00:00 - Pennsylvania is home to some of

00:02 - the most beautiful courthouses

00:03 - in America.

00:05 - It's rare when politics, art,

00:07 - and law meet at the front door,

00:09 - but it happens in the Keystone

00:11 - State.

00:12 - For more than 125 years, the

00:14 - County Commissioners Association

00:16 - of Pennsylvania has carried the

00:18 - legacy: Pennsylvania's historic

00:20 - courthouses.

00:29 - Hello.

00:30 - My name is David Pedri and I'm

00:31 - the county manager here in

00:32 - Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

00:34 - The beautiful building that I'm

00:35 - standing in front of is the

00:36 - Luzerne County Courthouse right

00:38 - here in Wilkes-Barre,

00:39 - Pennsylvania.

00:40 - This building, erected in 1909,

00:43 - and recently renovated - thanks

00:44 - to a $2 million project - is an

00:47 - icon here in the city of

00:48 - Wilkes-Barre.

00:49 - It stands as a monument to the

00:51 - hard working men and women of

00:52 - Luzerne County.

00:54 - This building is not only

00:55 - beautiful, it is functional as

00:56 - well.

00:57 - It houses the Luzerne County

00:58 - judiciary and many of the county

01:00 - row offices.

01:02 - Welcome to Luzerne County and

01:03 - enjoy your tour.

01:09 - In 2018, Luzerne County

01:11 - undertook a massive renovation

01:13 - project.

01:14 - $2 million went into the upkeep

01:16 - and renovation of the Luzerne

01:18 - County rotunda.

01:19 - This work - done by John Canning

01:21 - and Associates and the Luzerne

01:22 - county engineers - produces this

01:25 - stunning rotunda that you see

01:27 - here today.

01:28 - This rotunda was damaged by

01:30 - years of water damage, smoke

01:33 - damage, nicotine, dust, and

01:36 - dirt.

01:36 - Painstakingly, the artisans

01:38 - redid this rotunda step by step

01:41 - and, literally, inch by inch.

01:43 - This rotunda was restored to its

01:46 - original beautiful glory that

01:48 - you see here today.

01:53 - A public building is the index

01:55 - to the civic character of whom

01:57 - the building belongs.

01:58 - Hi, I'm Tony Brooks chairman of

02:00 - the Wilkes-Barre Preservation

02:01 - Society and president of

02:02 - Wilkes-Barre City Council.

02:04 - Welcome to Wilkes-Barre,

02:05 - Pennsylvania the only city in

02:06 - Pennsylvania that has been the

02:08 - county seat to two counties of

02:10 - two colonies: Pennsylvania and

02:12 - Connecticut.

02:13 - You are now in the beautiful

02:14 - 1909 Luzerne County Courthouse

02:17 - that was designed by people who

02:18 - had great civic character 110

02:20 - years ago when we were in the

02:22 - middle of it anthracite boom,

02:24 - the county that fueled the

02:25 - industrial revolution up and

02:27 - down the East Coast of the

02:28 - United States of America.

02:30 - Wilkes-Barre has been in four

02:32 - different counties in

02:34 - Pennsylvania and one in

02:35 - Connecticut.

02:36 - When we originally were settled

02:38 - in 1769 Wilkes-Barre was part of

02:40 - Northampton County.

02:41 - Then in 1772 it became part of

02:44 - Northumberland County.

02:45 - But the people of this area

02:47 - pledged their allegiance to

02:48 - Connecticut and they called

02:50 - themselves Westmoreland County,

02:52 - Connecticut.

02:52 - It wasn't until 1786 when

02:55 - Benjamin Franklin - who was

02:56 - president of Pennsylvania - and

02:58 - William Lewis - the chairman of

03:00 - the Assembly - signed documents

03:02 - to create Luzerne County, which

03:04 - became the fourth name of our

03:05 - county of this area.

