Communities in Common: ’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 1 of 37

Target Community #1: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County

Geographic Region: Eastern Tier/Northern Tier Pennsylvania Closest Urban Center: Philadelphia: 112 mi. New York City: 127 mi. USGS Quad(s) Wilkes-Barre West; Wilkes-Barre East Land Area: 7.2 sq. mi. UTM Point (central) 18 426822 4566537

Existing Historic Resource Data Municipality Survey: Date/# of resources identified 1978/ 1340 Number of Resources Identified in CRGIS: Wilkes-Barre City 1,432 Number of Resources Identified in CRGIS for association with Ethnic History/Afr. Am. 0 Number of Resources Identified in CRGIS and identified in this survey 0

African American Historic Resource Data Year(s) surveyed 2008; 2009 Summary Statistics

Number of Resource Type Community Properties Districts Buildings Sites Unknown 4 11 5 11 Wilkes-Barre 31 (12.9%) (35.5%) (16.1%) (35.5%)

Number of Status Community Properties Intact Altered Demolished Unknown Wilkes-Barre 31 6 1 9 15

Number of Associated Property Type Community Properties 1 2 3 4 5 Wilkes-Barre 31 2 10 12 6 5

Summary Area History Significant Dates 1806: Borough Incorporation 1871: City Incorporation 1916: Flood 1940: Flood 1972: Flood

Principal Era(s) of African Reconstruction Era American Settlement: Primary Industry: Anthracite Coal Garment/Hosiery Railroad

Primary African American Common labor, esp. masonry Occupations: Domestic services Mining, but not as a miner Garment

Social/Benevolent/Fraternal Odd Fellows: Anthracite No. 1629/Household of Ruth Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 2 of 37

Organizations: Masonic: Golden Rule No. 15/Eastern Star Elks: Diamond City American Legion: Patterson Post G.A.R.: Keith Post 444 Political Clubs: Hayes & Wheeler Club; Garfield & Arthur Club Women’s Clubs: Mother’s Club; Mary P. Dennis Club YMCA: Beta Chapter, Phalanx Fraternity NAACP Chapter

Education: “Colored School” (19 th century, demolished) Hill Street School (20 th century, now church) G.A.R. High School (20 th century)

Location Disadvantage: Rail lines; flood plain

Community Intact or Altered: Altered

Nature of Major Alteration: Urban Redevelopment, both infrastructure and housing

Census Data Year Total Number of African Americans % of Population 1790 (total county) 4,904 24 0.5% 1800 (as township) 835 10 free, 3 slave 1.5% 1810 (as township) 1,225 30 2.4% 1820 (as borough) 755 23 3.0% 1830 (combined) 2,232 83 3.7% 1840 (as borough) 1,718 18 1.0% 1850 2,602 121 4.6% 1860 (combined) 4,094 159 3.9% 1870 10,174 416 4.0% 1880 23,339 609 2.6% 1890 37,718 596 1.6% 1900 51,721 685 1.3% 1910 67,105 673 1.0% 1920 73,833 552 0.7% 1930 86,626 877 1.0%

Primary Sources Local Contact/Liaison: Watson

Sources Collected: “Afrolumens” website: www.afrolumens.org. Accessed in 2008 and 2009 for information about central Pennsylvania communities. Beard, Shirley and Donald M. Cannon. Characteristics of Negro Households in Luzerne County . Wilkes-Barre, PA: Commission on Economic Opportunity of Luzerne County, 1968. Bradsby, H.C. History of Luzerne County . Chicago: H.B. Nelson & Co, 1893. City of Wilkes-Barre, PA. 1975 Revision to the Housing Element of the Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 3 of 37

Comprehensive Plan of the City of Wilkes-Barre . Wilkes-Barre, PA: City, 1975. Dudley, Barbara. “Blacks in the Ethnic Maze” from Ethnic Heritage Studies: Papers of the Institute at King’s College, 1975. Hartmann, Edward George, PhD. “The Ethnic History of the (Wilkes-Barre), PA – an Overview.” Unpublished manuscript in the E.S. Farley Library, Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1987. Harvey, Oscar Jewel. A History of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County . Wilkes- Barre, PA: Raeder Press, 1909. Moss, Emerson. African Americans in the Wyoming Valley . Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wilkes University Press, 1992. Mussari, Anthony. Appointment with Disaster . Wilkes-Barre, PA: Northeast Publishers, ca. 1974. Patience, Alice Patterson. Bittersweet Memories of Home . Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wilkes University Press, 1999. Patience, Alice Patterson. Bittersweet Memories of Home, Book II . Wilkes- Barre, PA: Wilkes University Press, 2001. Patterson, Christine. “A Historical Overview: The Black Experience in Wyoming Valley.” Unpublished manuscript, not dated. Smith, Eric Ledell. “The African American Community of Wilkes- Barre, 1870-1900”. Lecture, 12 th Annual Conference on the History of Northeastern Pennsylvania: The Last 100 Years. October 27, 2000. Vertical Subject Files, Wyoming Historical and Genealogical Society Vertical Subject Files, Historical Society of Luzerne County Vertical Subject Files, Osterhout Free Library

Atlas/Other Maps: 1874, Atlas of Wilkes-Barre, PA , Sturdevant 1882, Atlas of the City of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County , F.B.Roe. 1889, Panoramic Atlas of Wilkes-Barre 1898, Wyoming Valley Guide Co.

