A little drive south-west from
Wilkes-Barre PA is the town of Nanticoke. South from there is a novel
display of the coal industries innovation and grandeur in the early
20th centery. The Delaware, Lackwanna, and Western Railroad
(DL&W) built a whole town out of concrete to house the coal
miners of the near by colliery. At that time nearly 34% of people
lived in some sort of housing owned by the companies they were
employed at. Company housing was usually very basic and almost
primitive. However, the DL&W had a plan to build modest housing
for the minors but keep the building expenses low. This plan
In 1911, ground was broke to start
construction of 20 double homes made of concrete. The homes were
arranged in a rectangular way with a central park. Each residence
accommodated 2 families with 7 rooms and 4 bedrooms on the 2nd
floor. An outhouse and coal bin were placed outside each home. Total
cost for the building was approximately $2500 and cost the families
$8.00 to rent each month. Once completed the housing development was
called “The Garden City of the Anthracite Region”. Homes
constantly though the years won garden shows and all was well for
the first few years.
Concrete City started its decline
about 2 years after building. The homes had an ongoing issue with
condensation inside and out. Inside the plastered walls would leak
and need repaired every other year. Outside the paint would need
scrapped and repainted every few years. A few more years later the
central swimming pool in the park was filled in due to a boy
drowning. The Concrete buildings continued to be rented for 11 years.
In 1924 township laws required that the Concrete City install a sewer
system at the cost of $200,000. The DL&W could not justify the
cost and demolishing was scheduled. Over 100 sticks of dynamite were
used to level the city. However, the Concrete was well reinforced and
barely scratched the buildings.
Over the years after the failed
demolishing, the concrete city was used by the Luzerne Co. Fire
company to do test fires and training exercises. The filled in
swimming pool was used to burn off chemicals in a controlled fashion.
In 1992, the historical area was bought and saved and registered as a
historical landmark. The bombed out, burned, and vandalized buildings
still remain a shell of the dreams of the coal industry era. No new
plans have been made to restore its once award winning gardens. Mother
nature continues to slowly take back its land. If you visit the city,
use caution.
The buildings still stand but are
dangerous to enter. My trip a few years ago was well worth it. It
was amazing to see the concrete giants still standing after all they
had been through. When we arrived local paintball players were having
a skirmish. We explored the buildings and found they had a basement,
and 2 floors. Many of the buildings had holes from the dynamite, a
few still had charred marks from the controlled fires. All the
buildings were marked with graffiti. The central swimming pool was
grown in with vegetation and junk.
To get to the remains of Concrete
City, take Middle Rd which runs south of Nanticoke. Make a left onto
Epsy Street then another left onto Front Street. A few yards ahead
will be a Historical Marker and a Path leading back to the abandon
town. Here are the GPS coordinates 41°11'20.68"N ,
75°58'34.34"W.