Editing Blakely, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
Blakely Township was formed in 1818 from portions of old Providence Township and recently formed [[Greenfield Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania|Greenfield Township]], and named after [[War of 1812]] naval hero [[Johnston Blakely]], who captained the sloop ''[[USS Wasp (1814)|Wasp]]'' in battle against the British {{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop}} [[HMS Avon (1805)|Avon]] in 1814.<ref name=Murphy1928>[https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~alaine/resources/lackawanna/blakely.html "Blakely Borough"]. History of Lackawanna County. Editor: Thomas Murphy. Published 1928. Accessed 30 September 2024.</ref> As the first borough established from a portion of old Blakely Township, the Borough of Blakely as created on 27 August 1867 is also named after Capt. Johnston Blakely,<ref name=Murphy1928 /> one of the most successful naval officers of his era. The "Johnston Blakeley Memorial" in Blakely is a large anchor from the aircraft carrier {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}}, decommissioned in the 1960s.

In the 1970s, Blakely was home to Masterpiece Inc., the seventh largest manufacturer of artificial Christmas trees.<ref>{{cite web | title = Merger Case Digest | publisher = American Bar Association | date = 1982 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5Y5d6uJbw-wC&pg=PP1}}</ref>