Relevant Sanborn Maps: 1884, 1891, 1910, 1950

Mapable Census Years: 1910, 1920, 1930

Aerial Photographs: PennPilot: 1939, 1959, 1969 Dallin Aerial Images: 1931, 1940

Wilkes-Barre Coverage in Wilkes-Barre Advocate African American Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News Pittsburg Courier Chicago Defender

Associated Oral History: Watson, J.D. and Gloria Wynn, Connie

Source Title Data Citation Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory /1910 Yes Pages 119-124 Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 4 of 37

Note: Much of the data provided in this directory cannot be confirmed through other primary sources. The Negro In Pennsylvania /1911 No Negro Migration in 1916-17 /1919 No Negro Survey of Pennsylvania /1928 Yes Census data/regional data only Negro Year Book and Directory /1932 Yes Pages 19-24 City Directories: N/A

Miscellanea Note #1: Wilkes-Barre’s geographical orientation can be somewhat confusing, and its directional locations appear to be at odds with the cardinal directions. The city is situated on the southeast side of the as it flows in a southwesterly direction across northeastern Pennsylvania. The city is unofficially divided into “North” and “South” sections with Market Street as the boundary. Within each section, there are “East” and “West” areas with Main Street as the boundary. When working with maps of Wilkes-Barre, because of the city’s positioning along the river, the tendency is to consider the east and west streets as north and south streets, and vice versa.

Note #2: The names and patterns of Wilkes-Barre’s infrastructure have changed significantly since the mid 19 th century. Many of the resources identified in Wilkes-Barre survive as sites of demolished buildings along roads that have been abandoned. Complicating efforts to locate these razed sites is the frequent name changes between the late 19 th and mid 20 th centuries. Please keep in mind the following when reviewing the survey data:

• South State Street no longer exists as a thoroughfare and survives as part of the downtown land bank as parking lots and improved parcels of land associated with larger properties along S. Washington Street. Originally this section of road extended from Market Street to Ross Street between S. Washington Street and S. Pennsylvania Avenue. The 100 and 200 blocks would have existed between E. Market St. and W. Northampton Street, the 300 and 400 blocks between W. Northampton and E. South St., and the 500 block between E. South St. and W. Ross Street. This length of State Street was vacated in the early 1970s as urban renewal and flood reparations drastically changed the context and appearance of center city Wilkes-Barre. • The following streets have been renamed:

Historic Current Mechanic’s Alley South State Street South Fells Street South State Street Canal Street Pennsylvania Ave. Lincoln Street Wilkes-Barre Blvd.

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Specific Resources

Name Resource Type/Function Location APT Status Iron Triangle and Heights Neighborhoods District/Domestic Wilkes-Barre 3, 5 Altered

Lincoln Plaza District/Domestic Wilkes-Barre 5 Intact

Okarma Terrace District/Domestic Wilkes-Barre 5 Intact

Building/Recreation and Southside YMCA Culture; Social Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

YWCA Building/Recreation Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

Bethel African Methodist Church Building/Religion Wilkes-Barre 3 Intact

A.M.E. Zion Building/Religion Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

Mt. Zion Baptist Church Building/Religion Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

“Colored School” Building/Education Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

Church of the Covenant Building/Religion Wilkes-Barre 3 Demolished

District/Commerce Trade; S. State Street Residential Domestic; Recreation and Wilkes-Barre 2, 3, 4, 5 Demolished and Commercial Blocks Culture C. Edgar Patience Res. Building/Recreation and Wilkes-Barre 4 Intact and Workshop Culture Hill Street School Building/Education Wilkes-Barre 3 Intact

“Coon Hollow” Site/Domestic; Commerce Wilkes-Barre 2, 5 Demolished

Mineral Art Company Site/Commerce Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Unknown

Freeman’s Restaurant and Grocery /Commerce Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Unknown

Residence and Office of Dr. C. Nurse /Commerce Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Unknown

Harry B. Patience Store /Commerce Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Unknown Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 6 of 37

Commerce Building /Commerce Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Intact

Building/Domestic; Hotel Sterling Wilkes-Barre 1 Altered Commerce West Side Park /Recreation and Culture Wilkes-Barre 4 Unknown

South Main Street /Defense Wilkes-Barre 2 Armory Unknown

Birthplace of Elmer /Recreation and Culture Wilkes-Barre 4 Stoner Unknown

Birthplace of Hon. /Commerce and Trade Wilkes-Barre 2 Unknown Jonathan Jasper Wright Residence of John Henry /Education Wilkes-Barre 3 Smythe Unknown

