The (Not so) Rural Pennsylvanian

  • Getting Away from It All in Tunkhanock

    Tunkhannock is the county seat of Wyoming County, 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Wilkes-Barre. In the past, lumbering was carried on extensively in the area and served as the economic base. Today, many residents are employed by the Procter & Gamble plant in nearby Washington Township. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 1,766.

    The name Tunkhannock is derived from the Minsi-Len’api term Ptuk’hanna’unk, which means “Bend-in-river-place”, which is to the town’s west, upstream at the radical bend called “The Neck” on the Susquehanna River. The historic district was added the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

    The town has some lovely Victorian style houses.
    The rhododendron were in full bloom.
    The Wyoming County Courthouse.
    I love these small town movie theaters.
    Some store fronts along Route 6.

    Nearby Miller Mountain was recently reacquired by the state after being in the hands of a ski area developer for quite a few years. It is one of the more recognizable peaks in the Endless Mountains region. It is a “stand alone” peak, which is separated from the remainder of the Allegheny Plateau. In 2023, Miller Mountain was purchased by the state, and added to the Pinchot State Forest.

    The Susquehanna River flows past the mountain where the slopes rise to over 1,600 feet (490 m) above the riverbanks and the town of Tunkhannock. It is believed to be the last undeveloped mountain of its size in the Commonwealth that had been privately owned.

    A nearby boat launch along the Susquehanna.

  • Wild Vosburg Neck and Around

    Vosburg Neck State Park has some lovely natural areas, in addition to the park facilities. Below are some more scenes from my visit. The birding was also very good here, and I had over 50 species during my trip here.

    This flock of Turkeys was an unexpected surprise.
    Spring wild flowers.
    Finally, some farms along Vosburg Road.

  • Vosburg Neck – The Most Compelling New State Park

    Vosburg Neck State Park lies five miles west of Tunkhannock in Wyoming County. The park’s 669 acres feature historic buildings from the 1700 and 1800s, a canal bed and rail bed,, and a 1700s-era cemetery. Recreational activities include eight miles of trails, non-motorized boating access, and picnic areas.

    The park is one of Pennsylvania’s three new state parks, and the most developed to date. The park was formerly the Howland Preserve. It is located in an oxbow on the north branch of the Susquehanna River known as the Vosburg Neck and features a diverse range of habitat.

    The park office.
    The Riverside Barn seemed to have been in use for a private function before I arrived.
    Private residences dot the area. I also lust after one of these trailers
    The boat launch.
    A lovely private home.
    The cemetery.

  • That’s a Lot of Concrete (and a bonus park)

    Looming over the town of Nicholson, Pennsylvania is the Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct, a railroad bridge completed in 1915. It is a concrete deck arch bridge on the Nicholson Cutoff rail segment of the Norfolk Southern Railway Sunbury Line that spans Tunkhannock Creek. Measuring 2,375 feet (724 m) long and 240 feet (73.15 m) tall when measured from the creek bed (300 feet (91.44 m) from bedrock), it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and still merited “the title of largest concrete bridge in America, if not the world” 50 years later. Built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the bridge is owned today by Norfolk Southern Railway and is still used daily for regular through freight service. Apparently almost half of the bulk of this behemoth is underground, in the form of bridge pillars up to 138 feet (142 m) below ground.

    The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1977. In 1975, the American Society of Civil Engineers or ASCE designated the bridge as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. ASCE recognized the bridge as “not only a great feat of construction skill” but also a “bold and successful departure from contemporary, conventional concepts of railroad location in that it carried a mainline transversely to the regional drainage pattern, effectively reducing the distance and grade impediments…”

    The bridge towers over the town of Nicholson.
    A view further upstream.
    The cows don’t seem to notice the vast structure.

    I also swung by Lackawanna State Park on my way back from the bridge. The 1,445-acre park is ten miles north of Scranton. The focus is the 198-acre Lackawanna Lake, which is surrounded by picnic areas and multi-use trails winding through forest. Boating, camping, fishing, mountain biking, and swimming are popular recreation activities here.

    I’ve always wanted a canoe mooring on a lake.
    At least these geese don’t mind the weather.
    Another rainy late spring day ….
    Great spot for a picnic and a boat trip.

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