Madison Public Library | |
Location | 12 Old Point Ave., Madison, Maine |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°47′46″N69°52′48″W / 44.79611°N 69.88000°W Coordinates: 44°47′46″N69°52′48″W / 44.79611°N 69.88000°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1906 |
Architect | Snow & Humphreys |
Architectural style | Classical Revival |
MPS | Maine Public Libraries MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 88003022 [1] |
Added to NRHP | January 5, 1989 |
The Madison Public Library is located at 12 Old Point Avenue in Madison, Maine. Built with funding support from Andrew Carnegie, it is one of the architecturally most unusual libraries in the state, with a distinctive octagonal tower and non-rectangular angled elements. It was designed by the local firm of Snow and Humphreys and completed in 1906. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1]
The library is set at the southeast corner of Old Point Avenue and Pleasant Street, near the center of the main village of Madison. It is a single-story structure built of brick and stone, with Classical Revival features. The building is roughly triangular in shape, with two rectangular sections joined by an angled main facade that faces the street corner. The rectangular sections have standing-seam metal hip roofs, interrupted at the center by an octagonal tower, whose front-facing sections have diamond-pane windows, and which is encircled by a band of decorative brick corbelling. [2]
The front facade has a recessed entry section with stone columns and brick pilasters flanking, and a band of corbelled brickwork below a stone balustrade. The interior of the building is arranged with reading rooms and stacks in the rectangular side wings. [2]
The Madison Public Library was founded in 1886, and was housed in commercial spaces until this building was built in 1906, supported in part by an $8,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. Designed by the local firm of Snow and Humphreys, its tower and angled wings are distinctive features not seen in other libraries throughout the state. [2]
The Madison Public Library is an L-shaped one-story brick building featuring one of the most unusual compositions in Maine. This distinction derives from the arrangement of the wide projecting entrance block that projects from the angled rectangular wings. Rising above the intersection of these three components is an octagonal tower capped by a similarly configured standing seam metal roof. The building stands on a corner lot near the community's commercial district.
Facing northwest, the facade features a flight of granite steps that rise to a narrow recessed porch framed by two pilasters and a pair of smooth stone columns set in antis. They support a stone entablature decorated with a keystone. Oval windows with four equally spaced stone voussoirs flank the entrance, and all three components are located within a wall surface with corner pilasters and a corbeled string-course. Crowning the elevation is a corbeled cornice. The wings that extend at obtuse angles from the entrance contain reading rooms and the book stacks. Their primary walls are punctuated by a trio of symmetrically placed one-over-one windows surmounted by Queen Anne transoms. Corbeled cornices meet the string-course set up on the facade. Three small windows located on axis with the main units punctuate the granite foundation on each wing, a pattern repeated throughout.
The endwall of the south wing contains four equally spaced double-hung windows with transoms and a modern doorway for handicapped access. Its counterpart on the east wing features 2 of the standard windows as well as 4 smaller one-over-one units arranged in horizontal rows of two, one above the other. This fenestration denotes the location of the book stack and its configuration is carried across the back side with six windows. Two additional openings punctuate the back wall of the south wing.
The crossing tower has 3 wide diamond pane windows on its principal sides, 2 paneled divisions over the wings, as well as 2 small segmentally arched openings and the exterior chimney at the back. Circling the tower, there is a broad corbeled cornice whose detailing matches that of the entrance.
Inside, the main door leads to the hall/delivery room defined by the tower. Openings lead to the offices (remodeled from the reading room) in the south wing and a smaller reading area and the stacks in the east. To the right of the entrance is a stairway that leads to a balcony which extends around the tower. On the left, there is a bathroom. All window and door-surrounds hold on to their dark stained woodwork. [2]
The Madison Public Library was designed by the local architectural firm of Snow and Humphreys and it was completed in 1906. It is considered as one of the most unique buildings in the state. Further distinction is afforded the library by virtue of its being one of only eighteen whose construction was funded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie. The library retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and association. It fulfills the requirements for registration under criteria A and C for its educational and architectural importance as more fully described in the multiple property submission ‘Maine Public Libraries’.
Madison’s public library traces its history to a meeting which was held on 04 January 1886 by local townspeople. The founders of the Madison Library Corporation committed to raise 250 USD for the motive of establishing a library if the town would match this figure. As the mission was successfully completed, on 30 April 1887, the organizers opened the library on the second floor of a commercial building. The collection of books had evidently surpassed its space by 1904 and measures had to be taken for finding a solution. Andrew Carnegie was approached for a grant at that time and he gave the amount of 8,000 USD on 02 June 1904.
In July of the following year the Industrial Journal (Bangor) reported that C. L. Humphreys had recently been in Waterville to look at the newly built library for ideas on a similar facility to be erected in Madison. Humphreys apparently drew little inspiration from that building because the two are wholly different in plan and form. (Although both are very eclectic and original forms in comparison to others of the period.) In any case, work was completed by the end of 1906 and the library opened for use on January 3, 1907. It continues to function in its original capacity with only minor changes to the disposition and use of the interior space.
Centrally located in the walk leading to the library is the town’s monument to its Civil War dead. The solemn pose of a bronze figured soldier at ease stands on a tall granite pillar. It was erected here in September, 1907 having been sculpted by the Hallowell (Maine) Granite Company. It is not considered a contributing object to the library, although it merits future study in the context of war memorials in general. [2]
The Waterbury Union Station building is located on Meadow Street in the city of Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a brick building dating to the first decade of the 20th century. Its tall clock tower, built by the Seth Thomas Company, is the city's most prominent landmark.
