Wilkes-Barre, city, seat of Luzerne County, northeastern Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, in the Wyoming Valley; incorporated as a city 1871. Once a great anthracite-mining center (early 19th century to the 1940s), it now has diversified industries; manufactures clothing, include textiles, rubber and plastic products, fabricated metals, aircraft parts, and processed food. It is also a transportation, financial, and retail center and a gateway to the Pocono Mountains resort area. Wilkes University (1933), King's College (1946), a junior college, and Wyoming Seminary (1843; a private preparatory school) are here, and the city supports an orchestra and a ballet company.
The community, settled in 1769 by immigrants from Connecticut, is named for the 18th-century British politicians John Wilkes and Isaac Barré, who defended the American colonies in Parliament. It twice was burned—in 1778, during the American Revolution, by a force of British and Native Americans, and in 1784, during the Second Pennamite-Yankee War (a conflict over land claims between Pennsylvania and Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley). The city was badly damaged by the flooding of the Susquehanna in 1972. Population 51,551 (1980); 47,523 (1990); 43,123 (2000).Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Wilkes-Barre Information info
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