03:09 - There have been six courthouses

03:11 - that serve the people of this

03:13 - area.

03:13 - We first start off in a home of

03:15 - Zebulon Butler and Lord Butler.

03:17 - A courthouse that served for us

03:19 - when we became Luzerne County in

03:21 - 1786.

03:22 - Prior to that, we were

03:23 - Westmoreland County, Connecticut

03:24 - and operated our county

03:26 - government out of a fort on

03:27 - public square in downtown

03:28 - Wilkes-Barre.

03:29 - The first courthouse served our

03:31 - people well for about ten years.

03:33 - Our second courthouse - which

03:34 - was a brick structure looking

03:36 - very similar to Carpenters Hall

03:37 - in Philadelphia - served us for

03:39 - 50 years.

03:40 - And then in the 1850s as

03:41 - Wilkes-Barre is growing a

03:42 - population and we're starting to

03:44 - make money with the anthracite

03:45 - industry, we build a large

03:46 - wonderful structure that

03:47 - dominated all of public square

03:49 - for 50 years, until the people

03:51 - of Luzerne County petitioned for

03:53 - yet another - fourth -

03:54 - courthouse.

03:57 - This magnificent structure was

03:58 - designed by a Pittsburgh

04:00 - architect named F. J. Osterling.

04:02 - F. J. Osterling worked also with

04:04 - the local Wilkes-Barre firm of

04:05 - McCormick and French.

04:07 - It is a classical style very

04:09 - reminiscent of European

04:11 - capitals.

04:12 - It was part of the City

04:13 - Beautiful Movement which started

04:14 - after the Columbia World's

04:15 - Exhibition in Chicago in 1893,

04:18 - when buildings all across

04:20 - America were reminiscent of

04:22 - Greek and Roman architecture --

04:24 - a classical design particularly

04:26 - harping back to Greek times that

04:28 - was making a statement about the

04:29 - permanence of democracy.

04:31 - We wanted to show our state

04:32 - capitals, our county capitals,

04:34 - and of course our national

04:35 - capitals, were permanent

04:36 - democratic institutions that

04:38 - were here to stay.

04:44 - Here in the lobby of the

04:45 - courthouse if you look up on the

04:46 - ceiling you will see all the

04:48 - counties that are carved out of

04:50 - Luzerne County.

04:51 - At one time Luzerne County

04:52 - dominated all of northeastern

04:53 - Pennsylvania.

04:54 - It was called the mother of

04:55 - counties.

04:56 - The first two counties to leave

04:58 - Luzerne County was Bradford -

05:00 - where Towanda is - and

05:02 - Susquehanna County - were

05:03 - Montrose is.

05:04 - They left in 1810.

05:06 - The third county to leave

05:07 - Luzerne County was Wyoming

05:09 - County - the county seat of

05:10 - Tunkhannock - in 1842.

05:12 - And the last county that carved

05:14 - out of Luzerne County - also the

05:15 - last county in the Commonwealth

05:17 - of Pennsylvania - is Lackawanna

05:19 - County - with the county seat of

05:20 - Scranton - leaving us in 1878.

05:25 - If you look up on the ceiling

05:26 - and you'll see allegorical

05:27 - figures of females representing

05:29 - each of the different counties

05:31 - that were carved out of Luzerne

05:32 - County.

05:36 - So our courthouse is a cruciform

05:39 - shaped building.

05:40 - It's 200 feet by 200 feet and

05:42 - 100 feet to the dome of the

05:44 - courthouse.

05:46 - We just recently restored the

05:47 - courthouse and if you look up to

05:49 - the dome, you'll see that there

05:50 - are two United States

05:51 - presidents, a founding father,

05:53 - and a young man from

05:54 - Wilkes-Barre.

05:56 - In 1909, the citizens of Luzerne

05:59 - County chose who they were

06:00 - putting in the dome of their

06:02 - wonderful magnificent

06:03 - courthouse.

