Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society summer architectural walking tour to be held Saturday

WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society director Tony Brooks will host the annual summer architectural walking tour of downtown Wilkes-Barre at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Participants will meet at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 35 S. Franklin St. Free parking is available next door to the church.

The tour will explore three centuries of Wilkes-Barre architecture in one square mile.

From simple colonial Yankee houses to the magnificent mansions of the Gilded Age, from Gothic-revival churches to streamline modernism, Wilkes-Barre has it all.

Participants will learn how to become an urban anthropologist through church architecture, visit inside the Zebulon Butler House, understand the meaning of Westmoreland, and hear the stories of French royalty, a world-famous artist, the first black attorney in Pennsylvania and marvel how a little girl spread the gospel of good manners and social graces around the world.

Wilkes-Barre is not only home to anthracite coal that fueled the Industrial Revolution, but it is also the birthplace of Planters Peanuts and Home Box Office.

The cost is $10 per person and children will be admitted for free. Proceeds will benefit the restoration of the 1793 Zebulon Butler House, the oldest house in Wilkes-Barre.

Participants are asked to wear comfortable shoes. The tour is approximately two hours — rain or shine.

Reservations can be made by calling or texting 570-793-3631.

For information, visit http://www.facebook.com/WBPreservation .