Ghost Town : Concrete City

     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 20^th 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 2^nd 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.