St. Mark’s AME Building/Religion West Pittston 3 Unknown

Rocky Glen Park Site/Recreation and Moosic 4 Unknown Culture; Religion Ku Klux Klan Rally Site/Social Forty Fort 1 Grounds Unknown

Back Mountain Site/Social Back Mountain/ 4 Lehman area Unknown

Residence of William /Domestic Unknown 1 Unknown Camp Gildersleeve Harry B. Patience /Domestic; West Pittston 2 Residence and Workshop Commerce/Trade Unknown

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Wilkes-Barre West Quad: Overall Location

General Area of Survey Focus

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Wilkes-Barre West Quad: Area of Detail and 2008 aerial image

Detail, Wilkes-Barre West Quad USGS map

2008 Aerial Image of General Area of Survey Focus Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 9 of 37

Iron Triangle/The Heights Location : Iron Triangle: S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd (formerly Lincoln); S. Welles St.; Hickory St.; Park Ave.; E. South St.; Hill St.; Dana St.; Moyallen St.; Hazle St.; Loomis St. UTM (Central): 18 425680 4565307 “Heights”: Adjacent to Iron Triangle to the north; principally the area dominated by Lincoln Plaza and Okarma Terrace. S. Welles St., E. Market St., Park St. UTM (Central): 18 426225 4565724

Nature/Function of Resource: District/Domestic; Commerce/Trade

Significance: The “Iron Triangle” and “The Height’s” areas are the last vestige of Wilkes- Barre’s historic African American community. The former neighborhood was likely named for its position along the iron railroad that bisects Wilkes- Barre; the latter is named for its position on hilly terrain at the south end of the city. Both of these small neighborhoods constitute a large part of the city referred to as “South Wilkes-Barre”. It is the last area within the city limits that the African American community settled in, having been centered in north Wilkes-Barre in the mid-19 th century, the west side of South Wilkes- Barre in the late 19 th century, and finally within these neighborhoods on the east side of South Wilkes-Barre.

These two neighborhoods today are largely residential and include roughly 600 resources within a one square mile radius. Settled primarily between 1880 and 1920, the Iron Triangle and Heights areas represent the surviving historic African American neighborhood within the Wilkes-Barre city limits. The neighborhood is primarily residential, with evidence of only minor commercial activity along the largest thoroughfares of Hazle Street, S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd (formerly Lincoln St.), and E. Market St. Residents of these neighborhoods would patronize the stores and institutions on the west side of the Lehigh Valley rail lines (principally South State Street but also scattered businesses on South Washington Street and South Pennsylvania Ave), which was accessible via the South Street Bridge, the Northampton Street bridge, the Academy Street Bridge, and the Washington Street trolley line. The Iron Triangle and Height’s ethnic and cultural neighbors included a Jewish and small Irish population in “The Heights” and Eastern European, primarily Hungarian, immigrants to the south and west.

The housing stock represents the neighborhood’s historic working-class roots as simple, two-and-a-half story wood frame buildings exhibiting no particular architectural style. The small neighborhood has a high building density and includes elements liked sidewalks, curbing, electric lines, and utility poles. There is little landscaping or tree canopies throughout the neighborhood, and it appears as though many buildings along Hazle Street and E. Northampton Street have lost a portion of their road frontage through infrastructure improvements. While it does not follow a rigid grid plan, the neighborhood is organized as narrow blocks on narrow one-way streets with rear alleys. With this traditional neighborhood plan, few homes have driveways or access to the rear portion of their property from the main street. With few exceptions, the homes are sited directly at the street, often banked because of the terrain in this section of the city.

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Architecturally, the neighborhood is comparable to other Wilkes-Barre neighborhoods of the same socio-economic class. As home to middle-class and lower class African Americans, the Iron Triangle neighborhood is composed of traditional vernacular dwellings that are indicative of late 19 th and early 20 th century working class housing. The most common architectural styles are vernacular interpretations of the Queen Anne and American Foursquare; a large percentage of buildings exhibit “no style” beyond basic ornamentation at the porch or cornice level where these original features survive.

The majority of the buildings in the neighborhoods are wood frame, and stand two-and-a-half stories tall with a basement. Twin residential buildings are most common, followed closely by single family homes. A very small number of properties that support other functions exist within the current neighborhood; the neighborhood school has become a church and many of the small commercial enterprises along Hazle Street have been demolished or substantially altered so as to not retain integrity.

The Iron Triangle and The Heights neighborhoods survive in fair to poor condition. While the urban renewal activities in Wilkes-Barre in the 1960s significantly impacted the African American neighborhoods around the Iron Triangle, it had little impact on the physical structure and appearance of this neighborhood. Like most urban neighborhoods, shifting demographic and socio-economic trends in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s affected Iron Triangle residents however a core group of families remains active in the neighborhood.

Specific Source: Field survey; Watson; Sanborn maps; census data; 1910 directory; 1932 directory

2009 Condition Altered

2008 aerial image of “Iron Triangle” area

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2008 aerial image of “The Heights” area

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1939 aerial of Iron Triangle and Heights neighborhoods. N

1969 aerial of Iron Triangle and Heights neighborhoods. N

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Southside YMCA Location : 434 South Main Street UTM: 18 429779 4565607

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/Recreation and Culture; Social

Significance: This site, now a parking lot, was the location of the Southside YMCA. This affiliate of the YMCA was founded by the African American community for the African American community in 1922.

