The Confusing Beefcake of Wilkes-Barre

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, about 2 hours north of Philadelphia, is a rather run-down working-class town known primarily for the elite Wilkes University, the Mohecan Sun Casino, the Market Street Bridge, with dark sinister eagle-topped pylons out of a dystopian novel...

And confusion.  This tanned beefcake boy, for instance, is from Wyoming, but not the state, the valley in Pennsylvania.

More Wilkes-Barre confusion:

1.  Wilkes-Barre is not named after two towns that merged.  Originally Wyoming, it was renamed in honor of two British Members of Parliament who defended the right of the colonies to break away: John Wilkes and Isaac Barre.





2. No one knows how to pronounce Barre.  Like "bar" or "bar-e" or "barry"?  Knowing that Isaac Barre pronounced his name "bar" doesn't help.
















3. Everyone thinks that Wilkes University was named after John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Lincoln. John Wilkes was, in fact, a relative.










4. Kings College (no apostrophe) abuts Wilkes University. You can't tell where one begins and the other ends.

5. Teedyuscung is not a river.  He was a Delaware chief.













6. The Susquehannah River flows east.

7, West Nanticoke is actually north of Nanticoke











8. The Wyoming Seminary is neither in Wyoming nor a seminary.  Discuss.

It's actually a private boys' school.
















9. Shickshinny is a borough of Wilkes-Barre with a population of about 800, down from 2000 in 1950.  It's also called Shikshinny, as in the country-western song "The Coal Fields of Shikshinny." 

10.  GAR Memorial High School (all caps) stands for Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternity for Civil War Veterans.

11. Korn Krest actually is named Korn Krest.  Someone in the 19th century was a lousy speller.  It's home to the San Souci Parkway (pronounced San Sooey, like the hog call) and Hanover Township High School, home of the Fighting Eagles.








And a vape bar called "Wilkes Barre," which is not in Wilkes-Barre