06:04 - They chose George Washington:

06:06 - that represents independence.

06:08 - They chose Abraham Lincoln: that

06:09 - represents freedom.

06:11 - They chose Benjamin Franklin.

06:12 - One of our founding fathers who

06:14 - was also president of

06:14 - Pennsylvania when Luzerne County

06:16 - was created, and he symbolizes

06:18 - philosophy.

06:19 - And a young Wilkes-Barre man

06:20 - that they chose symbolizes art.

06:22 - And his name is George Catlin.

06:25 - George Catlin was born in

06:26 - Wilkes-Barre in 1796 and he went

06:29 - off to the Pennsylvania Academy

06:31 - of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and

06:32 - became a foremost painter of

06:34 - Native Americans.

06:35 - He traveled through the Midwest

06:38 - on five exhibitions to paint

06:40 - nearly 500 Indian chiefs and

06:42 - their wives, Indian festivals,

06:44 - their culture, their religion,

06:46 - how they hunted, and how they

06:48 - fed.

06:48 - And there's a wonderful story

06:50 - about George Catlin that I like

06:51 - to tell.

06:52 - George Catlin happened to be the

06:53 - first American to have a large

06:55 - scale exhibition in the Louvre

06:57 - and in 1845 he was invited by

06:59 - the king of France to show his

07:01 - 500 paintings in Paris at the

07:03 - Louvre, and when he met the king

07:04 - of France, they had a

07:05 - conversation and he asked him

07:06 - where you're from.

07:07 - George Catlin says, "I'm from

07:09 - Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County."

07:10 - And the King says, "I was

07:11 - there."

07:12 - Isn't it amazing that the king

07:14 - of France and George Catlin's

07:16 - life actually intersected twice?

07:18 - When the king was a young Duke

07:19 - of Orléans, he came to Luzerne

07:22 - County to check on 1,200 acres

07:24 - that became the French asylum:

07:26 - essentially a refugee camp for

07:27 - French aristocrats escaping the

07:29 - French Revolution.

07:30 - And George Catlin was one years

07:32 - old when his father brought him

07:34 - to a party for the Duke of

07:35 - Orléans.

07:36 - That was in 1797.

07:38 - Then in 1845, George Catlin and

07:41 - the King of France - this Duke

07:42 - of Orléans now becomes King

07:44 - Louis Philippe - meet again in

07:45 - this wonderful exhibition at the

07:46 - Louvre of George Catlin's Indian

07:49 - gallery.

07:50 - That Indian gallery today is one

07:52 - of the gems of the Smithsonian.

07:56 - There are four corridors on the

07:57 - first floor of the Luzerne

07:59 - County Courthouse and in

08:00 - chronological order it's really

08:02 - a living open history book of

08:05 - the area from the very beginning

08:07 - of the first settlers in the

08:08 - 1760s.

08:10 - On the east corridor you will

08:11 - look up and you will see who

08:13 - were the people in charge of,

08:15 - really, the world at this time

08:16 - when Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne

08:17 - County were first settled.

08:20 - You have King George of England.

08:22 - You have Thomas Penn, the

08:23 - governor of Pennsylvania.

08:25 - And you have Jonathan Trumble,

08:27 - the governor of Connecticut.

08:32 - You also have King Hendriks who

08:34 - is the chief of the Mohawks, and

08:36 - one of our public high schools

08:37 - here is named Mohawks of Myers

08:39 - High School in Wilkes-Barre.

08:40 - As you go throughout the

08:41 - corridors you will see all the

08:43 - different kind of movers and

08:44 - shakers of our area that have

08:46 - served in county government,

08:48 - have become the first judges,

08:50 - the first prothonotaries, clerk

08:52 - of courts, all the different row

08:53 - offices that we used to have in

08:55 - Luzerne.

08:57 - But you also have the namesakes

09:00 - of our county seat: John Wilkes

09:02 - and Isaac Barre.

