Ramsdell Public Library | |
Front of the library | |
Location | 1087 Main St., Great Barrington, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°15′29″N73°21′55″W / 42.25806°N 73.36528°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1906 |
Architect | McLean & Wright; Harding & Seaver |
NRHP reference No. | 14000440 |
Added to NRHP | July 25, 2014 |
Ramsdell Public Library is one of two public library buildings of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It is located at 1087 Main Street in the Housatonic village, in a two-story Beaux Arts building erected c. 1908. The building was a gift to the town by T. Ellis Ramsdell, fulfilling a bequest by his father Theodore, owner of the Monument Mills. It was designed by Boston architects McLean & Wright, with a sympathetic rear addition (added 1928–30) designed by the Pittsfield firm of Harding & Seaver. [1] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. [2]
The other branch of the Great Barrington library system is at 231 Main Street.
Ramsdell Public Library is located in Housatonic village, set between the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire, formerly the Housatonic Congregational Church, and the Corpus Christi Church on the north side of Main Street. The original 1908 main block is 1+1⁄2 stories in height, built out of yellow brick with marble trim. The main facade is three bays wide, with a projecting gabled entry pavilion at the center. The entry pavilion has marble corner quoins, and a further projection with an entablature and dentillated gable supported by pilasters and Ionic columns. The entrance has glass-paneled double doors, set in a recess framed by marble trim and topped by a sill with a foliated cartouche, and a half-round transom window. Windows on the ground floor are set in rectangular openings with splayed keystoned lintels; there are small windows beneath the eaves that illuminate the rooms of the half-story. [1]
The interior begins with a tiled entry area, with stairs rising around the outer walls to a large meeting room that occupies most of the upper story. The entry opens into a central rotunda, with reading rooms on either side, and stacks and librarian area to the rear. The openings to these spaces are flanked by wooden columns finished in emulation of marble. Walls are plastered, with oak trim around the windows, doors, and fireplaces. [1]
The rear addition nearly doubles the space of the building, extending behind the central and western portions of the main block. It provides for an enlarged reference area, more stacks, and a dedicated workroom for the library staff. [1]
The building was designed by the Boston partnership of McLean & Wright, which apparently later adapted this design for the Shedd-Porter Memorial Library in Alstead, New Hampshire, and the Weeks Memorial Library in Lancaster, New Hampshire, both of which post-date this building by a few years. It is a particularly fine local example of Classical Revival architecture. [1]
Housatonic is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Great Barrington in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,109 at the 2010 census. It was named after the Housatonic River.
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is part of the Berkshires resort area.
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, a ski resort, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van Deusenville and Housatonic.
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Eldredge Public Library is the public library of Chatham, Massachusetts. It is located at 564 Main Street, in a National Register-listed Romanesque Revival building donated by Chatham native Marcellus Eldredge. It was designed by Boston architect A. M. Marble.
The Old Lenox High School building, also formerly known as the Lenox Elementary School and the Marguerite E. Cameron Elementary School, is a historic school building at 109 Housatonic Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. The building was constructed in 1908, and housed the town's high school until 1966, when Lenox Memorial High School opened. The building had been converted into an assisted living facility, and then converted again in 2017 into low-income-housing apartments for seniors - now known as Lenox Schoolhouse Apartments. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
US Post Office–Great Barrington Main is a historic post office at 222 Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It was designed by architect Lorimer Rich and completed in 1936. Its design is unusual, because the United States Postal Service was at that time trying to economize on building costs in part by using standardized plans; this building is a notable deviation from this. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Waterbury Municipal Center Complex, also known as the Cass Gilbert National Register District, is a group of five buildings, including City Hall, on Field and Grand streets in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. They are large stone and brick structures, all designed by Cass Gilbert in the Georgian Revival and Second Renaissance Revival architectural styles, built during the 1910s. In 1978 they were designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are now contributing properties to the Downtown Waterbury Historic District.
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The Housatonic Congregational Church is a historic church building at 1089 Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Built in 1892 it is a prominent local example of Queen Anne Revival architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It is now home to the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire.
The Mahaiwe Block is a commercial and theater building in the heart of downtown Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In addition to smaller businesses, it houses the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, the town's only major performance space. It has been in virtually continuous operation since its construction in 1905. The building is located at 6-14 Castle St. and 314-322 Main St, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, located at 3 Main Street, is the public library of Alstead, New Hampshire. The library building was a gift to the town from John Graves Shedd and Mary Roenna (Porter) Shedd, and is a Beaux Arts building built in 1910 to a design by William H. McLean and Albert H. Wright. Shedd also donated 2,000 books to the library, whose collection now exceeds 10,000 volumes. The library building, one of the finest of the period in the state, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2011.
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