The first white settlers utilized the region's thick forests for logging. They erected several sawmills in the area.
Dorrance Township was officially formed in 1840, when it broke away from Newport Township. By 1860, over five hundred people lived within the township. In 1865, the community had several sawmills, gristmills, and at least one tavern.
On April 12, 1851, Wright Township was formed from a segment of Hanover Township. The new township was named after the Hon. Hendrick B. Wright of Wilkes-Barre.
Passages that mention Mountain Top, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 115Read the page →
Read the text
Mountain Top is to all intents a railroad center. The incline coal road from the Wyoming Valley to the mountain top has its terminus at Mountain Top. Also, for many years, the two main lines, Lehigh and Jersey Central, have been forced by natural conditions to make their stations — Fairview and Penobscot — at Mountain Top to all intents terminal points, for, in ascending the steep gradient from the valley, all trains have to have extra power. These extra engines are uncoupled at the Top, and the journey continued under normal power. The village of Mountain Top accounts for about four-fifths of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893 · page 557Read the page →
Read the text
called Fairview. For miles and miles the flat mountain top is spread Ijefore yon and in the blue distance the hazy hills again rise above the wide depression. The two main lines of railroad parallel each other all the way from Maueh Chunk, going north to Mountain Top — Fairview — the head of the " planes," where the coal is hauled up the mountain by stationarj' power, and then the long trains descend toward the south. These coal roads up the mountain sides, ending at the top of the mountain at Fairview, and the converging of the two lines of the railroads in their long respective ox-bows, make of this quite a noted point. By either road in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
