National Historic Landmark

Powderly, Terence V., House

Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Listed
October 14, 1966
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
66000667

About this property

The Terence V. Powderly House is a historic house at 614 North Main Avenue in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It was the home of Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924) from his early life until 1921. During this time he led the Knights of Labor, an early but unsuccessful attempt to establish a broad-based labor union. He also served as mayor of Scranton for several terms. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It has remained a private residence and is not open to the public. The Terence V. Powderly House stands on the east side of North Main Avenue. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, built as a single-family residence in a vernacular Victorian style, with a cross-gabled roof on a busy street in a residential neighborhood in an area slightly west of downtown Scranton, looking towards it over the Lackawanna River. The house has one architecturally noteworthy feature, a glass anteentrance to keep out cold weather, not common at that time. Since Powderly's death the house has gone through other owners but has not been substantially altered, other than the conversion of the second floor to an apartment and the addition of a picture window to that unit. Terence Powderly was a union man from a young age, apprenticing as a machinist. He joined the Machinist and Blacksmiths Union in 1871, and rapidly rose to become its president. As such, he was among the first to lose is job during the economic downturn of the Panic of 1873. Powderly broadened his organizing base, and became a leading figure in the secretive Knights of Labor, which arose in the early 1880s to become one of the largest labor unions of the period. Powderly emphasized non-violent means to gain improvements in working conditions and pay, and the union was also socially progressive for the period, admitting both women and African Americans. In 1886 it effectively collapsed after Powderly refused to support an eight-hour workday, and opposed the more confrontational tactics of one of his ultimately more successful rivals, Samuel Gompers. List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places listings in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania

Location

614 N. Main St.
Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
41.41838, -75.67463

Categories

SOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Central Railroad of New Jersey Freight Station
Industrial
0.5 mi
Tripp Family Homestead
Industrial
0.6 mi
Grand Army of the Republic Building
Industrial
0.7 mi
Dickson Works (Additional Documentation)
Industrial
0.7 mi
St. Peter's Cathedral Complex
Industrial
0.8 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Wyoming Valley Massacre
1778Revolutionary War
11.6 mi
Wyoming Massacre 1778
1778Revolutionary War
12 mi
Wyoming Massacre
1778Revolutionary War
12.6 mi
Battle of Wyoming Valley Jul 3 1778
1778Revolutionary War
15.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Powderly, Terence V., House listed on the National Register?

Powderly, Terence V., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1966.

What type of historic resource is Powderly, Terence V., House?

Powderly, Terence V., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Powderly, Terence V., House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Powderly, Terence V., House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Powderly, Terence V., House?

The period of significance for Powderly, Terence V., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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