The city’s Central YMCA branch had been established in 1863 and allowed for integration of all programs yet restricted use of the gymnasium, baths, bowling alley, and locker rooms. In 1922, a group meeting at the home of Dr. C.T.C. Nurse at 107 Hickory Street called for a their own community center and established “The Colored Young Men’s Christian and Industrial Association”, soon thereafter renamed the South Side Branch of the YMCA. It was to offer the same types of communities programs and services as the Central YMCA but for only the African American community. Because the Southside Y did not have pool facilities, African American members were permitted to use those of the central YMCA.

The group initially operated out of a storeroom at 419 S. Main Street and in 1924 moved to the former Kidder property at 434 S. Main Street, a two-story Italianate home near the intersection of S. Main and E. South Street. Consistent with the YMCA mission, this branch provided for social and community services and even hosted its own branch of the national YMCA fraternity with a Beta Chapter of the Phalanx fraternity.

The building was completely renovated from 1942 through 1944. In 1949, a new one-story recreation building was dedicated to provide a full host of facilities. In 1960, the Central and South Side YMCA groups merged and the policies of segregation were abandoned and all members given full access to the organization and its amenities.

The building was demolished sometime after the 1972 flood.

Specific Source: Watson, Moss, African Americans in the Wyoming Valley , 82-91; field survey

2009 Condition Demolished

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YWCA Location : 71 North Franklin Street UTM: 18 426211 4566689

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/Recreation and Culture; Social

Significance: Now a park, this site was the location of the Wilkes-Barre YWCA. This branch founded in 1893 and provided housing for poor single women in the city. Moss’ account of the YWCA suggests that it was not segregated, which would have been highly unusual for this community, region, and period. The organization was merged with the Central YMCA in 1981. It is unknown when the building was demolished.

Specific Source: Watson, Moss, African Americans in the Wyoming Valley , 91-92; field survey

2009 Condition Demolished

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Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Location : 500 Franklin Street UTM: 18 424792 4565664

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Church

Significance: This building stands as the fifth home of the Bethel A.M.E. congregation. This congregation was established in 1848 and worshipped at various sites throughout Wilkes-Barre based on the center of the African American population at that time. From 1848 to 1856, the congregation worshipped in a house near N. Pennsylvania Ave.; from 1856 to 1918 at a new church facility at 172 State Street (originally addressed as 146 S. Fell until citywide renumbering in the early 1900s; and from 1918 to 1968 at the former First (German) Reformed Church of Wilkes-Barre at 268-272 S. Washington St. In 1969, the congregation moved to 500 S. Franklin Street, a modest brick Gothic Revival church originally constructed for the Grace English Lutheran congregation and later used by the First (German) Reformed.

Consistent with data collected in other communities, Bethel A.M.E. served the community beyond its religious function. Many of the African American social, fraternal, and benevolent groups used the facility for their meetings, including the NAACP, concerts (such as the one held for James Miller, Pittsburgh pianist in 1931), lectures, women’s groups, and the American Legion meetings.

According to Moss, this move caused a substantial fracture within the congregation and many of the early members left. The move to the existing facility was driven by pressure from the city government to relocate in order to allow for urban renewal of the area. Many of the older congregants who worked to restore and maintain the S. Washington Street church felt the city was being prejudicial because neighboring white churches were not forced to move and lose their buildings.

Specific Source: Moss, African Americans in the Wyoming Valley , 51-57; field survey

2009 Condition Intact

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African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church Location : 220 E. Northampton St. UTM: 18 426228 4567727

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/Church

Significance: An AME Zion congregation was established in Wilkes-Barre as early as 1850; from 1850 to the late 1880s, the congregation was itinerant and met inconsistently in private homes. In 1888, a church facility was built at 220 E. Northampton Street at the southeast corner of the intersection of S. Welles and E. Northampton streets. With seating for 300, this moderately-sized brick church building included Late Victorian-era Gothic inspired detailing executed in wood.

By 1900, the congregation was experiencing financial troubles and by 1907 the congregation was dissolved. In March 1915, the parent AME Zion church in New York sold the property to a local evangelical group, who in turn transferred the property to the Wilkes-Barre Hebrew Institute around 1920. By 1922, the Hebrew Institute constructed their school on an adjacent parcel of land and presumably demolished the AME Zion church at or near the same time.

Specific Source: Sanborn maps; Moss, African Americans in the Wyoming Valley , 57-60; field survey; Wilkes-Barre Recorder 7/30/1888

2009 Condition Demolished

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Mt. Zion Baptist Church Location : 105 Hill Street UTM: 18 425735 4565382

Nature/Function of Resource: Building; Church

Significance: The Mt. Zion Baptist Church is today located in the former Doran, or Hill Street, School in the Iron Triangle neighborhood. The congregation was established as the Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1902 as an outgrowth of the Baptist Mission; this latter group was formed in 1893 by former AME Zion members. The congregation built their first facility, a one-story brick building of no particular architectural style, at 191 S. Welles Street in 1914.

