Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Northern Coal Region

Northern Coal region is among the most Lithuanian areas of the USA. Pittston and Wilkes-Barre are the largest cities of such size to have some 4% of the population with Lithuanian ancestry.

Sadly, the Northern Coal Region is also among the places where Lithuanian sites have been hit the hardest in the recent times, many of them destroyed, including the prettiest and largest Lithuanian churches that were also arguably the key Lithuanian sites in the area. Out of 13 Lithuanian Roman Catholic churches in the area, none remain open as standard Catholic churches and nearly all were closed ~2009, despite the fact that mere probability would have required some half of them to stay open (as half of the parishes were closed in the area). 15 Lithuanian churches that used to operate here, by the way, meant that the area had more Lithuanian operating churches than any city in Lithuania until ~1990.

Despite all the destruction, there is still what to see in the Northern Coal Region, ranging from a Lithuanian church independent from Rome, to many cemeteries with century-old graves and Old Lithuanian inscription, to four surviving Lithuanian clubs, to several Lithuanian monuments, to the possibility to descend into a real mine where Lithuanians once toiled, having universally come to this region for coal mining. There is even a Lithuanian-named lake.

Northern Coal Region is effectively a string of cities between which there is almost no empty space left. At the north, there is Scranton, at the center - Pittston, at the south - Wilkes-Barre. Around this conurbation, there are also numerous smaller towns which are also full of historically Lithuanian sites.

To make the matters simpler, we describe the Lithuanian sites in the area going from north to south.

Forest City Lithuanian sites

Forest City St. Anthony Lithuanian church site

Forest City never had more than 6000 inhabitants (let alone Catholics), yet it had five Catholic churches! That’s because every immigrant nation used to build its own: Lithuanians, Poles, Slovaks, Slovenes, Irish… All of them collected donations from their meager wages. However, more than 100 years on, this lot is all that remains of the white gothic revival Lithuanian church (after the diocese has decided to raze it).

St. Anthony Lithuanian cemetery in Forest City

In the small towns like Forest City, Lithuanians were important. That's because they moved in at about the same time as everybody else and couldn't have been looked down by the earlier arrivals: the town was founded in 1888. Lithuanians also founded their own cemetery, even though the town has merely a few thousand inhabitants and it would seem one cemetery is enough. Such were the times: even having emigrated, the people of each nation sought to be laid to rest among their co-nationals.

Eynon Lithuanian sites

Eynon Our Lady of Vilna church

Since the 2001 this 1914 building stood abandoned. The only remaining sign of its Lithuanian past was an empty niche for a sculpture of the saint. It bore an English inscription that it was built in memory of the pastor Savulis (a Lithuanian surname). In 2024, the church was completely demolished.

Eynon Our Lady of Vilna cemetery

This cemetery shares a commonly fenced ground with the Our Lady of Częstochowa Polish cemetery and there are more Polish than Lithuanian graves. Lithuanians were mostly buried closer to their Our Lady of Vilna church. In the early 20th century, a Polish-Lithuanian conflict raged over the cemetery where blood was spilled.

Downtown Scranton Lithuanian sites

All of the following are so close to each other that it is possible to walk from one of them to another.

Scranton Providence of God Lithuanian National Catholic church

It seems hard to believe, but in 1914 Lithuanians in Scranton did something unprecedented. They established a national Lithuanian Catholic church that was independent of the Pope and which still exists.

At the beginning of the last century, after the Lithuanians of Scranton raised funds and built St. Joseph's Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church, they refused to transfer ownership of the property to the diocese, fearing it would fall into Polish hands, among other things. They litigated in the courts, but, having run out of money, they ceased their legal action and the bishop closed St. Joseph‘s church. Some parishioners decided to split off and establish their own church, completely separate from the Roman Catholic Church and with a priest of their choice. Currently known as Providence of God National Catholic Church, it was constructed from 1915 to 1930 and has operated continuously since then. It now holds Mass every Sunday morning.

This is the only church in the entire region that remains officially Lithuanian. This fact attracted new parishioners in 2009 when some Roman Catholic Lithuanian parishes were closed.

The church raises funds from the annual picnics it organizes each summer.

