Scranton

Scranton (pop. 88,117), city in northeastern Pennsylvania, situated on the Lackawanna River near the Pocono Mountains. Permanent settlements date to the 1780s. It is located near large coal deposits, which helped make it a center for the iron industry; George W. Scranton, for whom it was named, established an iron works there in 1840. As coal mining declined in the 1950s, the city went into an economic decline, and has worked to attract textile and other industries. Scranton's educational institutions include Mary wood College and the Univ. of Scranton, and it shares with the neighboring city of Wilkes-Barre the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic orchestra.

See also: Pennsylvania.