Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s: what life was like

Looking around

Stand near the center of Wilkes-Barre and turn toward the river: this is a city of 76,826 people in 1950¹, seated in Luzerne County, whose population had fallen 11.4 percent since 1940². Downtown institutions press close together: King’s College, opened for men in 1946⁹, and Wilkes College, independent since 1947¹⁰, occupy former business and residential spaces. Beyond the streets lies the Wyoming Valley anthracite field^3,4, where thousands of Luzerne County miners still earn a living in underground and strip mines. Local news moves through . Buses and trackless trolleys replace the old streetcar world: . Upriver, the Susquehanna is not scenery only; by decade’s end .

Yore

What the sources say

Wilkes-Barre city had 76,826 residents in the 1950 census, down from its earlier 20th-century peak. from the sources¹

Luzerne County had 391,226 people on April 1, 1950, compared with 441,518 in 1940, a decline of 11.4 percent. from the sources²

Wilkes-Barre stood in the Wyoming Valley anthracite region, historically one of the hard-coal districts of northeastern Pennsylvania. from the sources^3,4

Although anthracite production was declining after World War II, thousands of Luzerne County miners still worked in underground and strip mines at the end of the 1950s. from the sources⁵

The local economy was not only coal: Wilkes-Barre also had silk and garment manufacturing, including firms that made women’s garments. from the sources⁴

On January 22, 1959, the Susquehanna River broke into the River Slope Mine at Port Griffith in Jenkins Township, killing twelve men and flooding interconnected Wyoming Valley mine workings. from the sources^6,7

Port Griffith, the site of the Knox Mine disaster, was about eight miles upriver from Wilkes-Barre. from the sources⁸

King’s College was chartered in May 1946 and began classes in September 1946 with about 380 accepted students, about 90 percent of them World War II veterans. from the sources⁹

Bucknell University Junior College became Wilkes College in 1947, an independent nondenominational four-year college in Wilkes-Barre. from the sources¹⁰

King’s College was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross at the invitation of the Catholic Diocese of Scranton to provide higher education in the anthracite coal region. from the sources⁹

In the 1950s, Wilkes-Barre readers could use the Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre Record, Evening News, and Sunday Independent; the local library’s microfilm holdings list the Times Leader from January 2, 1950 and the Record through June 1972. from the sources¹¹

Wilkes-Barre Transit Corporation was formed in 1947 after earlier Wilkes-Barre railway and trolley operations, and local streetcar service ended around 1950 as buses and trackless trolleys took over. from the sources^12,13

When Wilkes-Barre’s daily papers struck in 1954, union members published a tabloid called Valley News for about six months. inferred¹⁴

Hurricane Diane brought major flooding to the Wilkes-Barre area in August 1955, and Pennsylvania counted 113 deaths and at least $70 million in damage from the storm’s floods. from the sources^15,16

Luzerne County’s 2014 hazard-mitigation history lists August 1955 flooding from Diane as a presidentially declared disaster affecting northeastern counties. from the sources¹⁷

No online city directory opened here gives a full 1950s block-by-block list of Wilkes-Barre shops, rents, or house types. not known

No opened source gives 1950s Wilkes-Barre grocery prices, miner wages, or garment wages specific to the city. not known

As in many Pennsylvania cities in the 1950s, municipal power was formally held by elected city and county officials, while unions, mine operators, newspapers, churches, and party organizations also shaped daily public life. inferred

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s

Looking around

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1950s

Looking around

Work

Coal still pays

Faith

Catholic colleges rise

Law & power

County seat authority

In the air

What replaces coal?

What people feared

River, mine, flood

Home & table

Crowded urban valley

Money

Figures are missing

Roads & news

Several papers compete

Year by year

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

Sources

Wilkes-Barre in other decades

Nearby, about the same time

Did someone of yours live here?