October 2015
This is the Memorial Presbyterian Church, at 29 West North Street, built in 1872. It has been abandoned and is searching for a new loving owner.
The church was built by Calvin Whitehead, he lost his three children to scarlet fever, and they are memorialized in these stained glass windows “being dead, might yet speak”
This Gothic Revival Gem with its rather rare stone spire was designed by Edward Kendall of New York.
The tile Floor
Door hinges in the Church
This is the Kirby Health Clinic Annex – 63 North Franklin Street, built in 1890 and credited with kicking off architect Bruce Price’s career.
Notice the rather interesting simple details.
The Kirby Health Annex with its glass and stone embedded stucco and wonderful dolphin downspout
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This is the Osterhout Free Library, originally built as the First Presbyterian Church in 1849. In 1889 Isaac S. Osterhout left his estate of $325,000, to “establish and maintain in the city of Wilkes-Barre a free library” the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, librarian Melvil Dewey recommended the church as a “temporary” building. It was purchased for $27,000.
Exterior of the Osterhout Free Library at 71 S. Franklin Street
The interior of the library today
The interior of the Free Library
Citizens Bank at 8 Market Street now sits empty. It was designed by Daniel Burnham, best known as the architect for the Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition). Built 1911
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This is the Valley’s oldest congregation the First Presbyterian church, founded in 1779. The building is Laurel Run Redstone and was built in 1889. The architects was James Cleveland Cady who also designed the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
First Presbyterian at 97 South Franklin Street
The church is filled with Tiffany Windows
The house next door served as part of the church at one time, the architect is unknown, however, look at the huge pieces of sandstone that serve as stair rails.
Max Roth Center – 215 South Franklin Street- Built 1895
Designed by J. H. W. Hawkins for a local dentist the stubby Syrian arches and the rusticated walls stand out, as well as the beautiful wood work inside of the Max Roth Center.
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Bedford Hall 96 West South Street
Bedford Hall, built 1876, is architect Bruce Price’s finest example of the High Victorian Gothic Style, it was constructed for attorney and industrialist George Bedford.
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This building for the Congregation Ohav Zedek, at 242 South Franklin Street, was built in 1930. Its Middle Eastern over tones were designed by local architect Austin Reilly. Notice the splendid terra cotta entry.
An example of the rowhouses built throughout the city’s fashionable neighborhoods during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Row House of Wilkes-Barre
Stegmaier Brewing Company (1890-1913) Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and East Market Street
Charles Stegmaier came to Wilkes-Barre from Germany in 1851 and hired A.C. Wagner, a brewery design specialist, to build the Stegmaier Brewery. This cupola-topped red brick brewhouse is a Victorian’s delight.
In 1974 when the brewery closed and sold their recipes to Lion Brewery, Stegmaier was the third largest brewery in Pennsylvania, producing 800,000 barrels of beer annually.
This is only a small smattering of the many wonderful historic buildings in Wilkes-Barre. If you are able to find time to visit, you can download a walking tour put together by the Historical Society.