Penrose County: The County That Wasn't

Sixty-seven counties comprise the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and that number has remained constant since August 13, 1878, when Lackawanna County gained its "independence" from Luzerne County. However, in 1915, a vote by state legislature ended a passionate 25-year crusade to create Pennsylvania's sixty-eighth county. This is the little-known story of Penrose County-- the county that never came to be.

In 1889, Hazleton was one of the fastest-growing cities in the state; census figures show that the city's population increased by over seventy percent between 1880 and 1890, due predominantly to the thriving coal-mining industry. However, thanks to its mountainous terrain (at 1,689 feet above sea level, Hazleton is the highest city in the state) this rugged region of Luzerne County lagged behind when it came to highway and rail construction. This made transportation cumbersome, especially to those who needed to travel to the county seat of Wilkes-Barre, which, at the time, was a fifty mile journey on poorly-paved rural roads. It required travelers to cross three mountain ridges on unpaved wagon trails. It was around this time some Hazleton residents and businessmen began arguing for the necessity of a new county, with Hazleton as its seat.

Rural residents of neighboring Schuylkill County also faced the same dilemma, with many having to travel forty-seven miles to the county seat of Pottsville. The proposed new county, therefore, would be carved from parts of Luzerne, Carbon and Schuylkill counties (Carbon County commissioners later withdrew their support). The addition of a few townships from northern Schuylkill County would certainly improve the chances of success, however, since state law mandated that a county had to encompass an area no less than 400 square miles.

The Hazleton Plain Speaker regularly published articles citing the need for a new county. In 1894 they wrote about Adam Zeigler, a plaintiff in a criminal case who was forced to make four trips to Wilkes-Barre to testify in court. These trips totaled 300 miles and forced him to miss nearly a month of work. And Zeigler was just one of many Hazletonians who had found themselves in the same boat.

Sen. Matthew Quay

The County of Quay


As for the name of this new county, several suggestions were offered in tribute to local icons, with a strong preference shown toward Ario Pardee (the coal baron who is considered the founding father of Hazleton). Quay County was the name eventually selected by those who supported the movement, in tribute to the proposal's biggest supporter, Senator Matthew Quay, who had also been championing legislation to create a new county in western Pennsylvania, which was to be called either Monongahela or Charleroi (depending on which city was selected for county seat).

Quay, however, was a highly-influential political boss (President Harrison had once referred to him as a "kingmaker"). As chairman of Republican National Committee, he possessed the ability to influence elections across the country, and so it was no surprise that Democratic newspapers, such as the Times Leader and Record of Wilkes-Barre, were staunchly opposed to concept, which they viewed as gerrymandering. Democrat opponents argued that a new county was wholly unnecessary, and that the scheme was nothing more than a political power grab by Republicans.

A bill proposing the creation of Quay County was defeated in the House on May 1, 1895. Much of the credit for the bill's defeat was attributed to Isaac Long, who, as president of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade, opposed the idea. Long rounded up a trainload of like-minded citizens from Wilkes-Barre and went to Harrisburg to protest the passage of the bill. "This is a victory for the people of Luzerne County," wrote the Record. "It is a deathblow to the scheme concocted by a few politicians for their personal gain. This paper opposed the new county because it was not proven that the interests of the people demanded the dismemberment of old Luzerne. Quay County is dead. Bury it before the weather gets any warmer."

Hazleton residents may have had to continue traveling fifty miles over three mountain ridges to get to the courthouse, but they never lost hope. In June the bill was brought before the House once again. This time it passed, thanks to the efforts of Boies Penrose, the influential Republican senator from Philadelphia (Penrose, incidentally, took over the role of party chairman after Quay's death in 1904). Immediately after the vote was announced, prominent Democrats telephoned Governor Hastings and demanded a meeting, arguing that the bill was unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the city of Hazleton was throwing a celebration. Flags, bunting and banners were displayed throughout the city, and the Hazleton Standard-Speaker reported that businesses closed their doors early. "The population turned out en masse and presented a spectacle, which for numbers, enthusiasm and hilarity, has not yet been surpassed by any Fourth of July demonstration in this city," the paper stated.

Unfortunately, the celebration ended before Independence Day. Governor Hastings vetoed the bill on July 3, 1895.

As to why a Republican governor would kill a bill sponsored by Republican lawmakers, this turned out to be a matter of political ambition. Hastings had his sights set on being chairman of the upcoming Republican State Convention, but Senator Quay was likely to be elected the next chairman of the Republican State Committee-- a position held by Hastings' close personal friend, Colonel Gilkeson. By vetoing the bill, Hastings was able to earn the support of Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in the state convention.



1898-1907: The Push for Hazle County


In 1898, the citizens of Hazleton made another push for the creation of a new county, but this time it was the Pottsville Board of Trade which led the opposition, promising that board members would work vigorously to defeat any political candidate who supported the scheme. Hazleton retaliated by saying that it would oppose candidates of any political party who did not sign a pledge promising to work toward the establishment of Hazle County.

