Category: Libraries

Thomas Saunders House (1764)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Gloucester, Houses, Libraries

The house at the corner of Middle Street and Dale Avenue in Gloucester was built in 1764 by Thomas Saunders, a merchant, utilizing plans probably brought over from England. The house has been much altered over the years. A later owner, Capt. John Beach, an emigrant from England, added a third story and an octagonal cupola to the house after a neighbor across Middle Street blocked his view of the harbor. The cupola was removed in 1827 due to issues with leaking. Sadly, there are no images of what the cupola looked like. The house’s seventh owner, William A. Pew, moved the structure 13 feet to the west and added an Italianate tower to the front of the house, which he remodeled as a fine Victorian mansion. All but the base of the tower was lost in 1934 when it was altered to become the building’s entry porch. Samuel E. Sawyer bought the house in 1884 in order to donate it to become the home of the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Public Library. The Lyceum had been established in 1830 and its library, with support from Sawyer, was first established by 1854 and became a free library by 1871. The library lacked a permanent home until Sawyer donated the Saunders House in 1884. The building would have a new wing added in 1913 and a modern library extension was added to the north of the house in 1975-1976. The Library is also home to a series of WPA murals painted in the 1930s by Frederick L. Stoddard. Continue reading “Thomas Saunders House (1764)”

Mason Library (1913)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Great Barrington, Libraries

Dedicated July 24, 1913, the Mason Library Great Barrington was designed by Blanchard & Barnes of New York. Mary Augusta Mason, widow of Captain Henry Hobart Mason, left $50,000 to build and furnish the library, which replaced am earlier one located in a clapboard house that had previously stood on the site. The building was rededicated in April, 2007 after extensive renovations that doubled its size and made it handicapped accessible. Continue reading “Mason Library (1913)”

Westfield Atheneum (1927)

by Dan//Libraries, Museums, Neoclassical, Westfield

Westfield Atheneum

At 6 Elm Street in Westfield is the Westfield Atheneum, a library originally incorporated in 1864. Funding for the first Atheneum building, located at 26 Main Street, was provided by Hiram H. Harrison, president of the American Whip Company, with additional funds for the purchase of books being raised by private subscription. The Atheneum later received the donation of a circulating book collection that was first used by the Westfield Social Library, begun in 1830. The Westfield Atheneum opened to the public on January 1, 1868. Originally requiring a $2.00 annual fee, in 1895 the Atheneum became a free library. In 1898, Westfield Academy donated another building to the Atheneum, the Fowler-Gillett Homestead (built c. 1828 by James Fowler) at the corner of Court and Elm Streets. It was remodeled for library use and opened in 1899. The current main Atheneum building, designed by Coolidge and Carlson, was erected in 1927 and the Fowler-Gillett Homestead became the Boys and Girls Library. A new wing and extension connecting to the Boys and Girls Library, which doubled the floor space of the Atheneum, were dedicated in 1966. The Atheneum building also contains the Jasper Rand Art Museum and the Edwin Smith Historical Museum.

Salem Public Library (1855)

by Dan//Houses, Libraries, Renaissance Revival, Salem

Salem Public Library

The building that today houses the Salem Public Library (370 Essex Street in Salem) was originally built in 1855 as a house for Capt. John Bertram (1795-1882), designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Salem architects William H. Emmerton and Joseph C. Foster. Known as the Bertram-Waters House, in 1887 it was donated by Capt. Bertram’s heirs to the city to become a library. The building was remodeled inside for that purpose in 1888-1889 and additional wings were constructed in 1911-1912.

Forbes Library, Northampton (1894)

by Dan//Libraries, Northampton, Romanesque Revival

Forbes Library
Forbes Library

Judge Charles E. Forbes, who wished to build a library for Northampton, left a bequest which funded the construction of the Forbes Library. Opened in 1894, the Richardsonian Romanesque building was designed by architect William Brocklesby of Hartford. The first Librarian (1894-1903) of Forbes was Charles Ammi Cutter, who had created the Cutter Expansive Classification System when he was Librarian at the Boston Athenaeum. The Forbes Library is also home to the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum. Continue reading “Forbes Library, Northampton (1894)”

Former Harvard Public Library (1886)

by Dan//Harvard, Libraries, Romanesque Revival

Harvard Public Library

In 2007, the old Broomfield School in Harvard reopened as the new home of the town’s public library. Harvard’s previous library building is located at 7 Fairbank Street. Built in 1886 and expanded in 1902, the Harvard Public Library was designed by William Channing Whitney (1851-1945), the nephew of Edward Lawrence, who had donated $5,000 for books provided the town constructed a building to house them. A further gift of $5,000 from Hannah W.C. Sawyer provided for purchasing the lot and building the library on the site of an inn that had burned down in 1880. Continue reading “Former Harvard Public Library (1886)”

Bromfield School (1878)

by Dan//Harvard, Libraries, Romanesque Revival, Schools

Old Bromfield School

The Bromfield School in the town of Harvard was founded by Margaret Bromfield Blanchard (died 1876), who left a bequest in her will to establish a private secondary school. The Romanesque Revival school building, designed by Peabody & Stearns, was built in 1877-1878 at 24 Massachusetts Avenue on the land where the colonial house of Mrs. Blanchard’s great-grandfather, Colonel Henry Bromfield, had once stood. Built as the residence of Rev. John Seccomb, the house became the summer residence of Col. Bromfield in 1767. The house burned down in 1855 and Mrs. Blanchard acquired the land for her future school. The Bromfield School eventually became a public school in 1940. It moved out of the old building in 2003 to a new building (12 Massachusetts Avenue). The Old Bromfield School was then extensively restored and reopened in 2007 with an 11,500-square-foot addition as the new home of the Harvard Public Library (4 Pond Road).