In 1962, the congregation was forced to abandon their facility as the city moved ahead with its redevelopment plan to construct public housing units along Welles Street and S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd. They purchased the vacant W. E. Doran School, the current home of the congregation, in 1962.

Specific Source: Watson; African Americans in the Wyoming Valley , 61-64; field survey

2009 Condition Demolished

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“Coon Hollow” Location : 300 block of South Street between S. Sheridan and S. Empire streets UTM (Central): 426423 4564914

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/Domestic; Commerce/Trade

Significance: Site is associated with the Sewer Worker’s Strike of 1899. Local contractor George Post solicited and imported African American workers from Virginia to build a new sewer line along Empire Street and housed them in a property in this block of South Street between S. Sheridan and S. Empire streets. Typical of labor importers of this period, Post contracted with the men to provide their transportation to Wilkes-Barre, to pay them a daily wage and to provide a place to live; he also stated that he would allow them the freedom to shop wherever they choose. In reality, the workers were forced to pay high rates for board, rent bedding, and shop in Post’s “commissary”.

Upon their arrival in the summer of 1899, the African American laborers found they were expected to lodge in a substandard boarding house near the jobsite but far from the center of the African American community. Not only did the 50+ men have to live together, but they had to do so in appallingly substandard conditions. There were inadequate sanitary facilities, very few windows and fresh air, and hay bales for beds.

Before the laborers began work on Post’s sewer line, they struck over unfair wages. White workers were paid $0.25 more per day than Post’s African American laborers; black workers not only felt they deserved equal wages but were also feeling pressure from the white workers to not undermine their ability to get reasonable jobs. The striking workers met on the front lawn of their boarding house and organized to strike and demand fair treatment. Post was arrested for maintaining “a public nuisance” and held for $300 bail. Because most of the laborers left as a result of the incident, the charges were dropped against Post and he has not held accountable for his treatment of the immigrants.

The strike proved to be a larger issue than simply not having the sewer constructed. From period news coverage, it appears that Post’s actions placed in the public arena the discussion of racism, housing standards, immigration, and public health. While the entire event lasted only a few days before most of the laborers left for different cities, it is illustrative of the labor and housing conditions associated with the Great Migration.

Specific Source: Smith lecture (2000), newspapers; field survey

2009 Condition Demolished

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“Colored School” Location : South State Street near E. South Street (approximate location) UTM (approximate): 18 425755 4565857

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/ Education

Significance: This site marks the location of the mid 19 th century “Colored School”, also known as the “Mechanic’s Street School”, that was located in an early church of African Presbyterians on South State Street. This school served as the only facility for African American children from the mid-19 th century (ca. 1854) through 1877. Because of its dilapidated condition, this school was abandoned when the Gildersleeve School operated from 1877-1881, also on South State Street.

Specific Source: Moss, 68.

2009 Condition Demolished

The Church of the Covenant Location : South Washington near South Street UTM (approximate, at intersection): 18 425699 4565926

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/ Church

Significance: This site marks the location of one of Wilkes-Barre’s two African American Presbyterian congregations. The location of this church is likely the small building denoted as “African Church” on the 1884 and 1891 Sanborn maps.

This congregation was established in 1873 yet the date for the construction of a related church building is unknown. The group had a Sabbath School, Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, and a Children’s Missionary Band. Rev. William Robeson, father of tenor Paul Robeson, officiated for this congregation from 1878 to 1800. Moss notes that it was known as “the only colored Presbyterian Church in Presbytery”; this statement deserves further investigation as to its specificity (is reference to the local, regional, or national presbytery) and significance to both African American and religious history.

The Presbytery of Lackawanna dissolved the congregation ca. 1892, however, the date at which the building was razed in unknown.

Specific Source: Moss, 50-51. Osmond, History of the Presbytery of Luzerne, State of Pennsylvania , 1897, pg 330; Sanborn maps.

2009 Condition Demolished

South State Street Residential and Commercial Blocks (demolished) Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 23 of 37

Location : South State Street between Market and Ross Streets UTM (approximate, S. State at Market): 18 426263 4566233 UTM (approximate, S. State at Ross): 18 425512 4565708

Nature/Function of District/Commerce/Trade; Domestic; Recreation and Culture Resource: Significance: Note: Given the wholesale demolition and decommissioning of these blocks in the 1970s, the South State Street Commercial and Residential Corridor is treated herein as a single resource, comparable to a historic district.

South State Street between E. Market Street and Ross Street developed as the central commercial corridor for Wilkes-Barre’s African American community. While satellite commercial enterprises and professional offices were located in adjacent blocks on nearby streets, South State Street appears to have contained the majority of the homes, businesses, and landmark buildings. While the corridor was technically located in the “central” section of Wilkes-Barre, it, like the African American residential areas, was relegated to the edges of the companion white neighborhoods. The South State Street blocks were separated from the residential communities of Iron Triangle and The Heights by the Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks but accessible via main bridges, principally the South Street Bridge. River Street, Market Street, and Washington Street were developed as the commercial heart of the larger white community.

