Waverly Historic District
Why it's listed
Waverly is a village of modestly scaled, mostly two-story wood houses in Abington Township, about ten miles north of Scranton, built from the 1820s through the 1930s. Its earliest surviving house is the 1828 Greek Revival home of physician Andrew Phelps Bedford on Abington Road, and the 1830 Federal-style schoolhouse on the same road is the oldest school building in the district. Greek Revival design is the most common style, with white clapboard houses, temple-form plans and side-passage entries. The village was shaped by the Philadelphia and Great Bend Turnpike, completed in 1824, and by churches, academies and fraternal lodges established from the early nineteenth century. Waverly also has a documented connection to the Underground Railroad, and African-American families who settled along Carbondale Road after the 1850s formed a congregation whose church was built in 1854. The district's buildings and village layout remain largely intact from the period of significance, which is why the nomination treats the whole village as a unified architectural ensemble.
Significance in brief: The district is significant under Criterion C for architecture, containing a diversity of primarily residential representatives of several styles popular during the community's settlement, growth and maturity. Greek Revival is the most prevalent style, and it also includes an 1830 Federal-style schoolhouse, Romanesque and Gothic Revival churches, and Colonial Revival, Bungalow and Chateauesque properties. The nomination also documents the village's role in the Underground Railroad and the settlement of African-American families on Carbondale Road.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 04000884, listed August 20, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly centered on Academy St. and Abington Rd., inc. Carbondale Rd., Beech, Cole, Church and Dearborn St., Abington |
|---|---|
| County | Lackawanna County |
| Listed | August 20, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000884 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1828-c. 1940 |
| Architect / builder | Lewis, George M. D., architect; Ross, Ephraim, builder |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Federal, Colonial Revival (including Dutch Colonial Revival), Bungalow/Craftsman, American Foursquare, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Chateauesque, Italianate, Eastlake, Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most roofs retain brick chimneys and the district is described as little altered; a 2000 fire destroyed one house at Abington Road and Academy Street. |
| Acreage | 77 |
| Coordinates | 41.52705, -75.70500 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 04000884.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7975486
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.