Luzerne County Courthouse
Category Government
Address
200 N River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
570-825-1500
Details
Luzerne County’s seat of government is also its showpiece – a truly breathtaking Beaux Arts building.
Controversy and scandal swirled around its planning and construction. Pittsburgh architect F. J. Osterling originally designed the courthouse to be placed on Public Square. It was finally completed in 1909 by Wilkes-Barre architects McCormick and French, who designed the lavish interior with its stunning rotunda. Go inside to see the history of the county illustrated in mosaics and murals. Built during the period of Wilkes-Barre’s greatest prosperity, the Court House is now a treasured local landmark.
The site of the Court House was once the Public Basin of the Wyoming Division of the North Branch Canal. From 1834 to 1881, when the last canal boat left Wilkes-Barre, the canal was a major means of transporting coal and other commodities in and out of the Wyoming Valley.
