Scranton, Pennsylvania
Population: 81,805
Located in Lackawanna County
Scranton, Pennsylvania was chartered as a city in 1866. Much had preceded its chartering. First had come iron furnaces, then the mills that received their output, and later the railroads that delivered their product. Concurrently, the Philadelphia businessmen, William and Maurice Wurts, began mining Anthracite coal in the Pocono "March Country." Soon, the anthracite mines became a greater source of revenue than the furnaces. By 1880, there were 150 people employed in iron making, 5,000 in coal mining, and another 1,000 in railroad yards. The city had taken on its defining characteristics. Several communities in the United States claimed to have operated an electric railway prior to Scranton. While such was the case, most attempts failed. The first street railway built entirely for operation by electric power (and having a regular schedule) was put into operation in Scranton in 1886. Similarly, the Scranton Plan, was a scheme initiated by hundreds of other cities, but nowhere else launched with such vigor. Any new business with a reasonable amount of its own capital could seek assistance form the Scranton Industrial Development Company which would buy bonds or preferred stock in the business. Once the business was prospering, it could buy back the stocks or bonds, or SIDCO would sell them elsewhere for substantial capital gains. Scranton did have its firsts. One writer has suggested the key to understanding Scranton is its mixture of flexibility and continuity. If anthracite mining was no longer profitable, new industries would be found and brought into the city. If the railroads were no longer major employers as common carriers, they would serve to attract automobile tourists to see past glories (Steamtown National Historic Site.) The mountain trails that led to coal mines might make excellent ski slopes (Montage Mountain.) A city in the Pocono Northeast that once was totally dependent on the railroads is now at the crossroads of the inter-state highways, and a major portion of the United States population is located within one day's travel. Rev. Charles P. Connor, Ph.D. Find homes for sale in Scranton Pennsylvania
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