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Williams Free Library | |
Location | 105 Park Ave. Beaver Dam, Wisconsin |
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Coordinates | 43°27′21″N88°50′12″W / 43.4559°N 88.8366°W Coordinates: 43°27′21″N88°50′12″W / 43.4559°N 88.8366°W |
Architect | Walter Holbrook |
NRHP reference # | 74000079 |
Added to NRHP | August 7, 1974 |
The Williams Free Library is a public building in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It was the first public library in the United States to have open stacks. [1] While the building is no longer used as a library, its Richardsonian Romanesque design remains one of the city's architectural gems.
Beaver Dam is a town in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The estimated population was 16,564 in 2016, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge County. It is the principal city of the Beaver Dam Micropolitan Statistical area. The city is adjacent to the Town of Beaver Dam.
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
The library was founded in 1884 as the Beaver Dam Free City Library and was housed in a room in City Hall. In April 1890, John J. Williams, a wealthy local businessman, offered the library's board of directors $25,000 to construct a new building if, in exchange, the city would pay for the land. The Common Council agreed on April 15, 1890 to purchase a lot belonging to W.H. and T.D. Lawrence at Park Avenue and Spring Street, as well as an adjacent lot owned by Joseph Wagner on Park, for $12,200.
Plans were completed by Walter Holbrook of Edward Townsend Mix & Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in May 1890. The library's design was inspired by Henry Hobson Richardson. Construction began in July, with lot preparations completed by August. On August 26, Mayor E. Elwell declared a half-holiday for the cornerstone laying ceremony, which was executed by the local Masons. Collection of the required sandstone and limestone slowed construction, but work was completed in July 1891, with the building's dedication held on July 15, 1891. Thousands were in attendance, as it was held in conjunction with Beaver Dam's semi-centennial celebration.
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture".
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.
Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolomite, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolomite was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolomites or magnesium-rich limestones.
The doors of the library opened on September 1, 1891, with Mary J. Doolittle as its inaugural librarian. Its initial holdings were made up of 4,500 volumes.
As the collection and city grew, the library outgrew the Williams building. The city built a new library incorporating the Williams Free Library, and opened the new Beaver Dam Community Library on North Spring Street in March 1984.
The historic structure that formerly housed the library holdings is now rented for $1 per year to the Dodge County Historical Society and houses its museum. [2]
Dodge County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 88,759. Its county seat is Juneau. The county was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and organized in 1844.
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886), whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston (1872–1877), designated a National Historic Landmark. Richardson first used elements of the style in his Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane in Buffalo, New York, designed in 1870.
The Circus World Museum is a large museum complex in Baraboo, Wisconsin, devoted to circus-related history. The museum, which features not only circus artifacts and exhibits, but also hosts daily live circus performances throughout the summer, is owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society and operated by the non-profit Circus World Museum Foundation. The museum was the major participant in the Great Circus Parade held from 1963 to 2009.
The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) is a natural and human history museum located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum was chartered in 1882 and opened to the public in 1884; it is a not-for-profit organization operated by the Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc. MPM has three floors of exhibits and the first Dome Theater in Wisconsin.
Wayland Academy is a private, coeducational college preparatory boarding high school located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, United States. The student population at the beginning of the 2011–12 school year was 220.
Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) is the public library system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, consisting of a central library and 13 branches, all part of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. MPL is the largest public library system in Wisconsin.
Francis Huntington Snow was an American professor and chancellor of the University of Kansas (KU), and he became prominent through the discovery of a fungus fatal to chinch bugs and its propagation and distribution. Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, he was the son of Benjamin and Mary B. (Boutelle) Snow, and one of his paternal ancestors, Richard Warren, was a member of the Mayflower company. He was married on June 8, 1868, to Jane Appleton Aiken.
The McMillan Memorial Library is the municipal library of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin and serves southern Wood County. It is a member of the South Central Library System, which serves seven counties in Wisconsin.
Founded in 1869, the Historical Society of Berks County (HSBC) operates the Berks History Center as a museum and library located in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Society's mission, as described on its website, is "to focus attention on the unique local history, the vast material culture, and the diverse cultural heritage of Berks County by preserving, archiving, and promoting this material to instill in our citizens of all ages and ethnic groups an awareness of this growing treasure trove of information. This allows the HSBC to be a major cultural magnet, drawing people to our community."
Lester Public Library is a public library in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
The Bell Museum, formerly known as the "James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History," is located at the University of Minnesota. The museum's new location on the St. Paul campus opened July 13–15, 2018. The world-renowned Minnesota wildlife dioramas, numerous animal specimens from all over the world, and the 120-seat digital Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium theater are highlighted features of the new facility. The museum's former location in Minneapolis is closed as the work to move to the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus began in January 2017. The museum is part of the University's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.
The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium is a combination museum and planetarium located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It was founded in 1891, by Franklin Fairbanks. The museum and its building are on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Byron Reed was an American pioneer real estate businessman and local politician in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded the first real estate office in the Nebraska Territory and became the foremost agent after Nebraska achieved statehood.
Cardiff Central Library, is the main library in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. Four buildings have been named as such, with the newest building opening on 14 March 2009 and officially being opened a few months later on 18 June 2009 by the Manic Street Preachers. The first Cardiff library was opened in 1861 as the Cardiff Free Library, later expanded and known as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art.
The Smith County Historical Society, housed in the Carnegie Library, is located at 125 S. College Street in the city of Tyler, Smith County, Texas, U.S. It was built in 1904 as the Carnegie Public Library, and added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Smith County, Texas in 1979. When Tyler built a new public library, the Carnegie building was leased to the Smith County Historical Society and continues to operate as a museum and archives.
The Racine Heritage Museum is a historical museum building and former Carnegie library, located at 701 S. Main St. in downtown Racine, Wisconsin. Designed by John Mauran in the Beaux-Arts style, the building served as the Racine Public Library from 1904 until 1958, and has housed the Racine Heritage Museum since 1963. It is also the home of the Racine County Historical Society. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 1981.
The Dickinson County Courthouse is located in Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States. Built in two phases in 2006 and 2009, it is the fourth building to house court functions and county administration.
Michael Anselm Jacobs was an American businessman and politician.
The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot is located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
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