First Church of Christ, Scientist (Scranton, Pennsylvania)


The First Church of Christ, Scientist, now known as Lackawanna County Children's Library, is a building in Scranton, Pennsylvania located at 520 Vine Street. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1988. The building, built in 1915, was listed for its Classical Revival architecture.

History

religious activity in Scranton dates from before 1890 when Judge Septimus J. Hanna and his wife came to take charge of the fledgling Christian Science Society. The Hannas left in 1892 for Christian Science world headquarters in Boston where he had been called by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, to become the editor of the Christian Science Journal.
In 1915 the Neoclassical church edifice was erected at 520 Vine Street for the congregation which by then had become First Church of Christ, Scientist, Scranton. The architect was Albert J. Ward. The congregation held regular church services in this building until it downsized in the 1980s. In 1985 it sold the building for $1.5 million to the Lackawanna County Library System, which then converted it into the Lackawanna County Children's Library.
The Children's Library is located immediately southeast of the main Scranton Public Library, which is also listed on the National Register under the name Albright Memorial Building.