Hale came to Wilkes-Barre in 1873 and designed a number of schools and cast-iron office buildings. The former Maxwell house, his oldest known building, shows little of the architectural exuberance that later made him the favorite architect of nouveau riche Philadelphia. Instead, its quaintly decorous Italianate manner recalls Samuel Sloan, in whose productive office Hale had trained. At 69 S. Franklin Street is the society's museum, an austere brick and terra-cotta Queen Anne building designed by Albert Kipp in 1893.