Luzerne County Courthouse

About this property

The Luzerne County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse located in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (along the Susquehanna River). The building houses the government of Luzerne County. In 2009, county officials celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the courthouse during centennial celebrations at which Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer delivered the keynote address. The cornerstone for the courthouse was laid on April 5, 1906. Although no formal ceremonies were held, roughly one hundred people were in attendance to witness the event, which was held in Wilkes-Barre at two o'clock in the afternoon. Placed within the cornerstone was a metal box which contained a Bible, a list of county officials and clerks, a 1905 edition of the Wilkes-Barre Record Almanac, the Smull Legislative Hand Book, copies of local newspapers (Bratstvo, Hazleton Plain Speaker, Hazleton Sentinel, Hazleton Standard, Pittson Gazette, Wilkes-Barre Leader, Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre News, Wilkes-Barre Times), historic photographs (Good Will No. 2 Fire Department, Wilkes-Barre, 1866; Protection No. 1 Fire Department, Wilkes-Barre, 1866; Wilkes-Barre Fire Department, 1866 and 1892; Wyoming No. 3 Fire Department, Wilkes-Barre, 1866; the old and new courthouses; a bird's eye view of Wilkes-Barre and a view of the river common; the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Derr Memorial and Market Street bridge; and scenes from the 1904 flood); a program from the old courthouse's cornerstone laying, August 12, 1856; a one-dollar bill provided by Wilson J. Smith; and a centennial button. Judge Ferris presided over the brief event. Designed by architect Frederick John Osterling (1865–1934), the courthouse was built between 1906 and 1909. It is a cruciform plan building in the Classical Revival style, with a domed central rotunda 53 feet in diameter. It is built of Ohio sandstone, reinforced concrete, and terra cotta. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Fifty-six portraits of men associated with the development of Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley were painted in groups of four on the building's vaulted ceiling. Many were judges, associate judges or other officeholders. President judges of the courts of Luzerne County who were depicted included: John Handley (1835–1895); John B. Gibson (1780–1853), who later became Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; Jacob Rush (1746–1820), the first president judge of Luzerne County's court system and a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice; Thomas Cooper (1759–1839); Seth Chapman (1771–1835); John N. Conyngham (1798–1871); William Jessup (1797–1868); Stanley Woodward (1833–1906); Garrick M. Harding (1827–1904); and Thomas Burnside (1782–1851).

Location

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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