By Molly Briana McMullen

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is an area where coal was king. Tradition and history here run as deeply as the anthracite veins once did, and though there are still many who are proud of this past, most find it difficult to cope with its loss even decades after it happened. Now, the city searches for its next big industry or something to pull it out of the smoldering embers it has been left in. Despite this, a few hidden diamonds in the area promise that this region will survive and perhaps prove that hope is still alive for the area to be relit with life.