09:03 - You know Wilkes-Barre is the

09:05 - only city in America with a

09:06 - hyphen named after two

09:08 - gentlemen.

09:08 - Two gentlemen who actually did

09:09 - not find Wilkes-Barre, but they

09:12 - were named in honor of their

09:14 - service to our cause of the

09:16 - American Revolution when they

09:18 - were members of the British

09:19 - Parliament.

09:20 - Back in 1765 when the Stamp Act

09:22 - was passed, John Wilkes and

09:23 - Isaac Barre would get up in the

09:25 - House of Commons floor and say,

09:26 - 'You know, those Americans are

09:28 - right. There should be no

09:29 - taxation without

09:31 - representation.'

09:32 - So the people here of

09:33 - Wilkes-Barre and their leader -

09:34 - a guy named Zebulon Butler and

09:36 - John Durkee - named Wilkes-Barre

09:38 - in honor of John Wilkes and

09:40 - Isaac Barre.

09:44 - Now if you look over another

09:45 - part of the corridor, you'll see

09:47 - the namesake of Luzerne County.

09:49 - Named for Anne-César Chevalier

09:52 - de la Luzerne - the second most

09:54 - popular Frenchman of esteem of

09:56 - the American people during the

09:57 - American Revolution, the first

09:59 - being the Marquis de Lafayette -

10:01 - the Chevalier de la Luzerne was

10:03 - a French minister during the --

10:05 - after the revolution to the

10:07 - United States.

10:12 - As you walk along the corridors

10:13 - of the first floor you will find

10:15 - half moon paintings called

10:17 - lunettes that depict different

10:18 - historical scenes of the area.

10:21 - One of them is the Albany

10:22 - Congress of 1754, where the

10:24 - Susquehanna leaders signed a

10:27 - document with the local Iroquois

10:29 - Indians for purchase of the

10:31 - lands.

10:31 - Other of them are the creation

10:33 - of Luzerne County and there's

10:35 - four lunette down this corridor

10:37 - that depict the changing modes

10:39 - of transportation in the area.

10:41 - When people first came here you

10:43 - came on a horse, and then later

10:44 - on we change with the canal

10:46 - system, and later became the

10:48 - trains.

10:49 - If the corridor got larger, you

10:50 - would have cars, airplanes, and

10:52 - spaceships.

10:55 - Luzerne County has been home to

10:56 - three governors of the

10:57 - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

10:59 - John S. Fine.

11:01 - Arthur Horace James.

11:03 - And in this corridor is Henry

11:05 - Hoyt, the first Wilkes-Barre

11:07 - person from Luzerne County to

11:08 - serve as governor.

11:10 - He was chairman of the

11:10 - Republican Party in 1875 and

11:12 - went on to be elected governor

11:14 - in 1879.

11:16 - He served with the 52nd Regiment

11:18 - of the Civil War and is

11:19 - decorated for his service.

11:25 - Luzerne County is home to

11:26 - approximately 340,000 people and

11:29 - their courthouse is the seat of

11:31 - our county government, housing

11:33 - the day to day operations of our

11:34 - county manager and the work of

11:36 - our county council, an 11 member

11:39 - governmental body.

11:40 - It's also home to our judicial

11:42 - system.

11:43 - Luzerne County has 5 courtrooms.

11:45 - There is the Orphans Court on

11:47 - the second floor.

11:48 - It's covered with a beautiful

11:49 - Italian marble and four

11:51 - magnificent courtrooms that are

11:53 - covered in mahogany and walnut

11:56 - wood.

11:58 - Right above the judge's seat is

12:01 - a carved symbol of Luzerne

12:02 - County government.

12:05 - Each of our five courtrooms have

12:07 - magnificent paintings sitting

12:09 - above where the judge would sit.

12:10 - This one behind me is called

12:12 - Justice.

