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A massive building at the southeast corner of Public Square at East Market Street stood for only 10 years before a raging fire destroyed the triangular shaped structure.
				Erected in 1889, the building was named for Isaac C. Osterhout, one of the Wyoming Valley&rsquo;s early merchant princes who donated a large part of his fortune for charitable and educational purposes, including an endowment for the Osterhout Free Library on South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre.
				The Osterhout Building was among the largest in downtown Wilkes-Barre before the turn of the century. It had a frontage of 118 feet extending along East Market Street and along Public Square where the Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, formerly known as the Paramount theater, is now located. The Paramount Theater was constructed in 1929.
				Several dry good stores, the largest being Joseph S. Coons & Co., Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank, a barber, insurance brokers, attorney offices, a tailor, a tobacco store and a dentist were housed in the Osterhout Building, according to the Wilkes-Barre City Directory in 1899.
				The fire was first noticed early in the morning of Jan. 24, 1899.
				&ldquo;About 5 o&rsquo;clock in the morning, several newsboys going for their morning papers noticed a blaze in the rear of the large dry goods and notion store of Joseph S. Coons & Co. The boys delayed somewhat before turning in the alarm, and finally when it was sounded at 5:03 the blaze had enveloped the interior of the store and sprang from the airway in the rear of the building,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Record reported Jan. 25, 1899.
				City Fire Chief George A. St. John was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
				&ldquo;He saw at once that the fire had secured a dangerous headway and immediately turned in a general alarm,&rdquo; the Record reported.
				Two hook and ladder trucks, four engines, nine hose companies and two chemical engines responded to the massive blaze.
				&ldquo;As the fire ate away everything on the inside, the falling of interior walls every few minutes added a new interest to the scene. &#8230; but a new element of danger presented itself. There stood the great outer wall on Public Square unsupported, cracked and frail from the intense heat,&rdquo; reported the Record.
				Firemen noticed the outer wall sway.
				&rdquo;They instantly retreated and none too soon for scarcely had the way been cleared than the mass of brick seemed to part in the center, the top falling inward and the lower part outward on the sidewalk and street,&rdquo; the Record reported.
				As soon as the outer wall fell, flames shot up in a great sweep of fire.
				J. W. Miller, who also kept a room at the Osterhout Building, was awakened by the blaze.
				&ldquo;When he was aroused from slumber he found himself in a fiery trap, the flames and smoke cutting off his escape by the stairway. Police sergeant William R. Kline and a fireman saw him at a window to which a ladder was raised after some difficult with wires and Miller was able to reach it by standing on Kline&rsquo;s shoulders. He got to the ground in safety only clad in a nightshirt,&rdquo; the Record reported.
				Private detective Joseph Moore and Attorney Robert D. Evans, who both lived and had offices in the Osterhout Building, died as a result of the blaze. Moore&rsquo;s remains were found during debris removal on Jan. 31, 1899, the same day Evans died at City Hospital from severe burns, the Wilkes-Barre Semi-Weekly Record newspaper reported Jan. 5, 1900.
				Two large safes of the Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank were found in the debris, including a gold pocket watch of a tenant.
				&ldquo;There is yet no conclusive solution to the question as to just how the fire started. It was first seen in the rear of Coons & Co. store and it is quite well established that there was an explosion in what caused it is not known,&rdquo; the Record reported Jan. 26, 1899.

Look Back: Fire destroys the Osterhout Building in 1899