The Alamo Plaza Historic District is an historic district of downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It includes the Alamo, which is a separately listed Registered Historic Place and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
The Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library's original home, also known as the Fowler Library Building, is located at Main and Allison streets in the village of Haverstraw, New York, United States. It is a red brick building.
The Union Church, now Phillips Congregational Church, is a historic church on Main and Pleasant Streets in Phillips, Maine. Built in 1835, this Greek Revival church is the oldest religious building in the small community, and a distinctive local landmark. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Guilford Memorial Library is the public library of Guilford, Maine, USA. It is located at the junction of Library and Water Streets, in a small architecturally distinguished Renaissance Revival structure designed by Frank A. Patterson and built in 1908 with funding assistance from Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The library is one of the only libraries in Maine designated as a "Star Library" by Library Journal.
The Bank Street Historic District is a group of four attached brick commercial buildings in different architectural styles on that street in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. They were built over a 20-year period around the end of the 19th century, when Waterbury was a prosperous, growing industrial center. In 1983 they were recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Littleton Main Street is a historic district located along W. Main Street, from South Curtice Street, to South Sycamore Street in Littleton, Colorado. The district dates from 1890. The nineteenth century buildings are red pressed brick, many with stone foundations and trim. These buildings replaced smaller frame structures from the pioneer era and proclaimed the success of their builders through solid construction and application of exterior ornament.
The Drake University Campus Historic District is located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The historic district contains six buildings. Five of the buildings are collegiate buildings on the Drake University campus and one is a church. The period of significance is from when the university was founded in 1881 to the end of the presidency of Hill M. Bell in 1918. The historic district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. It is part of the Drake University and Related Properties in Des Moines, Iowa, 1881—1918 MPS.
The Main Library also known as the Erie Public Library combines elements of the Beaux Arts Classicism and Second Renaissance Revival styles of architecture. Both were commonly used at the end of the nineteenth century to convey the importance of public buildings. The building features arched openings, a prominent cornice, swag and garland decorations, and a roofline balustrade. It is clad in Pompeian red brick. The original facade is dominated by a marble portico, which was removed and stored by previous owners. It was reassembled and conserved as part of the renovation, recapturing the library's original grandeur. The library rotunda is one of the most significant interior spaces in Erie and was meticulously restored as part of the renovation. Mahogany paneling and marble floors serve as a backdrop for a decorative paint scheme. Spectacular allegorical murals on each side of the coffered skylight refer to literature, art, science, and poetry. They were completed by Elmer Ellsworth Garnsey, who also completed murals in the New York Stock Exchange Building and the Library of Congress.
The Pittsfield Public Library is located at 110 Library Street in Pittsfield, Maine. The building it occupies is a Beaux Arts building designed by Albert Randolph Ross, and was built in 1903-04 with funding assistance from Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is one of the state's oldest Beaux Arts buildings, and one of the most architecturally distinctive in the town.
Goshen Historic District is a national historic district located at Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana. The district encompasses 751 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in the central business district and surrounding residential sections of Goshen. The town was developed between about 1840 and 1930, and includes notable examples of Italianate and Queen Anne style architecture. Located with in the district are the separately listed Elkhart County Courthouse and Goshen Carnegie Public Library. Other notable buildings include the Kindy Block (1881), Central Block (1882), Spohn Building (1909), Harper Block (1888), Noble Building, Jefferson Theater (1907), General Baptist Church (1859), First Methodist Church (1874), and St. James Episcopal Church (1862).
The Church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios is an 18th-century church located in the civil parish of Fajãzinha in the municipality of Lajes das Flores, in the Portuguese island of Flores, in the archipelago of the Azores.
The Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição is an 18th-century church located in the civil parish of Santa Cruz in the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, in the Portuguese island of Flores, in the archipelago of the Azores.
Herbert C Scaping (1866-1934) was an architect who worked in Grimsby, Lincolnshire in the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. He was born in Rathfarnham, co Dublin before his family moved to Hull, his only known family are his two daughters Rathlea and Rathgowry. He trained with Smith and Broderick of Hull, setting up his own practice in Grimsby in 1890. He became the Lincoln Diocesan surveyor and surveyor to Lord Heneage. Architect to the Grimsby Education Committee and Board of Guardians. His office was at Court Chambers in Grimsby.
Main Building is the central administration building of St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and formerly also of St. Edward's High School. First completed in 1888 and rebuilt after a fire in 1903, Main Building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, along with adjacent Holy Cross Hall.
Corn exchanges in England are distinct buildings which were originally created as a venue for corn merchants to meet and arrange pricing with farmers for the sale of wheat, barley, and other corn crops. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley. With the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, a large number of corn exchanges were built, particularly in the corn-growing areas of Eastern England. However, with the fall in price of English corn as a result of cheap imports, corn exchanges mostly ceased to be built after the 1870s. Increasingly they were put to other uses, particularly as meeting and concert halls. Many found a new lease of life in the early 20th century as cinemas. Following the Second World War, many could not be maintained, and they were demolished. In the 1970s their architectural importance came to be appreciated, and most of the surviving examples are listed buildings. Most of the surviving corn exchanges have now been restored, and many have become arts centres, theatres, or concert halls.
The University of Michigan Central Campus Historic District is a historic district consisting of a group of major buildings on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Castlemaine Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 202 Barker Street, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.
The Downtown Montevallo Historic District in Montevallo, Alabama is a historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. It included 30 contributing buildings and four non-contributing buildings.
The Tall Ship is a Grade II listed building at 134 Southgate Street, Gloucester. It is located at the entrance to Gloucester Docks. It became a listed building on 15 December 1998.