Penn Lake Park, PA

Penn Lake Park is a Luzerne County borough about ten miles south of Wilkes-Barre, built around Penn Lake and the wooded country near Bear Creek and Mountain Top. The first road into the lake area was built in 1938, when ice salesman Albert Lewis used the frozen water to cut and sell ice. After the Lewis estate passed to Harry and Mary Goeringer, the couple acquired the lake and surrounding acreage and began laying out lots. Each buyer received use of Penn Lake, while shared beaches and recreation areas were set aside for the wider lake community.

The lake remains the borough's organizing feature. Penn Lake Park formed as a borough in 1976 from parts of Dennison and Bear Creek townships, after a major dam repair pushed residents toward a more formal municipal structure. The borough includes part of the Mountain Top census-designated place and sits within the Crestwood School District. Homes and seasonal properties ring the water, with roads threading through forest toward the larger Wilkes-Barre area. The 2020 census counted 359 residents. Penn Lake Park is a small municipality whose history runs from an ice business to a planned lake settlement, with the dam, shared shoreline, and wooded lots still setting the terms of local life.