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Decades before the Sheraton Crossgates Hotel and a parking garage were constructed at Public Square and North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre in 1979, the north side of Public Square - between North Main and West Market Street - was known as Bennett&rsquo;s Block.
				The Bennett name in Wilkes-Barre is little known compared to the earliest Wyoming Valley settlers of Conyngham, Slocum, Hollenback and Dorrance.
				Ziba Bennett came to Wilkes-Barre from Connecticut in 1815 when he was 14-years-old and established himself in businesses and banking. He served Wilkes-Barre in the Pennsylvania State Legislature and was appointed associate judge in Luzerne County.
				As his legal career flourished, he opened a lumber and hardware store in the first block of North Main Street he operated for nearly 50 years. During his hardware store days, Ziba Bennett was president of Wyoming National Bank, president of Hollenback Cemetery Association and president of the Wilkes-Barre Bridge Company, which privately owned bridges crossing the Susquehanna River. The bridge company charged tolls to whoever crossed the river.
				Upon Ziba Bennett&rsquo;s death in November 1878, the privately owned Market Street Bridge was decked out in black sheets.
				His son, George S. Bennett, took over Bennett & Co. Lumber and expanded his real estate, purchasing the Luzerne House that once occupied Public Square and North Main Street, and other properties north of Public Square, which became known as &ldquo;Bennett&rsquo;s Block.&rdquo;
				Bennett&rsquo;s Block contained a series of office buildings, restaurants, hotels and stores.
				&ldquo;The new oyster house in Bennett&rsquo;s Block on North Main has as fine oysters as are sold in the city. Their fries and stews are excellent. The best primes in the city. Oysters are opened and put in a pail while you wait,&rdquo; read an advertisement in the Evening Leader through December 1889.
				The grand jewel of Bennett&rsquo;s Block was the Bennett Building at Public Square and North Main Street, where the Luzerne House was located.
				Built in 1897, the Bennett Building was home to many law offices, physicians and architects on upper floors while the ground floor had retail stores and various freight companies.
				&ldquo;At the time of its construction, the Bennett Block was one of the most commodious of its type in central city. Prior to 1897, the old Luzerne House, which had served for many decades as one of the city&rsquo;s principal downtown hotels, was demolished to make way for the new office structure,&rdquo; reported the Evening News on March 5, 1966, which reported renovations to the Bennett Building.
				&ldquo;The tract of land on which the Bennett Block was constructed had been in the possession of the Bennett family for 70 years, having been acquired by Ziba Bennett in 1826,&rdquo; the Evening News reported.
				The main occupant of the Bennett Building in the early years was Orr&rsquo;s Store, a clothing retailer that heavily advertised in newspapers of women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s suits, jackets, hats, swimwear and winter attire. During the 1930s, the House of Benesch was a large tenant selling furniture, rugs and lighting.
				Businesses located in Bennett&rsquo;s Block continued to advertised in the Times Leader and Evening News through the 1960s.
				As with most of the downtown area following the destruction of Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972, buildings located in Bennett&rsquo;s Block were razed.
				&ldquo;The Bennett Building, as well as all the buildings to its left on Public Square, as far as Pomeroy&rsquo;s Department Store building, are next on the list of buildings to be destroyed to make way for new downtown structure,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported Feb. 17, 1974.
				Six years after the Bennett Budding was demolished, the Sheraton-Crossgates Hotel featuring 183 rooms and dining areas opened in December 1980.
				Ironically, one of the restaurants in the hotel, Wanda&rsquo;s On the Park, featured an appetizer called Angels on Horseback, which were fresh oysters seasoned with shallots and herbs rolled in bacon strips and broiled at a cost of $3.95, the Times Leader reported Dec. 10, 1980, in a story about the hotel&rsquo;s opening.
				The hotel became the Ramada Inn, which was purchased by King&rsquo;s College and renamed the Richard Abbas Alley Center for Health Services.
				Although there are no street signs, the road connecting North Franklin Street to North Main Street adjacent to the health services building is named Bennett Place.

Look Back: Bennett Block in Wilkes-Barre