Ames Free Library | |
Location | North Easton, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°4′2″N71°6′18″W / 42.06722°N 71.10500°W |
Built | 1883 |
Architect | Henry Hobson Richardson |
Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
Part of | H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton (ID87002598) |
Significant dates | |
Designated NHLDCP | December 23, 1987 |
Designated CP | November 3, 1972 |
Ames Free Library | |
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Established | 1883 |
Other information | |
Director | Donna P. Richman |
Website | AmesFreeLibrary.org |
The Ames Free Library is a public library designed by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It is located at 53 Main Street, Easton, Massachusetts, immediately adjacent to another Richardson building, Oakes Ames Memorial Hall.
In 2016 the Ames Free Library won the Best Small Library in America award from the Library Journal. This award was created in 2005 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to encourage and showcase outstanding libraries serving populations of fewer than 25,000. [1] [2] This marks the second time the library has won this award.
On the death of Oliver Ames, Jr., he left $50,000 for the construction of a library. [3] The will stipulated that it was to be a private institution, not owned by the town, but operated in trust for the public. [3] The request was carried out by Ames' children, Frederick Lothrop Ames and Helen Angier Ames. They hired Henry Hobson Richardson to design the building. [3] The final cost of the building came to at least $80,000. [3]
The library was built from 1877 to 1879, although it did not open until March 10, 1883. It is generally rectangular, with broad gable projecting from its north end and a rectangular tower rising where the gable meets the main mass. The gable's front facade contains a heavily arched entry on the first floor and a row of five arched windows separated by pairs of short columns above. The facade is light-brown Milford granite laid in random ashlar with reddish-brown Longmeadow brownstone trim. Its roof is red-orange tile. A children's wing (red brick) was added in 1931, eliminating the original lavatory and document room.
Within, the library's major rooms, stack wing, hall, and reading room are laid out longitudinally. The reading room's fireplace is primarily by Stanford White, and the stone and bronze medallions of Oliver Ames, Jr. were designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area.
Oakes Ames was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. As a congressman, he is credited by many historians as being the single most important influence in the building of the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad. He is also noted for the subsequent scandal that alleged the improper sale of stock of the railroad's construction company.
Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture".
Oliver Ames was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and Republican politician who served as the 35th Governor of Massachusetts from 1887 to 1890.
Oliver Ames Jr. was president of Union Pacific Railroad when the railroad met the Central Pacific Railroad in Utah for the completion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America.
The Rockery, also known as the Memorial Cairn, is an unusual war memorial designed by the noted American landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted. It is located at the center of North Easton Center in Easton, Massachusetts, where it forms the focal point for two adjacent H. H. Richardson buildings with their own Olmsted landscapes.
The Converse Memorial Library – also known as Converse Memorial Building – is a historically significant building designed by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. From 1885 to 1996, it housed the Malden Public Library, which now occupies a modern building adjacent to it. The former library is located at 36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts.
Oakes Ames Memorial Hall is a historic hall designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson, with landscaping by Frederick Law Olmsted. It is located on Main Street in the village of North Easton in Easton, Massachusetts, immediately adjacent to another Richardson building, Ames Free Library.
Winn Memorial Library, also known as the Woburn Public Library (1876–79) is a National Historic Landmark in Woburn, Massachusetts. Designed by architect H. H. Richardson, the Romanesque Revival building was a bequest of the Winn family. It houses the Woburn Public Library, an institution that was established in 1856. The library is also home to the Dr. Thomas J. Glennon Archives. The Glennon Archives holds many important records dating back to Woburn's early history in the 1600s. The archives maintains more than two hundred separate manuscript collections relating to Woburn's history, several special collections of books, a rare book collection, thousands of photographs, many published genealogies, a large collection of print newspapers, and dozens of reference files.
The Ames Gate Lodge is a celebrated work by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It is privately owned on an estate landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, but its north facade can be seen from the road at 135 Elm Street, North Easton, Massachusetts. In 2013, the Ames Gate Lodge was protected by a preservation easement held by Historic New England.
The F. L. Ames Gardener's Cottage is a small residential house in North Easton, Massachusetts. This building was designed in 1884 by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson and built the following year. This building sits on the original Ames estate and was designed soon after the neighboring Ames Gate Lodge. Frederick Lothrop Ames also commissioned Richardson to build the nearby Old Colony Railroad Station. Two other notable buildings in North Easton, the Ames Free Library and Oakes Ames Memorial Hall, were also Richardson designs and commissioned by the Ames family.
The H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton is a National Historic Landmark District in the village of North Easton in Easton, Massachusetts. It consists of five buildings designed by noted 19th-century architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and The Rockery, a war memorial designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
The Ames Shovel Shops, also known as Ames Shovel Works or Ames Shovel Shop, is a historic 19th century industrial complex located in North Easton, Massachusetts. It is part of the North Easton Historic District, and consists of several granite buildings constructed between 1852 and 1885, along with several newer additions and outbuildings dating to about 1928.
The Richmond Memorial Library is located on Ross Street in Batavia, New York, United States. It is an 1880s stone structure in the Richardsonian Romanesque style designed by Rochester architect James Goold Cutler.
The DuPage County Historical Museum, formerly the Adams Memorial Library, is a building designed by Charles Sumner Frost in Wheaton, Illinois, United States.
North Easton station is a former railroad station designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. It is located just off Oliver Street in North Easton, Massachusetts, and currently houses the Easton Historical Society. The station was built in 1881 and served commuter trains until 1958. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as Old Colony Railroad Station. In 1987, it also became part of the H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, a National Historic Landmark District. The proposed Phase 2 of South Coast Rail would return commuter rail service to the location in 2030 as Easton Village station.
The Norfolk Library, also known as Eldridge Memorial Library, is a library at 9 Greenwoods Road East in Norfolk, Connecticut. The Norfolk Library is a private charitable organization, but the facility is open to the general public. Designed by architect George Keller in 1888, and greatly expanded by Keller in 1911, it is an outstanding example of Shingle Style architecture. The building is a contributing property in the Norfolk Historic District.
The Rumford Public Library is a library in Rumford, Maine. The building it is in was designed by Maine architect John Calvin Stevens and was built with a funding grant from Andrew Carnegie in 1903. The architecturally distinguished building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Lawrence Library is the public library of Fairfield, Maine. It is located at 33 Lawrence Avenue, in an architecturally distinguished Romanesque Revival building designed by William R. Miller and completed in 1901. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Frederick Lothrop Ames was heir to a fortune in railroads and shovel manufacturing. He was Vice President of the Old Colony Railroad and director of the Union Pacific railroad. At the time of his death, Ames was reported to be the wealthiest person in Massachusetts.
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