This time it was political in-fighting rather than the pen of a governor that killed the proposal. By 1900, many Republicans in the lower portion of Luzerne County had fallen out of love with Senator Quay. As a result, voters and local elected officials were split between their support for Quay and their support for Hazle County. The movement lost steam, and it wasn't until 1903, when the State Committee on Counties and Townships agreed to hear the argument of the Hazletonians, that the scheme was resurrected. Legislation proposing the new county didn't get introduced in Harrisburg again until April 16, 1907, when the bill was struck down by the House of Representatives.



1914-1915: The Last Great Fight of the New County Movement


Hazletonians never fully abandoned their hopes of seeing their dream come to fruition. As the city's population continued to grow, the need for a new county became more evident (at least in the eyes of those who supported the movement). The city experienced significant growth between 1900 and 1920, doubling its population from 14,230 residents to 32,277.

It was on November 16, 1914, when the name Penrose was suggested for the new county by the editor of the Valley Vigilant, a tiny publication serving the historic Conyngham Valley community of St. Johns. "Quay County was defeated; Hazle County got its bumps; what's the matter with trying a Penrose County? Here is a suggestion for the Hazleton Board of Trade to think about," the editor wrote.

Boies Penrose, now a U.S. senator, lent his support to the movement. As a state senator he had championed the formation of Quay County, and was tapped by the citizens of lower Luzerne County to drum up support for the plan. And while previous "new county schemes" had been snickered at by lawmakers in Pottsville and Wilkes-Barre, this time opponents had good reason to take the movement seriously. By 1914, Penrose had become an even more powerful "kingmaker" than Quay. He sat on several important committees, such as the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Banking, as well as the education, labor and immigration committees. In 1914 he easily won re-election to the U.S. Senate, soundly thrashing popular future governor Gifford Pinchot by 22 percentage points. It wasn't just a victory, it was a rout.

Boies Penrose, namesake of the proposed new county

When state senator Sterling Ross Catlin of Wilkes-Barre (who was then serving as chairman of the State Senate Committee on Counties and Townships) heard about Sen. Penrose's endorsement of Rep. William Adams' new county bill, he was livid. He sent an angry letter to Penrose warning him to keep his nose out of Luzerne County business. In a public statement, Catlin said:

"There is no valid reason for the creation of this county, and the people of Luzerne and Schuylkill are already up in arms over the suggestion. Senator Penrose is a good man and a great statesman, but he had better attend to his own business and let our people attend to their own. We do not want a Penrose County, or any other county, and if Senator Penrose tries to force this new county on us, we will resent it. Let Senator Penrose carve a county out of Philadelphia if he wants to. We do not want any Penrose County in the coal regions, and when I see the senator, I am going to tell him to drop this nonsense."

In spite of Penrose's support, the bill died in committee on Feb. 16, 1915, by a 7-4 vote. This was a crushing blow to Rep. Adams, the author of the bill, who had been certain that it would receive a full House vote, as was the case with previous new county proposals. Adams pinned the blame squarely on the chest of Catlin, who was a legitimate Harrisburg power broker in his own right. Catlin, a Democrat, had enjoyed such popularity with coal miners and businessmen alike that, on more than one previous occasion, he had earned the nomination of both Democrat and Republican parties (in fact, in one election, he ran unopposed after earning the nomination of all four major parties). This type of clout, Adams believed, had caused the bill to die on the committee floor.

"The people of the Hazleton region have as much chance of getting a new county while Catlin is in the senate as a snowball has of starting a cold snap in hell," he lamented after the bill's death.

To his credit, Adams fought a fierce battle during the debate, but the opposition inflicted serious damage by parading in surprise witnesses who were outspoken critics of the new county movement. One such witness was Luzerne County's district attorney, who himself was a Hazleton resident. When Representative Thomas, one of the lawmakers opposed to the bill, pointed this out, Adams exploded. "That's because he's a candidate for Luzerne County judge!" Adams fired back. At this point, the chairman of the committee had to pound his gavel to restore order.

"It has been a terrible strain and even though I lost, I'm glad it's over," Rep. Adams told reporters after his bill had been killed. "The Hazleton new county movement can make no progress while the senators are against us and giving orders to that effect."

William Adams' words proved prophetic; although various lawmakers from Hazleton attempted to resurrect the new county movement every few years up to the early 1920s, the onward march of progress made the creation of Hazle, Penrose or Quay County unnecessary. The 1920s marked a decade of great progress in the construction of highways and railroads; present-day Routes 93 and 309 were paved and realigned, and travel time between Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre was greatly reduced. By 1956, the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act brought about the construction of Interstate 81, which wasn't completed until the 1970s.

Ironically, by the time the construction of Interstate 81 had begun, the city of Hazleton was already in decline. Its population had peaked at around 38,000 in 1940; by the time I-80 and I-81 were complete, its population had dwindled to less than 30,000. Today, Hazleton has a population of less than 25,000. While nearby industrial parks have drawn the likes of Coca-Cola and General Mills for distribution purposes, many of the downtown storefronts which had once been the city's heart and soul are vacant and dilapidated, leading some to wonder "what might have been" if the ill-fated new county movement had succeeded in its quest to make Hazleton the seat of Pennsylvania's unborn sixty-eighth county.