Hazleton owes its fame and fortune to two incongruously paired goods: coal and silk. Located on one of only two pockets of anthracite coal in the world, the city got its start when Asa Packer started mining and canal operations in the 1830s. This brought the railroads to town; at one point the nearby Weatherly terminal dispatched more than 100 trains a day. Years later, Hazelton’s image softened with the rise of the Duplan Silk Corporation, which in its heyday produced about 25 million yards of cloth a year.

Today, Hazleton with a population of over 25,000 is the second largest city in Luzerne County.  In the 1950’s, as coal mining was tapering off, the city and the area had to reinvent itself to replace the jobs being lost.  From the early 2000’s to present day, its expansive undeveloped areas with friendly topography became the sites for massive distribution centers bringing new jobs and new opportunities to the area.