{"nrhp_refnum":"03000721","name":"St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church and School Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"419 N. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilkes-Barre","county":"Luzerne County","state":"PA","lat":41.25818332400007,"lon":-75.86719923299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["European","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story red brick and cut stone church and school building in a single structure on North Main Street at Courtright Street in the North End of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1929 for St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Parish.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building reflects the Diocese of Scranton's decentralization of large territorial parishes in the early twentieth century and its uncertainty about future growth, expressed in an all-in-one church and school design. It is also presented as a locally significant example of a Roman Catholic parish building tied to ethnic heritage and to the work of architect John J. Howley.","narrative":"Built in 1929 on North Main Street at Courtright Street in Wilkes-Barre, this three-story church and school share one building. The front segment uses local cut stone with Romanesque Revival character, while the side and rear elevations are brick with large window expanses. A central tower topped with a cross rises above the roofline without a steeple. The parish was founded in 1927 as a territorial parish carved out of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, and the diocese chose architect John J. Howley of Scranton and contractor F. J. Cuppels of Cresson. Its combined design reflects the diocese's decentralization of large territorial parishes and its uncertainty about how far the new parish would grow. The school opened in September 1930 with 260 students taught by Sisters of Mercy. The building is significant for its ethnic heritage context and for its architecture as a locally important example of this design approach.","period_of_significance":"1929-1953","architect_builder":"John J. Howley (architect); F. J. Cuppels (contractor)","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.711392-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/03000721.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000721/f24a4bfb84-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000721/f24a4bfb84-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_John_Apts_2_Wilkes-Barre_LuzCo_PA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_John_Apts_2_Wilkes-Barre_LuzCo_PA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998740","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_the_Evangelist_Roman_Catholic_Church_and_School_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7588993"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/luzerne-county/st-john-the-evangelist-roman-catholic-church-and-school-building-03000721/"}