South State Street has a long and convoluted history. In the 19 th century, until approximately ca. 1905, the thoroughfare was known as “Mechanic’s Alley” and later South Fells Street. This street is shown on historic maps as a densely settled narrow street, narrower than its companion neighboring streets of Canal (Pennsylvania), Washington, and River. By the last decade of the 19 th century, and principally in the first two decades of the 20 th century, South State Street reached the appearance that is documented in both 1911 Negro Directory and 1891 and 1910 Sanborn maps.

Wilkes-Barre experienced two major floods in the 20th century, and both impacted the built environment along S. State Street; however, the most substantial alteration came at the hands of the city’s urban renewal policies, which were encouraged and promoted by the damage caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Beginning in 1972, a series of infrastructure, zoning, and planning improvements changed the once-thriving commercial corridor into a quintessential urban wasteland with large paved lots, high-rise apartment towers, industrial sites, and smaller commercial and service companies in low-scaled, modern-styled buildings.

As a smaller version of the main commercial district, the South State Street corridor included many of the same types of trade, retail, and institutional amenities found throughout Wilkes-Barre for the white community. Over a period of decades beginning in the late 19 th century, these included such places as the Odd Fellows Hall (S. State and Nelson Alley), the South State Street Hotel (253-255 S. State), the veterinary offices and residence of Dr. George C. Overton; Joey Gans’ barber shop; Hotel Shaw; and Popky’s Hall. Specific Source: Watson; Moss; Field Survey; Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory , 1910

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2009 Condition Demolished

2008 aerial image of former S. State Street area

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C. Edgar Patience Residence and Workshop Location : 82-84 Loomis Street UTM: 18 425170 4564769

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Domestic; Recreation and Culture

Significance: C. Edgar Patience (1916-1972) is widely recognized as one of the Commonwealth’s most important artists. Son of local artisan Harry B. Patience and brother to fellow sculptor Kenneth Patience, C. Edgar was born in West Pittston but moved to Wilkes-Barre in 1948 to the small wood frame residence at 82-84 Loomis Street and worked at a small machine shop in the backyard.

C. Edgar distinguished himself from his family by sculpting monumental pieces of art out of coal, rather than the small novelties favored by his father and brother. Self-taught and proclaimed as “America’s Most Unusual Sculptor” by Ebony magazine, C. Edgar was widely recognized by the late 1960s for his talents and enjoyed several major commissions. These included: coal objects for every president from FDR to Nixon; pieces for Lady Bird Johnson; the “Mack Truck” bulldog; a replica vacuum for the Hoover Company; busts of Washington and Kennedy; Coaltown U.S.A. miniature; and the 4,000 pound coal alter at King’s College chapel. His work has been displayed by the Smithsonian Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, King’s College, the Anthracite Museum, the United Mine Workers of America, Barbados, and Canada.

Patience died in 1972 from black lung disease.

Specific Source: Moss, 102-107; Patience, Bittersweet Memories I and II ; field survey

2009 Condition Intact

Hill Street School Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 26 of 37

Location : 105 Hill Street UTM: 18 425735 4565382

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Education

Significance: Served as the Iron Triangle’s neighborhood school from ca. 1905 through the 1960s. The facility was substantially rehabilitated in the 1960s for the new home of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

Specific Source: Watson; field survey

2009 Condition Intact

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Hotel Sterling Location : River and Market Streets UTM: 18 425962 45666684

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Domestic

Significance: The Hotel Sterling, built in 1897 as a large upper-class hotel and restaurant in the Neoclassical Revival style, was the last segregated restaurant in Wilkes- Barre and operated as such until the 1950s when the Negro Women’s Civic League broke the color barrier.

Specific Source: Watson

2009 Condition Altered

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Lincoln Plaza Location : 50 Lincoln Plaza, at S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd and E. Market Street UTM (Central): 18 426479 4565993

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Domestic

Significance: This building is one of two public housing projects sponsored by the City of Wilkes-Barre as part of the redevelopment of South Wilkes-Barre. Lincoln Plaza was constructed in the late 1960s in the typical stark, institutional, utilitarian style of housing projects of that era. Constructed of brick and standing eleven stories tall, the building replaced turn-of-the-20 th - century residential buildings within the city’s African American neighborhood.

Specific Source: Field Survey

2009 Condition Intact

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Okarma Terrace (renamed as Boulevard Apartments but locally referred to as OKT) Location : Along S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd and S. Welles Street between E. Market Street and Hill Street. At northern boundary of “The Heights” section of Wilkes-Barre. UTM (Central, Midland Ct. at Bridge Street): 18 425946 4565593

Nature/Function of Resource: District/Domestic

Significance: The first of the city’s public housing projects constructed during the urban renewal campaigns of South Wilkes-Barre that began in 1955. This massive housing complex is owned and managed by HUD and is a companion to the Lincoln Plaza complex along E. Market Street at its intersection with S. Welles Street. It is also referred to as the Boulevard Apartments. Although located in the predominantly African American section of Wilkes-Barre, the community now appears to have a balance of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic tenants.

