River Street Historic District
Why it's listed
Along the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre, a residential district of three-story brick and brownstone houses lines River Street and Franklin Street, with a civic and financial core at the intersection of West Market and Franklin Streets. The houses were built mainly between about 1860 and 1920 for wealthy industrialists and merchants during the anthracite coal boom, and most were designed by architects. Their styles change from Greek Revival to High Victorian Gothic and Queen Anne, reflecting the owners' wish to keep pace with New York and Philadelphia tastes. The George Bedford home of 1875 is described as the city's best known High Victorian building. Four churches on Franklin Street and the Beaux-Arts banks at West Market Street give the district its skyline and civic character. The Luzerne County Courthouse, completed in 1909, is a massive Beaux-Arts structure of local sandstone. The district is significant for its architecture and for what it shows of the city's social and economic history from the 1860s to the 1920s.
Significance in brief: The district is presented as a compact, coherent collection of late 19th and early 20th century architecture, mostly architect-designed houses built for wealthy industrialists and merchants during the anthracite coal boom. Its buildings are said to document the city's economic and social history, the stylistic tastes of local elites, and the work of prominent New York and Philadelphia architects, including Bruce Price, F. C. Withers and Daniel H. Burnham.
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 85002328, listed September 10, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Franklin, River, W. River, W. Jackson, W. Union, W. Market, W. Northampton, W. South and W. Ross Sts. & Barnum Pl., Wilkes-Barre |
|---|---|
| County | Luzerne County |
| Listed | September 10, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85002328 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c. 1860-1930 |
| Architectural style | Varied: High Victorian Gothic, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Beaux-Arts, Moorish Revival, Renaissance Palazzo, Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Excellent condition, altered, original site, per the condition checklist; buildings include intrusive later construction by Wilkes College and other institutions. |
| Acreage | 191 |
| Coordinates | 41.24687, -75.88570 (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 85002328.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7337839
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.