HAZLETON

city, Luzerne county, east-central Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies on Spring Mountain of the Buck Mountain Plateau, at an elevation of 1,624 feet (495 metres), 24 miles (39 km) south of Wilkes-Barre. Originally a lumbering settlement, it became a prosperous mining town after the discovery (1818) of nearby anthracite coal deposits and was laid out in 1836 by the Hazleton Coal Company. Its name is derived from hazel bushes found in the area, then known as the Great Swamp. With the decline of coal mining after World War II, diversified manufactures (plastic bags, computer assembly equipment, candy, steel cabinets, textiles, pumps, foam products, and cigars) became the economic mainstay. The city has a branch campus (founded 1934) of the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State Hazleton). The Eckley Miners' Village, 9 miles (14 km) east, is a 19th-century company town and living-history museum with some of its houses still occupied by retired coal miners. Hazleton's suburbs include the boroughs of West Hazleton (inc. 1889), Conyngham, Freeland, McAdoo, Weatherly, and White Haven. Inc. borough, 1856; city, 1891. Pop. (1990) city, 24,730; ScrantonWilkes-BarreHazelton MSA, 638,524; (1998 est.) 22,542; (1996 est.) ScrantonWilkes-BarreHazelton MSA, 628,073.