12:13 - The other three are named

12:14 - Prosperity Under the Law.

12:16 - The Judicial Virtues.

12:17 - And The Awakening of the

12:19 - Commonwealth.

12:21 - The law - symbolized by a seated

12:23 - female figure wearing a cloak of

12:25 - scarlet and gold brocade - has

12:28 - set up her judgment seat in the

12:29 - coal regions and is deciding

12:31 - between the good and the bad.

12:34 - She plants her sword in the face

12:35 - of the evil doers, represented

12:37 - by a group of people on her

12:38 - right hand and in the

12:40 - background, and claps hands with

12:42 - the honest.

12:43 - The figure of the woman who has

12:45 - thrown herself across the knees

12:47 - of the law is intended to

12:48 - suggest the person who is upon

12:50 - the wrong side rather through

12:53 - weakness than ill will.

12:55 - Mercy holds her hand protecting

12:57 - above this latter figure, and

13:00 - Justice raises the scales.

13:02 - Figures of two lawyers, of

13:03 - working men, women, and

13:05 - children, fill up the rest of

13:06 - the composition and the

13:07 - background is closed by a large

13:09 - American flag.

13:14 - When Luzerne County was

13:14 - organized in 1786 there were

13:17 - four attorneys.

13:18 - Today there are over 700.

13:20 - We're currently in the library

13:22 - of the Wilkes-Barre Law and

13:23 - Library Association, a bar

13:25 - association founded in 1850 by

13:28 - Hendrick Wright, who served as

13:30 - Speaker of the House in

13:30 - Harrisburg, and also later on

13:32 - the United States Congress.

13:34 - It is the library for any lawyer

13:36 - in Luzerne County - a member of

13:37 - the bar - to come and use to do

13:39 - their research.

13:42 - Here is a portrait of Jonathan

13:44 - Wright, an early member of the

13:46 - Bar Association.

13:46 - An African-American who went on

13:48 - to serve on the Supreme Court of

13:50 - South Carolina during

13:51 - Reconstruction following the

13:52 - Civil War.

14:07 - In 1866 the County Commissioners

14:09 - commissioned a fence for the

14:11 - third courthouse, which was on

14:12 - Wilkes-Barre public square.

14:14 - The fence company threw in - as

14:15 - a favor - a gift: a deer.

14:17 - And this 140 year old deer has

14:20 - been a fixture in Wilkes-Barre

14:22 - culture ever since.

14:24 - About the 1890s, the deer served

14:26 - as a source of gossip for the

14:28 - newspaper columns -- it was

14:29 - called "Ask the Deer and the

14:30 - Deer Says."

14:32 - Today the deer serves as a great

14:34 - place for photographs of all

14:35 - kinds the people have been

14:36 - taking on the deer: from

14:38 - weddings, to graduation photos,

14:39 - to high school proms.

14:41 - I've collected over 80 such

14:42 - photos of people on the

14:44 - courthouse deer.

14:49 - Also on the courthouse lawn are

14:50 - monuments to three wars: World

14:52 - War II, the Korean War, and the

14:56 - Vietnam Conflict.

14:59 - Behind me is the anchor of the

15:00 - USS Wilkes-Barre which was a

15:02 - Cleveland Class cruiser that

15:04 - served during World War II.

15:06 - The cruiser now sits as a coral

15:08 - reef shelter off the coast of

15:10 - Key West, Florida.

15:16 - Thank you for coming to tour the

15:17 - Luzerne County Courthouse.

15:19 - As you can tell, we are

15:20 - extremely proud of this

15:21 - beautiful building.

15:23 - When we're talking about this

15:24 - county, we're talking about

15:25 - pride.

15:26 - Pride at where we've been.

15:28 - Pride at where we are.

15:29 - And pride in where we're going.

15:31 - This building stands as an icon

15:33 - to that Luzerne County pride.

15:35 - Thank you for coming to Luzerne

15:36 - County.