Voting Station

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Location

The Resume

    (1769- )
    Incorporated as a borough in 1806 and as a city in 1871
    Seat of Luzerne County
    Population (2015 estimate): 41,498
    Part of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazelton Metropolitan Area (2010 population: 563,631)
    Named after British politicians John Wilkes and Isaac Barre

Why Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania might be annoying:

    Its first settlers came from Connecticut, since King Charles II had written conflicting royal charters granting the land in what is now northeastern Pennsylvania to both Connecticut and William Penn.
    Armed bands of Pennsylvanians tried to force out the original settlers in a series of conflicts known as the Pennamite-Yankee War (1769-99).
    It went into an economic decline as demand for coal dropped, which was accelerated by the Knox Mine disaster that flooded most of the local mines (January 22, 1959).
    Its population is less than half of its mid-1930s peak.
    Hurricane Agnes caused the Susquehanna River to overflow the city levees, flooding the downtown with nine feet of water (June 20-21, 1972).
    Celebrations for its bicentennial, originally scheduled for June 28, 2006, had to be postponed when heavy rains prompted a mass evacuation due to the threat of flooding.

Why Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania might not be annoying:

    The Pennamite-Yankee War was resolved with the settlers keeping their lands while pledging their allegiance to Pennsylvania.
    It was the birthplace of the Planters Peanut Company (1906).
    During an exhibition game at Artillery Park, Babe Ruth hit a homer that reportedly traveled 650 feet, possibly the longest home run in baseball history (October 12, 1926).
    It was the first city to receive HBO (1972).
    It improved its levee system, so the city avoided flooding when heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Katia and Tropical Storm Lee resulted in the Susquehanna cresting two feet higher than it had after Hurricane Agnes (September 6-8, 2011).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying