Editing Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (section)

===19th century===
{{See also|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Birds eye view of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (2675064226).jpg|thumb|An 1872 panoramic map of Wilkes-Barre]]
[[File:HotelSterlingWilkesBarre.jpg|thumb|The [[Hotel Sterling]], built in 1897]]
Wilkes-Barre's population skyrocketed due to the discovery of [[anthracite|anthracite coal]] in the 19th century. In 1808, Judge [[Jesse Fell]] of Wilkes-Barre discovered a solution to ignite anthracite with the usage of an iron grate; it allowed for the coal to light and burn more easily. This invention increased the popularity of anthracite as a fuel source. This led to the expansion of the coal industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania; Wilkes-Barre was nicknamed "The Diamond City" due to its high [[productivity]] of mining coal. The growing demand for coal as a domestic heat source resulted in changes to patterns of immigration to Wilkes-Barre in the 19th century. The [[American Guide Series|Pennsylvania guide]], compiled by the Writers' Program of the [[Works Progress Administration]] in 1940, noted that:<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State|last=Federal Writers' Project|date=1940|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=1st|page=336|location=New York}}</ref>{{Blockquote
|text=Until 1870 all immigration was from the north of Europe, with the Irish predominating. Then mine operators sent representatives to central and southern Europe to induce peasants to come to the American coal fields. Many of the older workers consequently were supplanted by newcomers willing to work for low wages, and bitter conflicts followed. The cleavage along national lines, however, gave to Wilkes-Barre such picturesque sections as Five Points, now East End, where a crowd of miners used to gather nightly on the steps of Mackin Brothers' Store, a scene described by Con Carbon in a popular ballad of the 1890s:<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">
And once thy peaceful tide
The Far Downs and [[Connacht|Connaught]] men
Fight, and then make up again,
Dutch and Scotch and English men—
All like chickens in a pen.
The powder smoke does be so thick,
You could not cut it with a pick,
The smell of gas would make you sick
In front of Mackin's store.</poem>
|author=Federal Writers'Project|title="Part II: Cities and Towns"  |source=''Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State'' (1940)
}}

Throughout the 1800s, [[canals]] and [[railroads]] were constructed to aid in the mining and transportation of coal. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants flocked to the city; they were seeking jobs in the numerous mines and collieries that sprang up throughout the [[Coal Region|region]]. In 1806, Wilkes-Barre Borough was formed from a segment of Wilkes-Barre Township; it was later incorporated as a city in 1871. This was the direct result of the population boom. At its peak, Wilkes-Barre had a population of over 86,000 in the 1930s and 40s.

New industries were established and the [[Vulcan Iron Works (Wilkes-Barre)|Vulcan Iron Works]] was a well-known manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1849 to 1954. During Wilkes-Barre's reign as an industrial and economic force in America, several major companies and franchises became based in the city, such as [[F.W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth]]'s, Sterling Hotels, Miner's Bank, [[Bell Telephone Company|Bell Telephone]], Luzerne National Bank, and [[Lion Brewery, Inc.|Stegmaier]].<ref>Pennsylvania Historical Society</ref>

Even though the overall economy was doing very well, the city was still prone to natural disasters. Besides frequent flooding from the Susquehanna River, Wilkes-Barre also endured a devastating [[Fujita scale|F3]] [[tornado]] on [[1890 Wilkes-Barre tornado|August 19, 1890]]. The twister killed 16 people, injured 50, damaged or destroyed 260 buildings, and cost at least $240,000 (in 1890 money).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.weather.gov/bgm/august191890wilkesbarretornado|title=August 19, 1890 Wilkes Barre Tornado|first=NOAA|last=US Department of Commerce|website=www.weather.gov}}</ref>