Of the many beautiful suburban residence boroughs that so surround Wilkes- Barre, and are practically a part of the city by the intimate connection of electric and steam railways, there are none more beautiful and inviting than this. Its broad and elegant avenues and ornamental shade trees, the spacious lawns and the modern built mansions, and the healthy, clear, unvexed air that sings through the great old trees, as well as the quiet and orderly movements of the people, to one transported in a few moments from the thronging city, with its slums and odorous alleys, is a magical and refreshing change. At all hours you can go and come from Dorranceton to the city almost as you travel in dreams, where time and space are never reckoned. The lots and grounds about the handsome residences are trim and as well kept as on the proudest avenues of the great cities. And of the people, there are so many evidences here of refinement and a high order of culture as makes the stranger want to get out of the car and shake hands with every one.
It is hardly worth while to say the place gets its name from the Dorrance family —a name standing out as prominent as any of the first families that came and fought the long and desperate battles for the possession of these rich and beautiful lands. Col. Charles Dorrance, who died January 18, 1892, at an advanced age, was the worthy representative of an illustrious ancestor.
The borough was incorporated June 20, 1887. First officers: burgess, George H. Butler; council, Col. Charles Dorrance, president; Noah Pettebone, secretary; Jacob S. Pettebone, treasurer; Thomas Eley, B. F. Dorrance, J. F. Welton; high constable, A. Van Campen. There are about 1,200 acres within the borough lines.
Present officers: burgess, Henry M. Gordon; council, Robert Bye, president; D. P. R. Arner, secretary; J. S. Pettebone, treasurer; Benjamin Dorrance, Thomas H. Eley, Noah Pettebone, G. L. Marcy and S. B. Vaughan; assessor, Joseph F. Walter; collector, John King; constable, John Finney.
In the place are a planing mill, 2 general stores, 1 meat market.