Does anyone recognize this Scranton house?

[scrantonluna]

Are there any plans for restoration??

[highfallslover]

It's a beautiful house. I love some of those big old houses in Scranton, my husband's aunt lives in one and it's so pretty. There is so much character in that place.

[janican71]

Ok well this is the third time I'm typing this. For some reason, I've been having a hard time getting it to post. So sorry if there are multiple posts. There are currently no plans to restore the house any further at this time. When we bought the house it was a double and we've already restored it to a single home. We've also restored much of the inside as well as the original woodwork. The previous owners were the Carfelo's. They owned this house as well as the lot to the left. The father gave the son, Joe, that lot and he built the Cape Cod in the 50's or 60's. We've known the original owners names since we bought the house in 1995. The original owners' names were Benjamin H. Throop and his wife Harriet. The house was built in 1897. The deed is from March of that year. I'm sure the picture was taken not long after. Thanks to this thread I was able to purchase the picture on Ebay. Our plan is to take another picture with our family from the same angle and to display them in our home. Thanks again. Janice

[WatsonWest]

An interesting note: Janice told me this morning that Dr. Throop was a quite famous person in the area in his day. The borough of Throop was named for him. She sent me this link, so I'm bringing it here. It's funny how this stuff happens!

Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Association and Municipal Associate Membership

I think he must still be "watching" over the house.

[rockky]

I've thoroughly enjoyed following this thread!

Who would have thought that an old photo posted by scrantonluna would provide so much history and human interest!

Janice, enjoy your home and the living history which comes with it.

luna, thanks for the picture that gave us all this little adventure.

Watson, thanks for posting the background of the area and the story of Dr. Throop. History really is about people...why they made the choices they did, the ingenuity of survival and prospering, and the tragic events that moulded their lives.

This seems to validate what I've always believed to be true in many areas of Pennsylvania. We care about where we came from and our ancestral families. We care about where we are going....and we care about each other. It may not seem that way most of the time, but the undercurrent of strong character is here. Sometimes we just need to slow down (or have a life event that slows us down) in order to see it.

Yes, I got all that from the photo of this house.

[janican71]

Thanks again everyone! The picture came today and it's beautiful. Now we're going to work on getting it framed to display. Janice

[scrantonluna]

Jan, you may want to contact the Lacka. Historical Society, they do a home tour every other year, this would be an 'up' year, and they would probably have an interest in showing off your home and it's history. You would have to put up with a bunch of people stopping by to take a look on a Saturday, but they provide slip on booties and try to minimize the impact.