Okarma is designed as a community of mixed building types, scales, and forms. Based on field observations, the complex appears to have been expanded at least once, likely in the 1980s judging from building designs. While Okarma and Lincoln were originally separate communities, they have since merged and now function as one large housing project along S. Wilkes- Barre Blvd.

The layout of the entire complex is vast. The original Okarma Terrace buildings anchor the southern end of the site at Hill Street and extend for two long blocks to E. Northampton Street. The block between E. Northampton St. and E. Market street features a collection of residential building types and is the area in which the two separate developments merged, likely in the 1980s. There are two dense high-rise apartment houses along S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd and seven moderately-scaled townhouse buildings to the south within the center of the block. The Lincoln and Okarma communities are joined by a network of paths, parking lots, and cul-de-sacs within the center of this block. Early 20 th century frame houses, indicative of the original condition of S. Welles St, survive along the eastern side of the block. Additional residential buildings, community center, and maintenance buildings are located throughout the three block area.

The older, historic section of the Okarma Terrace buildings is a typical prototype of the public housing complexes of the mid-20 th century. The buildings contain, on average, eight two-story townhouse units. Positioned parallel to each other and the major thoroughfares of S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd and S. Welles St., these units are connected by a network of sidewalks and grassy open spaces. Originally, these units were designed as stark, institutional buildings in what can best be described as the International Style; they had flat roofs, utilitarian metal windows, and a strict geometric rhythm to the main facades. After the Hurricane Agnes flooding in 1972, the buildings were rehabilitated into the structures that stand today which feature shallow pitched roofs, softer flat wall planes, and new entrances.

Specific Source: Watson; Field Survey; PennPilot Photos

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2009 Condition Intact; Altered

1972 view of OKarma Apartments after Hurricane Agnes. Source: Vertical subject files, Osterhaut Free Library.

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Office of Dr. Charles T.C. Nurse Location : 23 Wright Street; UTM (approximate): 18 425289 4566150

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: Wilkes-Barre’s first African American physician until 1918. Native of British Guiana, he trained at Queens University in Canada, London, and in Pittsburgh.

Specific Source: Moss, 145

2009 Condition Unknown

Commerce Building Location : 119 S. Washington Street UTM (approximate): 18 425902 4566077

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: One of the city’s many commercial buildings and its proximity to the South State Street area made it a prime location for African American professional offices. In the 1920s, the at least one doctor, lawyer, and the area’s first African American dentist occupied offices here.

Specific Source: Moss, 145; 1932 Directory

2009 Condition Unknown

Mineral Art Company Location : 113 Hickory Street UTM (approximate): 18 425505 4565207

Nature/Function of Resource: Unknown/Commerce/Trade

Significance: The Mineral Art Company was founded by Gerald Morris, Kenneth Patience, and S. Olin Morris in a small shed outbuilding at 113 Hickory Street. The Morris brothers started a small company, designing and creating jewelry and often using coal that was carved by local artisan Kenneth Patience. In the early 1940s, Gerald moved the company with the “World’s Finest Black Diamonds” to New York City.

Specific Source: Moss, 107-108.

2009 Condition Unknown

Freeman’s Restaurant & Grocery Communities in Common: Pennsylvania’s African American Historic Resources Target Community: Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Page 33 of 37

Location : 189 S. Pennsylvania Avenue UTM (approximate): 18 425824 4565819

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: Location of one of Wilkes-Barre’s African American businesses

Specific Source: Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory , 1910

2009 Condition Unknown

Harry B. Patience Store Location : 34 S. Washington Street UTM (approximate): 18 425558 4566553

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: Location of the retail store associated with the coal novelties produced and marketed by Harry B. Patience of West Pittston

Specific Source: Patience, Bittersweet Memories I and II

2009 Condition Unknown

West Side Park Location : Unknown

Nature/Function of Resource: Site/Recreation and Culture

Significance: Location used for games played by various baseball teams of the Negro League

Specific Source: Moss

2009 Condition Unknown

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South Main Street Armory Location : Unknown

Nature/Function of Resource: /Defense; Recreation and Culture

Significance: Location used for many boxing matches featuring African American boxers from the regional circuit. Hosted such men as Joe Morrissey, Bob Barnes, Kid Chocolate, Joe Gans, and Steve Smith

Specific Source: News articles, various

2009 Condition Unknown

Birthplace of Elmer Stoner Location : In the area around 40 N. Main (1910 census entry conflicts with Sanborn map) UTM (approximate): 18 426280 4566554

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Recreation and Culture

Significance: Elmer Stoner, an African American comic book writer and illustrator, was born in Wilkes-Barre in 1898 and raised here until the mid 1910s. The 1910 census has him listed as a “mulatto” living in the 4 th Ward; enumerator handwriting is poor for this entry, but it appears that the Stoner family lived on a small alley/side street off of N. Main Street.

