Libraries – Page 3 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Jones Library, Amherst (1928)

by Dan/July 30, 2011December 1, 2011/Amherst, Colonial Revival, Libraries

Jones Library, 43 Amity Street in Amherst, was begun in 1927 and dedicated in 1928. An earlier library had been located in the town hall. The Jones Library, named for its benefactor, Samuel Minot Jones, was incorporated in 1919. From 1921 to 1926, the library rented rooms in the Amherst House, which stood at the corner of South Pleasant and Amity Streets. After the Amherst House burned down in 1926, the library briefly moved its operations into the Whipple House on North Pleasant Street, until the current library building, built of Pelham field stone, was completed. The Jones Library has notable collections of material relating to Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost.

Southborough Public Library (1911)

by Dan/January 13, 2011/Libraries, Neoclassical, Southborough

At a town meeting in Southborough in 1852, Col. Francis B. Fay offered $500 for a town library. Matching funds were raised and the Fay Library, located in the town hall, was officially started. It was one of the nation’s first free municipal libraries. Col. Fay, who served as a U.S. Representative, among other public offices, would later donate additional funds to the Library. A separate building for the Library was constructed in 1909-1911 on land donated by the Burnett family. The Southborough Library building was expanded in 1989.

Bacon Free Library (1881)

by Dan/July 10, 2010June 12, 2011/Libraries, Natick, Renaissance Revival

Funding for the Bacon Free Library, which overlooks the Charles River in South Natick, came from the estate of Oliver Bacon, who died in 1878, in memory of his wife. She had been the first librarian of the Bacon Library’s predecessor, which was initially located in her own home and then in a small brick building built in 1870. The Bacon Free Library, built in 1880-1881, also houses the Natick Historical Society Museum on the building’s lower level.

Granville Public Library (1902)

by Dan/June 3, 2010June 3, 2010/Granville, Libraries, Romanesque Revival

The libraries designed by Hartford architect George Keller are considered by some to be the high points of his career. Like the libraries he had designed earlier for the Connecticut communities of Norfolk (1888) and Ansonia (1892), Keller’s plan for the Granville Public Library is in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The building, which opened in 1902, features a rubble foundation, yellow brick construction with red sandstone, round tower and slate hip roof. Keller may have been influenced by the design of the library in Shelton, Connecticut, designed by Charles T. Beardsley, which also used yellow brick and was in turn influenced by Keller’s Ansonia Library. The Granville Library was founded after Milton B. Whitney of Westville, originally from Granville, donated $5,000, a sum which was added to by donations solicited by the women of the Granville Literary Club.

Richard Salter Storrs Library (1932)

by Dan/March 29, 2010/Colonial Revival, Libraries, Longmeadow

In 1907, Sarah Williams Storrs, who lived in the former home of her grandfather, Rev. Richard Salter Storrs in Longmeadow, left the house and $5000 to the town to establish a library in memory of her grandfather. The house contained the library into the 1930s, expanding to a second building to the rear in 1916. In 1932, through the efforts of the private nonprofit library corporation and the Town of Longmeadow, a new Richard Salter Storrs Library building was opened. The house, which had previously occupied the site of the new Library, was moved to a new location, just to the south. The Georgian Revival-style Library was restored and expanded in 1989.

Waltham Public Library (1915)

by Dan/December 25, 2009/Colonial Revival, Libraries, Waltham

In 1865, Waltham‘s Free Town Library was established as a merger of the earlier libraries of the Waltham Social Club, the Rumford Institute, and the Agricultural Library Association. It was initially located above a bank and, from 1880, in a building at the corner of Charles and Moody Streets. The current library was built in 1914-1915 and was designed in the Colonial Revival style by the Boston firm of Loring and Leland. The builders were Horton and Hemingway of Boston. To make way for the new Library, a tavern, built in 1672 and known as the Central House, was torn down. The library is also known as the Francis Buttrick Library, after the building‘s benefactor. Francis Buttrick, who came to Waltham in 1838 and became wealthy in the lumber and real estate businesses. He left a $60,000 bequest for a library in 1894, but due to legal issues the money had not been available for use for many years. Through the accrual of interest, the bequest had grown to $123,731 by 1914. The Library was expanded in the 1990s. Merry Christmas from Historic Buildings of Massachusetts!

Wayland Free Public Library (1900)

by Dan/September 1, 2009/Libraries, Renaissance Revival, Wayland

The history of the Wayland Free Public Library goes back to 1848, making it the first free public library in Massachusetts. Starting in 1850, the library was located in the old Town Hall building (now used as offices). In 1879, the library moved to the new town hall, until the current library building was completed in 1900. The land and funds for the building were provided by Warren G. Roby, a Wayland resident. The brick library was designed by Weston architect, Samuel W. Mead, and the structure displays his interest in Roman architecture and Renaissance sculpture. The architectural firm of Cabot, Everett and Mead also designed the library in Arlington. The library was expanded and renovated in 1987-1988.