Wyoming County Courthouse

 courthouse, historical building

The Courthouse (1870). The first court house and jail were put up in 1843, the first brick structures built in the borough. A second jail was built in 1866 and the courthouse was completely rebuilt in 1870. It was enlarged and extended to three stories with a rear projection of two stories, the whole of brick covered with cement and painted. The overall style is Italianate Tuscan Villa, capped by a high tower in proportion to the building. The central bay projects and has two very long parallel windows. The building is painted white; all the windows are trimmed and accented in brown as are the quoins at the corners and the decorative brackets under the eaves.

In 1992 an addition was added to the back creating an "H" shaped courthouse. Matching trimming was added to the structure all round and it was painted to create a unified whole. Entrance today is at the rear which opens onto a small park with a memorial. Despite this incremental history, this is a very attractive building. It looks like something Frank Furness might have created whole, but didn't. (Furness was a turn of the century Philadelphia architect known for a colorful style; unfortunately he designed no Pennsylvania courthouses.)

www.mapsofpa.com/countyseatsf.htm
www.wyocopa.org/index.asp

1 Courthouse Square, Tunkhannock PA 18657;
phone: 570-836-3200.