Tauras Lithuanian Club in Scranton

One of four Lithuanian clubs in the Scranton region! At the entrance, a Lithuanian flag is waving. Inside, the most Lithuanian-decorated part is the hall and entrance, which has descriptions of Lithuania and images of the Lithuanians who created the club. Currently, the club has 1300 members (2023) and is the largest Lithuanian club in the area, although not only Lithuanians can be members now. In addition to the bar hall, there is another hall behind where events take place.

Kosciuska Healing Garden

“Lithuanian sites are so rapidly disappearing, therefore, I wanted to create a new one” – said the creator of the Kosciuska garden Carol Gargan (of Lithuanian origins). She is planting the garden with her own hands and named it after Tadas Kosciuška – this is the Lithuanian variant of the name of Polish-Lithuanian leader more commonly known in Polish as Kosciuszko, also a US hero. In 2018, additional plaque was installed to commemorate the 100th years anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Lithuania. It includes quotations from Kosciusko and historical facts about Lithuania and Lithuanians.

Scranton St. Joseph Lithuanian church

The 1895-build church is still open, however, it now belongs to ex-Anglican priests. Nevertheless, the Lithuanian stained glass windows, the chapel-post for the Soviet-persecuted Lithuanians all survive. So does the cornerstone inscription “Lithuanica Ecclesia”.

St. Joseph Lithuanian school in Scranton

So many Lithuanian children must have gone to school in Scranton at 1915 when the construction here began! The school has been closed for a long time but the cornerstone still boasts a Lithuanian-language inscription that means “St. Joseph school 1915”. ~2018, the school was reopened as an academy for helping homeschooled children with some additional lessons. While not catering solely to Lithuanian children, this new academy is named Marija Kaupas Academy, after the Blessed Marija Kaupas (Kaupaitė), a Lithuanian who founded a Lithuanian nun order in Scranton. This order of St. Casimir Sisters later spread across America, making Marija Kaupas venerated both among the Lithuanian-Americans and Scranton Catholics.

Lithuanian chapel-post for Soviet-oppressed Lithuanians

This chapel-post, according to the inscription, is dedicated to the men of women who fell for “our country” (Lithuania), and also Lithuanians who suffer beyond the Iron Curtain, and the dead parish members. Such were the main concerns of the Lithuanian-Americans in 1975 when the chapel-post was erected, even though ~70 years had passed already since most of them moved to Scranton! On top of the chapel post there is an image of Rūpintojėlis, a Lithuanian-folk-traditional image of a worried Jesus.

Scranton area Lithuanian sites further away from the downtown

The following sites will require a drive from the downtown Scranton.

Lithuanian National Cemetery in Scranton

This is a Catholic cemetery but not Roman Catholic. National Catholics who are not following the Pope are buried here (see the "National Catholic church" section above). The first bishop of this unique church Jonas Gritėnas also lies in this cemetery. He sought to export his ideas back into Lithuania, however, fell ill and died, leaving the Lithuanian National Catholic Church solely a Lithuanian-American phenomenon.

Bishop Jonas Gritėnas grave in the Lithuanian National Cemetery near Scranton

Jonas Gritėnas (1884-1928) was the first bishop of the unique Lithuanian National Catholic Church that declared its independence from the Pope. It held Mass in the Lithuanian language even when Roman Catholics still used Latin. A long Lithuanian epitaph says Gritėnas sought spiritual freedom for his people, while the emblem of the church reads „Fight. Light. Truth“.

St. Joseph Lithuanian cemetery in Scranton

A massive Lithuanian cemetery! It has a pretty cemetery cross. There are very old graves.

Lackawanna Coal mine and museum in Scranton

Here you may descend into a real coal mine, once staffed by Lithuanians! Of course, everything is easier for the tourists: the floor is not covered by underground water, there is no more risk to enter flammable or poisonous gases… The death rates used to be huge here, and the dead miners used to be placed on their wives’ front porches! This and even scarier stories of 19th-century immigrant laborer lives may be listened here.

Scranton St. Michael Lithuanian church

Currently, this church belongs to the traditionalist Catholics who hold there the Latin Tridentine mass. Stained-glass windows with Lithuanian inscriptions survive on the inside. The current brick church was built in 1942. The Lithuanian language declined here earlier than in the neighboring St. Joseph parish, with few parishioners still speaking Lithuanian by 1970s.

Elmhurst St. Mary Villa Lithuanian sites

St. Mary villa is a complex of a Lithuanian monastery (now an assisted living institution) and a Lithuanian cemetery east of Scranton.

