Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal mining city, drawing a large portion of its labor force from European immigrants. The population was 7,591 as of the 2020 census, making it Luzerne County's fourth-largest city.
At its peak in 1920, the population of Pittston was 18,497. The city consists of three sections: Downtown Pittston in the city's center, the Oregon Section in the city's southern end, and the Junction in the city's northern end. Pittston City is at the heart of the Greater Pittston region, a 65.35 square mile region in Luzerne County. Greater Pittston has a total population of 48,020 as of 2010.
Pittston is north of Allentown and northwest of New York City.
Geography
Pittston lies in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River and on the south side of the Lackawanna River. It is approximately midway between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Named after the British statesman William Pitt the Elder, the city was settled around 1770 by the Susquehanna Company of Connecticut. It was originally called "Pittstown."
History
American Revolutionary War
During the Revolutionary War, the Wyoming Valley became a battleground between the British and the Americans. On July 3, 1778, a force of British provincial soldiers, with the assistance of about 500 Iroquois, attacked and killed about 300 Patriot soldiers at the Battle of Wyoming.
A company of militia, led by Captain Jeremiah Blanchard and Lieutenant Timothy Keyes, held and maintained a military fort in Pittston, which was surrendered on July 4, 1778, one day after the Battle of Wyoming, and was later partially burned. In 1780, Pittston Fort was reoccupied, restored and strengthened. From then on it was under patriot control until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which largely brought the war to an end. A marker stands at the site where the fort once stood.
Establishment
In 1853, Pittston broke away from Pittston Township and officially became a borough. John Hosie served as the first burgess of the borough. It was later chartered as a city on December 10, 1894. Thomas J. Maloney served as the city's first mayor from 1894 to 1898. Throughout the late 1890s, Pittston's borders extended from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, but due to financial and civil differences, the community was later divided into several townships and boroughs throughout the Greater Pittston.
Coal mining
Pittston is located within Pennsylvania's Coal Region. The first discovery of the anthracite coal (in the Wyoming Valley) occurred around 1770. The first mine was established in 1775 near Pittston. With the opening of a canal in the 1830s, Pittston became an important link in the coal industry. Money made through the mining and transportation of coal led some of the leading merchants to petition its separation from Pittston Township. The anthracite and railroad industry attracted thousands of immigrants, making Pittston a true melting pot with once-distinct ethnic and class neighborhoods. The population of Pittston boomed in the late 19th century. The boom continued well into the 20th century.
The anthracite coal mining industry, and its extensive use of child labor in the early part of the 20th century, was one of the industries targeted by the National Child Labor Committee and its hired photographer, Lewis Hine. Many of Hine's subjects were photographed in the mines and coal fields in and around Pittston between 1908 and 1912. The impact of the Hine photographs led to the enactment of child labor laws across the country.
Mining disasters
Coal mining remained the prominent industry in Pittston for many decades, but disasters did strike on more than one occasion. The first major tragedy, the Twin Shaft disaster, occurred at the Newton Coal Company near the city's railroad junction. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1896, 90 miners were at work in the Red Ash Vein of the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston when, at 3:00 am, the roof quickly collapsed. The concussion from the explosion was so great that it was heard for miles around. The foundation of nearly every building in Pittston was shaken. The cave-in killed 58 miners, including the city's then-acting mayor.