Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1880s

Work

Coal shaped most work

The city’s directory points straight to anthracite: three named coal breakers⁴ and coal shippers, coal operators, and coal companies⁴ had city addresses. But the same town also had iron works and mining-machinery shops⁴ and silk, lace, and underwear manufacturers⁴.

Who lived here

Immigrants lived beside natives

A single 1880 census page already shows a mixed city, with residents born in Ireland, Prussia, Baden, Wales, England, New York, and Pennsylvania⁵. The listed jobs on that page range from miner and laborer to school teacher, machinist, butcher, moulder, apprentice, and mason⁵.

Law & power

County power sat downtown

Wilkes-Barre was not only a mining city but the county seat: the County Commissioners’ Office was in the Court House on Public Square⁴. The city itself was young, having been incorporated as a city on May 24, 1871³.

Faith

Churches marked communities

The 1889 directory named a Free Methodist Church at 269 South Main⁴ and a Welsh Congregational Church on Hillside near East Market⁴. It also recorded a Jewish cemetery and a Young Men’s Hebrew Association⁴, signs of a Jewish community with its own institutions.

Roads & news

Railroads and papers connected it

News and strangers came by rail: the city had Lehigh Valley depots, shops, and a roundhouse⁴, Delaware & Hudson freight and passenger depots⁴, and a Central Railroad of New Jersey transfer office⁴. In print, residents could read the daily Wilkes-Barre Record and the daily and weekly News-Dealer⁴.

What people feared

Mines and rivers killed

Coal work exposed men and boys across the anthracite counties to roof falls, explosions, machinery, mule haulage, and lung disease. The city’s dead were carried to named burial grounds including Hollenback Cemetery and Wilkes-Barre City Cemetery⁴.

Home & table

Crowding followed fast growth

Wilkes-Barre grew from 23,339 inhabitants in 1880¹ to 37,718 inhabitants in 1890², so housing demand must have pressed hard on the city. But no opened online source described ordinary houses block by block for this decade.

Money

Cash, credit, and uncertainty

The commercial streets held many places to spend or borrow: the directory listed banks, shops, photographers, and publishers around Public Square⁴. Exact local prices remain a gap here: no Wilkes-Barre price list for the decade was found in this session.

Year by year

1. 1880The federal census counted 23,339 people in Wilkes-Barre. here¹
2. 1881The Daily Record of the Times was still part of Wilkes-Barre’s newspaper world during its 1874–1883 run. here⁶
3. 1883Standard time was adopted by American railroads, changing how railroad cities such as Wilkes-Barre kept train time. the country
4. 1884A House report described Wilkes-Barre as the county seat of Luzerne County and a principal shipping point of the Wyoming anthracite coal field. here
5. 1886The Haymarket bombing and labor trials in Chicago made labor organization and radicalism a national topic likely to be read in Wilkes-Barre papers. the country
6. 1888The Wilkes-Barre and Scranton railroad connection extended Central Railroad of New Jersey-linked service north toward Scranton. nearby
7. 1889The city directory listed coal breakers, railroad depots, a city hospital, churches, cemeteries, newspapers, factories, and banks inside Wilkes-Barre. here⁴
8. 1890The census counted 37,718 people in Wilkes-Barre after a decade of rapid growth. here²

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

• The federal census counted Wilkes-Barre at 23,339 inhabitants in 1880. from the sources¹
• By the 1890 census Wilkes-Barre had 37,718 inhabitants, a rise of 14,379 during the decade. from the sources²
• Pennsylvania records list Wilkes-Barre as settled in 1769, incorporated as a borough on March 17, 1806, and incorporated as a city on May 24, 1871. from the sources³
• The 1889 city directory placed the County Commissioners’ Office in the Court House on Public Square. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed three named coal breakers in the city: Black Diamond at the foot of Hillard Lane, Hillman Vein between North Canal and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and the Lehigh Valley Coal Breaker at Water and Courtright Avenue. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory named Conyngham & Company as coal shippers, Haddock, Shonk & Co. as coal operators, and Hanover, Keystone, and Wyoming Valley as coal companies with Wilkes-Barre offices. from the sources⁴
• The Lehigh Valley Railroad had a Wilkes-Barre passenger depot on East Market near South Canal, a South Wilkes-Barre station on South Main near Parrish, and shops and a roundhouse at the foot of John, Chester, and Ralph streets in 1889. from the sources⁴
• The Delaware & Hudson Canal Company had both a freight depot behind East Market and a railroad passenger depot near Market and Canal in 1889. from the sources⁴
• The Central Railroad of New Jersey kept a transfer office at East Market and Baltimore in 1889. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed a Free Methodist Church at 269 South Main Street. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed a Welsh Congregational Church on Hillside near East Market. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed a Jewish cemetery at 250 North Main Street and a Young Men’s Hebrew Association in the Loomis Building. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory placed Hollenback Cemetery on North River near the city line and the Wilkes-Barre City Cemetery at North River and Courtright Avenue. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed Wilkes-Barre City Hospital at North River and Walnut. from the sources⁴
• A sample 1880 census page for Wilkes-Barre included household heads or workers born in Ireland, Prussia, Baden, Wales, England, New York, and Pennsylvania. from the sources⁵
• The same 1880 census sample recorded occupations including laborer, moulder, apprentice, butcher, mason, machinist, school teacher, and miner. from the sources⁵
• The 1889 directory listed Wilkes-Barre Record as a daily newspaper at 3 North Main and Wilkes-Barre News-Dealer as a daily and weekly newspaper near Public Square. from the sources⁴
• Library of Congress newspaper records show the Daily Record of the Times published at Wilkes-Barre from 1874 to 1883. from the sources⁶
• The 1889 directory listed Wilkes-Barre Gas Works at Water and North, Wilkes-Barre Water Company at 12 North Franklin, and Wilkes-Barre Heat, Light and Motor Company works at 218 North Washington. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed Vulcan Iron Works on South Main near Parrish, Eagle Iron Works near North Canal and Union, and Wyoming Valley Shops of Vulcan Iron Works making mining machinery on Hazle Avenue near the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad. from the sources⁴
• The 1889 directory listed Galland Bros. & Company making ladies’ underwear, Hess, Goldsmith & Co. and Wilkes-Barre Silk Manufacturing Company making silk, and Wilkes-Barre Lace Manufacturing Company on Courtright Avenue. from the sources⁴
• In the northern anthracite counties in the 1880s, mine labor was dangerous from roof falls, explosions, machinery, mule haulage, and lung disease, though this session found no Wilkes-Barre death table for the decade. inferred
• A city household in the 1880s normally bought food, coal, shoes, cloth, and rent with cash or store credit, but this session found no Wilkes-Barre price list for the decade. not known
• No online source opened in this session gave a block-by-block description of ordinary Wilkes-Barre houses in the 1880s. not known

Sources

1. Census of 1880: Wilkesbarre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. United States Census Office, 1880
2. Top 100 Biggest Cities in Pennsylvania, 1890 Census Data. BiggestUSCities
3. Incorporation Dates for Municipalities: Luzerne County. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
4. 1889 Wilkes-Barre City Directory. Genealogy Trails, from J. E. Williams city directory, 1889
5. 1880 Census — Wilkes Barre — Luzerne County. PAGenWeb Luzerne County, 1880
6. Titles in County: Luzerne, Pennsylvania. Library of Congress, Chronicling America

Wilkes-Barre in other decades

Nearby, about the same time