St. Mary villa in Elmhurst

Mining jobs most Lithuanian men had were especially dangerous. Some would be killed by explosions, others by poisonous gas… To accommodate the surviving widows and orphans, priest Urbanavičius created this home where Lithuanian nuns would care for these unlucky people. Currently, the Lithuanity remains only in the images that cover the walls, the names in donations list, the traditional sun-cross on the roof, the inscription on Mary statue. Now the home cares for senior citizens.

Mary sculpture with Lithuanian inscription

Among the last things on the exterior of St. Mary villa that reminds of Lithuania is this statue. To see its Lithuanian inscription, come closer (in summers, it is often covered by flowers and therefore only the English inscription is visible from further up).

Elmhurst Lithuanian cemetery

As this cemetery has been established for the nuns near a monastery (now the St. Mary Villa), most of the graves here are modest, consisting of small plaques now overgrown in grass. Exceptional are the priest graves and a line of the graves of patriotically-minded Lithuanians, adorned by the Columns of Gediminas and other Lithuanian symbols.

Pittston area Lithuanian sites

These Lithuanian sites are located in Pittston, which is the most-Lithuanian (by percentage) city of such size in the USA, and the surrounding towns. Pittston is effectively in the center of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre conurbation.

Pittston St. Casimir Lithuanian church

Just one look at this church is needed to be overwhelmed by its size and grandeur! For 99 years (1909-2008) this was the hub of Pittston Lithuanians, yet nothing reminds that: even the cornerstone was removed. The new owner planned to showcase art here but, after the former church being vandalised, she sold it again, continuing its abandonment. Currently, the church is used as a residential building, however, the authentic interior still remains.

Lithuanian Social and Benefit Club in Pittston

Approaching this club, your eye will be drawn to a hydrant painted in the colors of the Lithuanian flag and coat of arms! This club is arguably the most Lithuanian among those left in the region. The club has a Lithuanian-themed bar (members-and-friends only). The club has ~45 full members as of 2023 with several hundred social members.

St. Casimir statue in Pittston

This statue is all that remains in religious use out of the massive St. Casimir Lithuanian church after its closure. When closing churches, the bishops often try to pacify the disgruntled parishioners by offering them to keep some dearest parts of the former church (and move those parts into a new church). As this Irish church had many other parishes consolidated it, its entry hall now reminds a sculpture gallery with St. Casimir not easily distinguishable.

St. Casimir Lithuanian Cemetery in Pittston

One of the largest of the northern Coal region Lithuanian cemeteries belonged to the massive St. Casimir church of Pittston.

Duryea St. Joseph Lithuanian church site

Yet another Lithuanian church in the Pennsylvania Coal Region that was recently torn down by the diocese’s bulldozers, disregarding the opinion of the parish members. This small wooden church was demolished in 2013.

Exeter Lithuanian club

One of four Lithuanian clubs in the Northern Coal region! The exterior is painted in Lithuanian tricolor. Only the members and those with members may enter inside.

Inkerman Lithuanian citizens club

This Lithuanian club used to be nicknamed the “Bucket of blood” – so common were the fights here. It was built by interwar Lithuanian miners by their own hands, although today not only Lithuanians frequent it. Lithuania-related inscriptions still remain.

Kingston area Lithuanian sites

These Lithuanian sites are located on the opposite bank of the Susquehanna River from Wilkes-Barre.

Kingston St. Mary Annunciation Lithuanian church site

After closing this grand Lithuanian church, the diocese was unable to sell it. Therefore, they have demolished it in 2016. When looking at the empty lot where a magnificent church once stood, take a time to think how quickly the Lithuanian-American heritage disappears.

St. Mary Annunciation Lithuanian cemetery in Kingston

The dead of the Annunciation parish used to be laid here. The name “Lithuanian” still remains at the entrance and there are many Lithuanian graves. The parish church was demolished in 2016, so this is all that remains of that parish.

Luzerne St. Ann Lithuanian church

The church construction began in 1924 but it was then halted by the Great Depression. For long, Lithuanians prated in the basement and only in 1959 did they complete the church. Maybe this newness made the diocese to chose this building as the one that should remain after the consolidation of the area's parishes. While no Lithuanian signs remain on the exterior, the stained-glass windows inside are adorned by Lithuanian names (given that the church was built in the 1950s when the American-born generation of Lithuanians were already in the majority, the inscriptions are, however, in English).

