Hazleton, Industrial city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Hazleton is a town in northeastern Pennsylvania that sits in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains at around 515 meters elevation. The streets rise and fall across the hills, and the brick and wooden buildings form a center arranged around several main roads.
The finding of anthracite coal in 1818 led to the creation of a mining company and turned the area into a center for the coal industry. During the late 1800s, mining drew immigrants from Europe who settled in the surrounding valleys.
The Latin American influence shows in the shops and restaurants along the main street, where Spanish is heard as often as English. Families gather in the cafés and small stores that offer Caribbean pastries and tropical products.
Public buses run Monday through Saturday and connect the main shopping areas with residential districts. The streets are easy to explore on foot, though some steep sections require stairs and ramps.
Since the early 2000s, the population has changed sharply, with Dominican migrants opening new businesses and restaurants downtown. Some streets feel livelier today than in the decades before, when the coal industry had already closed.
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