WILKESBARRE, a city of the United States, the county seat of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, is situated on the right bank of the north branch of the Susquehanna river in the Wyoming valley, 98 miles north-north-west from Philadelphia. The business portion lies in the bottom lands, while the residence portions have extended into the adjacent hilly country. It is entered by four railways,—the Central of New Jersey, that of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the Lehigh Valley, and the Pennsylvania. The city is irregularly laid out. The population in 1880 was 23,339; in 1870 it was 10,174. Wilkesbarre is in an anthracite mining district, and its industries, while relating in general to this product, include also important manufactories of lace, wire, and cutlery, and numerous machine-shops.

After several attempts, which were rendered futile by Indian hostilities, a settlement was finally effected upon the site of Wilkesbarre in 1770. Eight years later the whole region was depopulated by the Wyoming massacre, and the infant town, with many others, was sacked and burned. In the same year a fort was erected upon the site of the ruined village, around which the town was rebuilt. Up to 1855 its growth was very slow and uncertain. The discovery of means of using the anthracite coal, which is found in abundance in the neighbourhood, gave an immense impetus to the growth and prosperity of the city.