Lithuanian independent cemetery

Cemeteries, cemeteries, cemeteries! So many of them have Lithuanians established in the region. Most were parish-affiliated whereas the “Independent” ones were typically created by the less religious: leftists and nationalists. As the cemetery has interments from a wide area of the region, is partitioned into lots according to the cities/towns where those Lithuanians lived; these lots are marked by signs.

Old St. Mary cemetery in Larksville

The site of the most infamous Lithuanian-Polish conflict in America! The parish used to be binational, yet the Poles sought it to be Polish-only. So, they used to stop Lithuanian funerals coming to the cemetery and, in the most notorious episode, dug out the graves of Lithuanian children and mutilated the corpses with axes. Lithuanians then established the Old St. Casimir cemetery nearby.

Old St. Casimir Lithuanian cemetery in Larksville

Lithuanians were forced to establish their own cemetery in Larksville as in the joint Polish-Lithuanian cemetery, the Poles were attacking their processions and even dug out dead Lithuanian children, mutilating their bodies with axes. The cemetery is in a good condition in a forest; famous priest Burba is buried here under a massive gravestone. The local urban legend claims that the forest location for the cemetery was chosen to "hide it from the Poles". Later the parish outgrew this cemetery and acquired a new cemetery in Hunlock.

Priest Aleksandras Burba grave in the St. Casimir Lithuanian Cemetery of Larskville

Priest Burba (1856-1898) is considered the first Lithuanian-American priest to have attempted creating a Lithuanian parish. His massive gravestone (the largest in the cemetery) expresses the gratitude of Lithuanians, with the Lithuanian epitaph reading „To the worthy co-national. Lithuanians“.

Wilkes-Barre area Lithuanian sites

These sites are located in Wilkes-Barre, the area's second-most-Lithuanian significant town, and its suburbs.

Wilkes-Barre Holy Trinity Lithuanian church site

The great gothic revival Holy Trinity church, built by Lithuanian hard-earned money, was destroyed not in some kind of historic calamity but rather by the diocese decision (disregarding the Lithuanian protests) in 2015. Unfortunately, such was the fate of many Lithuanian-American churches. In the empty lot now a small lonely cross stands, likely erected by Lithuanians.

Holy Trinity Lithuanian cemetery in Wilkes-Barre

This is a grand and pretty cemetery with memorials that have Lithuanian inscriptions: a memorial for the Lithuanians who died in the World Wars and a cemetery cross with a Lithuanian prayer inscribed on it. Starting in 1935, the cemetery accepted the parishioners of the massive Holy Trinity church which was destroyed in 2015.

Holy Trinity cemetery cross in Wilkes Barre

The cross on the mound has a Lithuanian inscription: “Jei draug su Kristumi mirėme, draug su Kristumi ir gyvensime” (“If we’ve died with Christ, we’ll live with Christ”).

Memorial for the Lithuanians who died in the World Wars

You’d rarely see non-English inscriptions on the WW2 memorials for those who died serving the US army. The one in the Holy Trinity cemetery is an exception. In Lithuanian, it asks for an eternal peace to those Lithuanians soldiers. Interestingly, some of these soldiers have emigrated from a Russian-occupied Lithuania to avoid service in the foreign Russian army only to eventually died in a war for the USA.

Old Holy Trinity Lithuanian cemetery in Wilkes-Barre

Before the Holy Trinity Lithuanian parish grew so large it needed the massive new cemetery on the outskirts of the city, its members used to be buried at this old cemetery in the Kidder St. of Wilkes-Barre Township. In the cemetery amidst the old graves the cornerstone of the now-demolished Holy Trinity church of Wilkes-Barre is laid.

Wilkes-Barre St. Francis Lithuanian church

Nothing here reminds the Lithuanians who built the church ~1918 and operated it for 90 years. Even the cornerstone with the construction year and original purpose inscribed has been removed! Currently, it is a Hispanic Seventh-Day Adventist parish.

St. Francis Lithuanian cemetery in Wilkes-Barre

A small cemetery on the hillside that belonged to the St. Casimir Lithuanian parish.

