01/14/2026
8 West Market Street: Burnham’s Legacy in Wilkes-Barre.
At the corner of Market and Franklin stands the formerly named Miners’ Bank Building, a Beaux-Arts landmark designed by Daniel Hudson Burnham, the visionary behind the City Beautiful Movement. Constructed in two phases—1913 and 1927—its grand façade reflects Burnham’s belief that architecture could uplift civic life through beauty, order, and dignity.
The building’s story begins with the Miners’ Savings Bank of Wilkes-Barre, founded in 1868 with Augustus C. Laning as its first president and Ziba Bennett and Walter G. Sterling as vice presidents. The bank commenced business in the office of their attorney, Andrew Todd McClintock, a structure that still stands today as the home of The Luzerne Foundation at 34 South River Street. Then moved to next to Rutter & Reading Company at Franklin and Market.
Over the decades, the Market Street building has carried many names—Miners’ National Bank, United Penn, Mellon, Citizens’ Bank—each reflecting a new chapter in Wilkes-Barre’s financial and architectural evolution. Currently the roof top sign advertises the Wilkes-Barre law firm of Anzalone & Doyle. Today, the building houses mostly apartments and commercial tenants, including the renowned architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, designers of Bill Gates’s residence and the iconic Apple Store on Fifth Avenue.
A living monument to Wilkes-Barre’s urban aspirations, this building continues to blend history, design, and innovation.
