Wilkes-Barre, founded in 1769, is a city of changes: environmental changes brought on by the Susquehanna River and industrial changes that transformed a quiet farming community into a busy breaker town. When anthracite coal was discovered in the 1800s and massive coal breakers were built, immigrants from eastern, western, and southern Europe began to arrive. As these immigrants arrived, they changed the face of the city, creating their own communities and hamlets. Fortunately for the citizens of the Wyoming Valley, changes continue today, thanks to many forward-thinking men and women who see the potential in something old and take the time to make it new again.

Wilkes-Barre PA is a dying city. It is time to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and begin our return to glory. In the middle of the last century, Wilkes-Barre’s population was approaching 90,000. Today it is 43,000. This did not happen overnight. Over the years, many of the city’s kind benefactors, such as the Kirby family, helped keep the city vibrant. Whenever it needed a boost, they were there to rejuvenate. Having had half the population move out of town, Wilkes-Barre no longer could count on a local family to be there at the right time with the right answer. Wilkes-Barre saw its population declining with the mines no longer sustaining the City. We noticed stores, even the best of the best shutting down or moving out from necessity. We all noticed that other businesses that once provided hundreds of jobs not being able to continue. Mark Twain once said that “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Wilkes-Barre officials and residents over the years have heard the death knell for the City and instead of contesting it fiercely, allowed it to happen. Like Twain, our demise has been greatly exaggerated. Those times are in the past. Wilkes-Barre can and must find its way out of the mire and return to glory. May good leadership help Wilkes-Barre find a way to reclaim its future. Those who grew up in this City, as well as those who love our Diamond City, will enjoy this book. Few books are a must-read but Brian Kelly’s Wilkes-Barre, PA: Return to Glory! will melt your heart as your author recounts some great stories from the past and points out how to stop the decline and move this city back to Glory. This book needs to be at the top of your reading list, especially for those who have lived or now live in Wilkes-Barre.

compiled by workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the state of Pennsylvania ... Co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission and the University of Pennsylvania.