Wilks-Barre All Saints Lithuanian National Catholic church

Here the Lithuanian Catholics of Wilkes-Barre who denounced the Papal reign would have prayed. They used Lithuanian language even when Roman Catholics still had their Masses in Latin. The church is closed but the cornerstone still has Lithuanian and English inscriptions „Lith. Nat. Cath. Church of All Saints 1932“.

Wilkes-Barre St. Casimir Lithuanian church

The Old St. Casimir church effectively caved into the mines. Such “exotic” fate was common in the Coal Region, where mining activities went on under nearly every home. Back then, in the 1950s, the culture of legal compensations was not as prominent and Lithuanians had to build this new church on their own in 1957. It still stands, yet it has nothing Lithuanian now.

Lithuanian sites in the Northern Coal Region's west

These Lithuanian sites are located out of the main conurbation, in the small mining towns west of Wilkes-Barre.

Sugar Notch St. Peter and Paul Lithuanian church

In 1913, the building was acquired from Presbyterians. Those were the times before the advent of automobiles, so, once they would amass some money, Lithuanians sought to build their own church so they wouldn’t to have to spend much of the Sundays (the sole non-working day) commuting to the Plymouth Lithuanian church (St. Francis), or go to the Polish church which reminded them of a high treason. This parish never had more than ~300 Lithuanians.

Ss. Peter and Paul Lithuanian Cemetery in Sugar Notch

A small Lithuanian cemetery of a small coal town. On the gravestones, you may see anglicized pre-war Lithuanian words such as “Nuzudytas mainose” (“Killed in the mines”; non-Anglicized Lithuanian would be “Žuvo kasyklose”).

Nanticoke St. Joseph Lithuanian church

This large wooden church never was a separate Lithuanian parish: it was served by the Lithuanian priest from Wanamie. After its closure, in 2004, it was bought by a local architect Norieka who transformed it into a single-family home. Stained-glass-windows and decor and even some furniture remains. All the Lithuanian inscriptions also survive, as does the Lithuanian priest memorial in the churchyeard, making this one arguably the most authentic Lithuanian church building among those that were converted to other use. The tower is now a room with views.

Lithuanian priest memorial in Nanticoke

Usually when a Lithuanian church is closed in the USA, all the religious symbols and monuments are removed. However, in Nanticoke, the new owners who live in the church nearby have saved this memorial for a Lithuanian priest.

Lithuanian cemetery in Nanticoke

This unmarked cemetery is a burial place for the Lithuanians of Nanticoke. The graves closer to the road are in rather good condition but those towards the forest are largely overgrown. Numerous graves are with old Lithuanian inscriptions.

Wanamie St. Mary Lithuanian church

Just as in many small towns of Coal region, the closed Lithuanian church is no longer in use and stands abandoned. Construction started on 1925.

St. Mary Lithuanian cemetery in Wanamie

A small cemetery of a small parish. Judging by the surnames on gravestones, non-Lithuanians also used to be buried here. That’s because this is the parish’s new cemetery, from the times Lithuanian language was already disappearing – the old cemetery with historic inscriptions is described below.

Old St. Mary Lithuanian Cemetery in Wanamie

A romantic cemetery amidst forest, accessible solely by a dirt road. Many of the graves are very old (from the 1900s-1920s) as the parish later acquired a new cemetery. Many graves have lengthy inscriptions in pre-modern Lithuanian language.

New St. Casimir Lithuanian Cemetery in Hunlock

The new cemetery of the St. Francis Lithuanian parish has been established quite far from the church, as the automobile era was approaching (1925). The cemetery entrance has a Lithuanian inscription and there is also a cemetery memorial near the center with Matt Gospel quotations in Lithuanian. The old cemetery is in Larksville (see above).

Lithuanian sites further away

Lake Kasulaitis

This small lake is likely the only one Lithuanian-named lake in the USA, and possibly the Lithuanian-named lake that is the furthest from Lithuania! Joseph (Juozapas) Kasulaitis, by the way, was not some kind of a celebrity – rather, he was a farmer who spent decades farming in the region. The lake was formed/expanded with a construction of a dam in 1955. Sadly, the dam has been lost to the flood of 2005, diminishing the lake to a rather small widening of the river.

 

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The map

All the Lithuanian locations, described in this article, are marked on this interactive map, made by the "Destination - America" expedition (click the link):

Interactive map of Pennsylvania northern Coal Region Lithuanian sites