Wilkes-Barre, PA

Wilkes-Barre is a northeastern Pennsylvania city on the Susquehanna River, surrounded by the Wyoming Valley and near the Pocono Mountains. Its Revolutionary War history includes Fort Wyoming, built when the Continental Army reoccupied the valley. Later, coal, railroads, flooding, and deindustrialization shaped the city just as strongly. Wilkes-Barre still serves as a regional hub, with neighborhoods, colleges, hospitals, downtown blocks, and municipal amenities such as Hollenback Golf Course giving it more texture than its battered reputation suggests.