Pennsylvania Highways. https://www.pahighways.com/us/decommissioned/US309.html
9. The Dallas Post, March 24, 1960, Image 2. Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive, 1960. https://panewsarchive.k8s.libraries.psu.edu/lccn/sn87080317/1960-03-24/ed-1/seq-2/ocr/
10. Gate of Heaven all-class reunion will be May 24. Times Leader, 2026. https://www.timesleader.com/news/1740241/gate-of-heaven-all-class-reunion-will-be-may-24
11. History of the Presidency. Misericordia University. https://www.misericordia.edu/about/office-of-the-president/history-of-the-presidency
12. Building a Foundation, 1921-1929 · Misericordia Spaces: The First 30 Years. Misericordia University Archives. https://archivesmu.omeka.net/exhibits/show/miseri_spaces/foundation
13. The Dallas Post, January 20, 1956, Image 5. Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive, 1956. https://panewsarchive.k8s.libraries.psu.edu/lccn/sn87080317/1956-01-20/ed-1/seq-5/
14. The Dallas Post, April 2, 1959, Image 3. Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive, 1959. https://panewsarchive.k8s.libraries.psu.edu/lccn/sn87080317/1959-04-02/ed-1/seq-3/

## The same place in other decades

- [Dallas in the 1960s](https://yorehistory.com/place/dallas-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1960s/md)

## Nearby, about the same time

- [Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s](https://yorehistory.com/place/wilkes-barre-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1950s/md) (12 km)
- [Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania in the 1940s](https://yorehistory.com/place/scranton-lackawanna-pennsylvania/1940s/md) (26 km)
- [Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the 1960s](https://yorehistory.com/place/lancaster-pennsylvania/1960s/md) (147 km)
- [Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s](https://yorehistory.com/place/newtown-bucks-county-pennsylvania/1950s/md) (150 km)
- [Fanwood, Union County, New Jersey in the 1960s](https://yorehistory.com/place/fanwood-union-county-new-jersey/1960s/md) (153 km)
- [Princeton, New Jersey in the 1930s](https://yorehistory.com/place/princeton-new-jersey/1930s/md) (155 km)
- [Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey in the 1920s](https://yorehistory.com/place/montclair-essex-county-new-jersey/1920s/md) (158 km)

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Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-12 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s", https://yorehistory.com/place/dallas-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1950s