Luzerne

Luzerne, county, east-central Pennsylvania, U.S., bounded by the Lehigh River to the southeast. It mainly consists of ridge-and-valley topography drained by the Susquehanna River, which bisects the county northeast-southwest. Some other waterways are Harveys and Crystal lakes and Huntsville and Pikes Creek reservoirs. Recreational areas include Frances Slocum, Ricketts Glen, and Lehigh Gorge state parks. Rising within the county are North, Huntington, Penobscot, Nescopeck, and Buck mountains.

The Wyoming Valley was the scene of the Pennamite-Yankee Wars (1769–84), a protracted struggle for land between colonists from Pennsylvania and Connecticut. During the American Revolution British and Indian forces slaughtered 360 settlers gathered at Forty Fort in the Wyoming Massacre (July 3, 1778). Located near Hazleton, the Eckley Miners’ Village is a restored company mining town.

The county was formed in 1786 and named for Anne César, chevalier de la Luzerne, who was the French minister to the United States during the American Revolution. Wilkes-Barre, the county seat, is part of a metropolitan statistical area with Scranton that includes such cities as Nanticoke and Pittston. The principal boroughs are Kingston, Plymouth, Forty Fort, Edwardsville, Swoyersville, and Duryea. The economy is based on tourism, health care and business services, manufacturing (textiles, food, glass, and plastic products), and anthracite coal mining. Area 891 square miles (2,308 square km). Pop. (2000) 319,250; (2010) 320,918.