Scranton

Scranton
City
City of Scranton
From top, left to right: Scranton Electric Building, St. Peter's Cathedral, Downtown Scranton, Scranton City Hall, and Courthouse Square.
Motto: Embracing Our People, Our Traditions and Our Future
Location in Lackawanna County
Scranton Location in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 41°24′38″N 75°40′03″W / 41.41056°N 75.66750°W / 41.41056; -75.66750Coordinates: 41°24′38″N 75°40′03″W / 41.41056°N 75.66750°W / 41.41056; -75.66750
Country	United States of America
State	Pennsylvania
County	Lackawanna
Region	Greater Scranton
Incorporated (borough)	February 14, 1856
Incorporated (city)	April 23, 1866
Government
• Mayor	William Courtright (D)
Area
• City	25.44 sq mi (65.89 km2)
• Land	25.23 sq mi (65.33 km2)
• Water	0.21 sq mi (0.55 km2)
• Metro	1,777 sq mi (4,602 km2)
Elevation	745 ft (227 m)
Population (2013)
• City	77,118 (US:439th)
• Density	3,006/sq mi (1,161/km2)
• Urban	381,502 (US:99th)
• Metro	562,037 (US:95th)
Demonym(s)	Scrantonian
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
ZIP Codes	18447, 18501-18505, 18507-18510, 18512, 18514-18515, 18517-18519, 18522, 18540, 18577
Area code(s)	570/272
Primary Airport	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport- AVP (Major/International)
Secondary Airport	Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport- WBW (Minor)
Website	www.scrantonpa.gov

External audio

Scranton, A City That's Seen Many Come and Go, 24:01, Grapple, Keystone Crossroads

Scranton is the sixth-largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley and hosts a federal court building. With a population of 77,118, it is the largest city in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of about 570,000.

Scranton is the geographic and cultural center of the Lackawanna River valley, and the largest of the former anthracite coal mining communities in a contiguous quilt-work that also includes Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Carbondale. Scranton was incorporated on February 14, 1856, as a borough in Luzerne County and as a city on April 23, 1866. It became a major industrial city, a center of mining and railroads, and attracted thousands of new immigrants. It was the site of the Scranton General Strike in 1877.

People in northern Luzerne County began to seek a new county in 1839 but the Wilkes-Barre area resisted losing its assets. Lackawanna County did not gain independent status until 1878. Under legislation allowing the issue to be voted by residents of the proposed territory, voters favored the new county by a proportion of 6 to 1, with Scranton residents providing the major support. The city was designated as the county seat when Lackawanna County was established in 1878, and a judicial district was authorized for it in 1879.