{"nrhp_refnum":"83004215","name":"Lackawanna Avenue Commercial Historic District","other_names":["Scranton Commercial Historic District"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Adams, Franklin, Bogart Pl., and Spruce Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Scranton","county":"Lackawanna County","state":"PA","lat":41.40737081700004,"lon":-75.65974310398569,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half block section of Lackawanna Avenue plus one adjoining square block in downtown Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, almost exclusively commercial in use. Its buildings are mostly late nineteenth-century, three to four stories tall, and largely contiguous.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant as the commercial core of Scranton during its growth as a center of the anthracite coal and manufacturing industries between 1860 and 1930. It holds a number of fine late nineteenth-century commercial architectural examples, including Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival and Commercial styles, and reflects the prosperity of the city in that period.","narrative":"Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton is a commercial district of three-and-one-half blocks plus one adjoining square block, lined mostly by three- and four-story buildings of brick, stone, tile and stucco, most dating from the late nineteenth century. The buildings were erected as Scranton grew into a center of the anthracite coal and manufacturing industries. Scranton's population rose from fewer than 10,000 in the early 1860s to over 35,000 by 1870, and the Avenue became its commercial heart, with banks, hotels, shops and offices. Upper floors retain their Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival and Commercial character, with projecting cornices, pedimented parapets bearing dates and initials, and corbelled blind arcading. Along Wyoming and North Washington Streets, larger buildings built for banks, corporate offices and department stores reflect the city's later growth. The district is significant for documenting that period of prosperity.","period_of_significance":"1860-1920","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Commercial, Italianate, Gothic Revival, Richardson Romanesque, Neo Classicism, Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Many first-floor storefronts have been altered for commercial purposes, while upper floors are generally intact; original commercial use of the buildings remains consistent with the historic use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.304583-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83004215.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004215/f8a3532f71-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004215/f8a3532f71-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Mark Harrell","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:332-334_Lackawanna_Avenue,_Scranton.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Harrell</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:332-334_Lackawanna_Avenue,_Scranton.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998091","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lackawanna_Avenue_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6468684"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lackawanna-county/lackawanna-avenue-commercial-historic-district-83004215/"}