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1894 Map of Wilkesbarre

Name: 1894 Topographic Map of Wilkesbarre
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1894
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1894

About this map

Wilkesbarre and its surrounding coal-mining communities dominate the northern edge of this Pennsylvania landscape, where the Susquehanna River bends sharply through the valley. The map reveals a dense network of late 19th-century industrial infrastructure, including the L. & S. R. R. and the Lehigh Valley R. R., which navigated the steep ridges of Wyoming Mountain and Penobscot Mountain. Smaller settlements like Moffatt Patch, Askam, and Sugar Notch illustrate the dispersed nature of worker housing near the collieries.

In the southern portion, the geography shifts toward the high plateaus and wetlands surrounding White Haven and Upper Lehigh. Water bodies like Crystal Lake and Triangular Pond drain through a complex system of creeks including Wapwallopen Creek and Bear Creek. The presence of several railroad junctions, such as Pond Creek Junction and Bear Creek Junction, underscores the importance of this region as a transit corridor for timber and anthracite during the 1890s.