Luzerne

Formed September 25, 1786 (17^th county)

Luzerne County (325,613), Wilkes-Barre (44,322)

The domed Beaux Arts masonry courthouse was erected in 1906.  It replaced an 1856 facility.  The current courthouse is at the corner of River and North streets.  United States Highway 11 is one mile northwest of the building.  Frederick J. Osterling provided the designs.  The building was restored in 1967, 1985 and 2011.  A Family Courthouse was added in 1988.  The county was established on September 25, 1786 from Northumberland County as the 17^th county with Wilkes-Barre as the only county seat.  The county is named for French Minister Chevalier de la Luzerne.  Wilkes-Barre is named for British Legislators John Wilkes and Isaac Barre.  Luzerne County is the birthplace of 3 Pennsylvania governors, Henry M. Hoyt, Sr., Arthur H. James, and John S. Fine. 

Luzerne County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Eleven Common Pleas Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrate Court Judges serve Luzerne County.  The county is in the northeast part of the state.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is southeast and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is southwest of the county.  The Susquehanna River flows through the county.  The county center is 13.1 miles Southwest of Wilkes-Barre in Nuangola.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Wyoming, Lackawanna, Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill, Columbia, and Sullivan counties. 

The area of the county is 907 square miles.  It is 14 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 12 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 359.0 persons per square mile making it 17 out of 67 in the state.  Luzerne County has 58.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 travels through the county east to west from Carbon County to Columbia County.  Interstate Highway 81 goes north to south from Lackawanna County to Schuylkill County.  Interstate Highway 476 originates and heads south into Carbon County.  United States Highway 11 comes from Lackawanna County, northeast, and goes to Columbia County, west.  The county’s overall shape looks like a mushroom.  Wilkes-Barre is located in the northeast quarter of the county.  Wilkes-Barre is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 13.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced LOO-ZERN.  The county seat is pronounced WILKS BARE.  This county is in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Yatesville