His biography in a 1951 news articles includes reference to his being the grandson of Wilkes-Barre resident George Wainwright Stoner, great-great- grandson to Sally Ann Smith, one of George Washington’s cooks at Mount Vernon, and brother to local musician Charles Stoner and “famous” costume designer Emilie Stoner. Local philanthropist F.M. Kirby provided for Stoner’s education in Europe, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the University of Pennsylvania.

A resident of New York’s Greenwich Village for most of his life, he became a prolific comic book writer in the mid 20 th century. His strips and characters include War Heroes, Phantasmo, Gang Busters, and Blue Beetle. Stone is also recognized as one of the few African American comic book authors and illustrators; his colleagues included men like Alphonso Green, Matt Baker, John Baker, and A.C. Hollingsworth.

Stoner was also later known for his watercolors, particularly those depicting scenes of the Lehigh and Wyoming valleys, which were exhibited at the Southside YMCA in 1951.

Specific Source: New York Amsterdam News , Mar 10, 1951; “This Negro Artist’s Drawings are Fighting Our Enemies” in Daily Worker ; census

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Birthplace of Honorable Jonathan Jasper Wright (1840 - 1885) Location : Unknown

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: J.J. Wright is a native of Wilkes-Barre and was the first African American in Pennsylvania to be admitted to the bar. Wright was born in Wilkes-Barre in 1840, but was raised in Montrose, Susquehanna County, which was recognized as a less prejudicial community. After attending college in New York, Wright returned to Wilkes-Barre where he briefly studied under Justice O. Collins. Wright served with the Freedman’s Bureau during Reconstruction, and after the war returned to Pennsylvania and petitioned the Commonwealth for a second time for entrance to the state bar. In 1866, he was admitted as the first African American lawyer in the state. In 1867, he returned to the South as the first practicing African American lawyer in South Carolina and in 1870 was elected as a justice on that state’s Supreme Court.

Specific Source: Moss, 40; http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=691

2009 Condition Unknown

Residence of John Henry Smythe (1844-1908) Location : Unknown

Nature/Function of Resource: Unknown/Education

Significance: John Henry Smythe served as one of Wilkes-Barre’s African American schoolteachers from 1868-1869. Born in Richmond, Smythe was educated in the Philadelphia school system and Howard University Law School. In 1878, Smythe was appointed as minister resident and consul general for Liberia, Africa by President Hayes.

Specific Source: Moss, 69; http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=691

2009 Condition Unknown

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St. Mark’s A.M.E. Location : 207 Boston Ave., West Pittston UTM (approximate): 18 432501 4575232

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Religion

Significance: Site of one the Wyoming Valley’s AME churches outside of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. The facility was built in 1907 and sold to the Apostolic Church of West Pittston when the AME congregation dissolved in 1954.

Specific Source: Moss, 64

2009 Condition Unknown

Rocky Glen Park Location : Rocky Glenn Road, Moosic, PA

Nature/Function of Resource: /Recreation and Culture

Significance: This former amusement park (closed in 1988) was a favorite destination of African American church and social groups in the mid 20 th century.

Specific Source: Moss, Watson

2009 Condition Unknown

Ku Klux Klan Rally Grounds Location : Forty-Fort, PA

Nature/Function of Resource: /Social

Significance: African-American community in Wilkes-Barre has cited KKK activity at their rally grounds in Forty-Fort. Exact location unknown.

Specific Source: News articles, various; Watson

2009 Condition Unknown

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Back Mountain Location : Back Mountain/Lehman, PA

Nature/Function of Resource: /Social

Significance: African-American community in Wilkes-Barre has cited KKK activity in this particularly rural area. Exact location unknown.

Specific Source: Watson

2009 Condition Unknown

Harry B. Patience Residence and Workshop Location : West Pittston

Nature/Function of Resource: /Commerce/Trade

Significance: Home and workshop of Harry B. Patience, and later his son Kenneth Patience, local sculptors who worked with anthracite coal as their media. Harry established the trade of coal novelties in this area deep in northeastern PA coal country, and passed on his artistic talents and business acumen to his son Kenneth and his grandson C. Edgar. Harry started the Mineral Art Company to produce novelties in the “World’s Finest Black Diamonds.” He later gave control of this company to Gerald Morris, his son in law, and his son.

Moss states that Kenneth created a miniature replica of St. Peter’s Church in Moscow as a commission for the to present to the Soviet government. In addition to numerous clocks, vases, and lamps, Kenneth also created the display “Ball and Sphere” at the 1939 World’s Fair.

Specific Source: Moss, 102 – 107

2009 Condition Unknown

Residence of William Camp Gildersleeve Location : 20 E. Ross Street

Nature/Function of Resource: Building/Residential

Significance: Abolitionist and UGRR conductor in Wilkes-Barre.

Specific Source: PHMC State Marker

2009 Condition Demolished