Through a combination of iron production and coal mining Scranton became an economic center for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Families across Europe immigrated to Scranton or the hope of tapping into the natural resources of the valley and in the process, they amassed large sums of wealth. These families would build their homes and civic buildings to reflect this wealth but also to reflect their ancestry. This is why certain buildings in the city have Italian influences while others are High Victorian, Gothic, or even Flemish in ornament and form.

 

Scranton developed most rapidly during a time when many architects were influenced by the work of Henry Hobson Richardson. Designer of Trinity Church in Boston and Marshall Field’s Wholesale Store in Chicago, his buildings where crafted with heavy masonry, ornate rooflines, and expressive stone and wood carvings in a beaux-arts style. His work would influence a generation of architects who would go on to design the civic buildings of the 1920s and 30s.

 

Today a wonderful collection of buildings still remain downtown and continue to reflect the grandeur and wealth of The Gilded Age.