Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library

Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library
Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library
	Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library, front view
Alternative names	Simmons Neighborhood Library
Etymology	Gilbert Maurice Simmons
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Library
Address	711 59th Place
Town or city	Kenosha, Wisconsin
Country	United States
Current tenants	Kenosha Public Library
Construction started	1899
Completed	1900
Opening	July 1900
Inaugurated	May 1900
Cost	$150,000
Owner	City of Kenosha
Height
Top floor	3
Technical details
Floor count	3
Floor area	9,045 sqft
Lifts/elevators	0
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Daniel Burnham
Developer	Ossian Cole Simonds
Other information
Parking	14
Public transit access	Metra : Kenosha station, line Union Pacific / North Line ; Kenosha Area Transit , routes 2 and 4
Website
	https://www.mykpl.info/simmons
	Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district ; Contributing property
Location	711 59th Pl., Kenosha, Wisconsin
Coordinates	42°34′50″N87°49′10″W / 42.58056°N 87.81944°W
Architectural style	Classical Revival
Part of	Library Park Historic District (ID88002657)
NRHP reference No.	74000093
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 17, 1974
Designated WHSL	January 1, 1989.

Last updated December 27, 2024

The Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, and is a location of the Kenosha Public Library (KPL), which is part of the Kenosha County Library System (KCLS)^[2] The Simmons Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and was the first formal location for KPL.^[3]^[4]

History

The Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library was the first public building in the City Park district in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Upon its completion, City Park became known as Library Park. Daniel Burnham designed the Neoclassical library while Ossian Cole Simonds developed the landscaping plan. Former Kenosha mayor Zalmon G. Simmons donated $150,000 for the building's construction on the condition that it be named in honor for his deceased son. The city agreed, and the library opened to the public on May 30, 1900.^[5]^[6] As the city's first public library building, Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library greatly increased the volumes of literature available to the citizens of Kenosha. By the mid-1910s, the library had 124,368 volumes and sought to expand with a branch library.^[7] The building was recognized by the National Park Service with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1974. When the Library Park Historic District was created in 1988, the library was listed as a contributing property.^[1]

There are rumors of the library being haunted by a female ghost and a legend of a secret tomb in the library.^[8]

Services

Collections

The Simmons Library's collection count is over 13,000 items, has access to over 275,000 items via the other Kenosha Public Library locations, and over 2 million items through the partnership with libraries in Racine County, Walworth County, and Rock County.^[9]

Technology

The Simmons Library technology services include public access computers and free wireless internet access throughout the library. The Library provides access to e-books, music, movies, and other electronic collections. The library provides access to a color printer & copier for a fee. Printing at the library uses a secure release station to help protect patron privacy, with a secondary printer located in the Children's Room. A fax machine is also available for public use, with a 3D printer available by request from the Southwest Library.^[10] The library operates a Book Break telephone hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reads stories to children.^[11]

The library system uses RFID pads on all library materials where users only need to place the book on a table and check out occurs without scanning.

Related Research Articles

Kenosha is a city in and the seat of Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986, which made it the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosha is a satellite city located roughly 40 miles (64 km) south of Milwaukee and 66 miles (106 km) north of Chicago and has significant cultural and economic connections to both cities. Interstate 94 runs along Kenosha's western border.

The year 1900 in architecture involved some significant events.

Kenosha Light Station is a lighthouse and keeper's house on Simmons Island north of the channel into Kenosha's harbor in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

The Kenosha North Pier Light, also known as the Kenosha North Pierhead Light, is a lighthouse located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. "A typical 'Lake Michigan red tower'", it is a sibling to the Milwaukee Pierhead Light. This light was built in 1906 as a replacement of the old Kenosha Light Station. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Streetcars were part of the public transit service in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the first third of the 20th century, and returned to this role in the year 2000.

The Berkeley Public Library is the public library system for Berkeley, California. It consists of the Central Library, Claremont Branch, North Branch, West Branch, Tarea Hill Pittman South Branch, and the Tool Lending Library, which is one of the nation's first such libraries.

Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest to Lake Michigan. From Chicago, it passes through Chicago's wealthy lakeside North Shore suburbs, and then Waukegan and Zion, until it reaches the Illinois-Wisconsin state line in Winthrop Harbor. In Wisconsin, the road leads north through Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha, until it ends on the south side of Racine, in Mount Pleasant.

The Kenosha News is a daily newspaper published in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. The morning paper serves southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. It was the original and flagship property of United Communications Corporation.

Zalmon Gilbert Simmons Sr. was a businessman, manufacturer, Wisconsin legislator, and mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Bradford Community Church, originally the Henry M. Simmons Memorial Church and later the Boys and Girls Library, is a historic church built in 1907 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States under the leadership of Kenosha's first woman pastor.

Kemper Hall is placed on a Kenosha County park with 17.5 acres in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. Kemper Hall overlooks Lake Michigan with a historic chapel, observatory, the Anderson Arts Center, and the Durkee Mansion.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Library Park (Kenosha, Wisconsin)</span> United States historic place

Library Park, formerly known as The Commons, City Park, and Central Park, is a park in Kenosha, Wisconsin designed by Ossian Cole Simonds. It features a library and war memorial designed by Daniel Burnham and a sculpture by Charles Henry Niehaus.

The Simmons Island Beach House is located in Simmons Island Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Kenosha, Wisconsin)</span> Historic church in Wisconsin, United States

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and religious significance in 1979. The church is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.

The Southport Beach House is a historic public building completed in 1940 at Southport Park on Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The Library Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, surrounding Library Park, which was originally conceived as a New England–style town commons. The district consists of 42 contributing properties built from 1843 to 1930. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Third Avenue Historic District is the "mansion" district of Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States from the early twentieth century, comprising mostly large stylish homes along Lake Michigan.

The Civic Center Historic District is a group of six large Neoclassical Revival buildings around Civic Center Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, reflecting the city's history as Kenosha County seat.

The Kenosha County Library System (KCLS) is the southeastern-most of 15 public library systems in Wisconsin. Along with the Milwaukee County Federated Library System (MCFLS), it is one of only two single-county public library organizations in the state.

References

1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
↑ "Kenosha County Library System". mykcls.info. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
↑ "Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
↑ "Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library". Wisconsin Historic Society. January 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
↑ "Library Park Historic District – Visitors' Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
↑ Engel, Charlene Stant (July 1, 1974). "Simmons, Gilbert M., Memorial Library". NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. Retrieved June 30, 2018. With one photo.
↑ Public Libraries: A Monthly Review of Library Matters and Methods. Vol. 19. Chicago, Illinois: Library Bureau. 1914.
↑ Gaitan, Daniel dgaitan@kenoshanews.com (October 27, 2017). "Is Simmons Library haunted? Some think so". Kenosha News. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
↑ "Member Libraries". lakeshores.lib.wi.us. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
↑ "(3D) Printing, Copying, Faxing, Scanning". mykpl.info/. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
↑ "Fun for Kids at KPL". mykpl.info. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

External links

Media related to Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library at Wikimedia Commons

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[nris-1] 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[2] "Kenosha County Library System". mykcls.info. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

[3] "Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

[4] "Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library". Wisconsin Historic Society. January 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2018.

[visit-5] "Library Park Historic District – Visitors' Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.

[nrhp_nom-6] Engel, Charlene Stant (July 1, 1974). "Simmons, Gilbert M., Memorial Library". NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. Retrieved June 30, 2018. With one photo.

[7] Public Libraries: A Monthly Review of Library Matters and Methods. Vol. 19. Chicago, Illinois: Library Bureau. 1914.

[8] Gaitan, Daniel dgaitan@kenoshanews.com (October 27, 2017). "Is Simmons Library haunted? Some think so". Kenosha News. Retrieved February 10, 2024.

[9] "Member Libraries". lakeshores.lib.wi.us. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

[10] "(3D) Printing, Copying, Faxing, Scanning". mykpl.info/. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

[11] "Fun for Kids at KPL". mykpl.info. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

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