Nuangola, PA

Nuangola is a Luzerne County borough built around a heart-shaped lake, and the water is the organizing fact of the place. It began as a summer resort in the early twentieth century and incorporated in 1908, when the surrounding county was becoming a center of coal mining and European immigration. The borough’s small land area is wrapped around Nuangola Lake, so streets, homes, and the municipal building all read as parts of a lake settlement rather than a conventional inland town.

Nuangola also has a performance history unusual for a borough its size. The Grove Theatre operated as a summer-stock playhouse from the 1930s through the 1950s, later reopening in 2006. Today the borough is part of Crestwood School District and connects by nearby Interstate 81 to Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton. Lake roads and shared waterfront spaces make the borough feel larger in summer than its map suggests. The lake still brings the seasonal rhythm, while the theatre, school district, and borough government give the community a civic shape beyond vacation housing.