A widely-known fact about the City of Wilkes-Barre is that its named after John Wilkes and Isaac Barre, members of the British Parliament who supported the American colonies during the American Revolution.
But did you know another Luzerne County city is named after another British politician who served two years as Prime Minister?
The City of Pittston, which has and continues to undergo a renaissance of economic rebirth, is named after Sir William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham, a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768.
Take a look at the Pittston City seal and you will notice a coal miner holding a miner’s bar, a Native American grasping a bow, a shield containing the symbol of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the center, pick axes, a coal breaker, a blockhouse cabin and two tepees. At the top of the city seal is William Pitt with his family’s coat of arms — an anchor and a pelican.
William Pitt also shares another Pennsylvania municipality with his namesake in Pittsburgh.
Prior to the American Revolution, settlements along the Susquehanna River in the 1760s were considered part of the western frontier and often consisted of conflicts with Native Americans, part of the French and Indian War. Pitt was the first to convince England to commit resources to repel the French that eventually incorporated English control over the 13 Colonies.
Did you also know Pittston was called Pittstown?
“1770 — About this period Pittstown was named after the great English statesman, William Pitt, American’s true and faithful friend,” reads the Centennial Chronology of the County of Luzerne written by W.W. Whyte and published in 1886.
The pamphlet states the first house built in Pittstown was a log building erected by Zebulon Marcy in 1770.
“Proposals will be received by the commissioners of Luzerne County for building a bridge over the (sic) Lackawana River, near Wright & Smith’s Forge in Pittstown,” reported The Gleaner newspaper on Jan. 19, 1801. The Gleaner was a weekly and one of the first newspapers in the region.
When the Pittston area was considered a frontier, it was part of Pittstown Township, one of the five original townships formed by Connecticut settlers with the Susquehanna Land Company in 1768.
Pittstown Township measured approximately 40 square miles, and most of the inhabitants residing near water, the Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers, in a village that became known as Pittston Ferry. It was called Pittston Ferry because, at the time, there were no bridges, and people crossed the rivers by ferry boat.
With the large population living in Pittston Ferry village, residents petitioned Luzerne County to incorporate Pittston Borough and broke away from Pittstown Township in April 1853.
A few businessmen formed the Pittston Ferry Bridge Company and, with financial assistance from Luzerne County, constructed the first toll bridge linking Pittston Ferry and West Pittston in 1852. The first bridge was replaced in the early 1870s by an iron bow truss bridge, which was condemned and replaced by the current Fort Jenkins Bridge in 1925.
Pittston became a city on Dec. 10, 1894.