The Waltham Public Library is the public library of the city of

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...

. Its main location is in the Francis Buttrick Library, an architecturally significant

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, ...

building built in 1915, funded by a bequest from Francis Buttrick, a major landowner in the city. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1989.

Architecture and history

The Buttrick Library building is located on the north side of Main Street, between Exchange and Spring Streets. The front portion of the building, its historic portion, is a tall single-story brick structure, with round-arch windows and a projecting semicircular entry pavilion. The building is topped by a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

. Additions extend the building to the rear, providing space for modern stacks and services. The Waltham Public Library was established in 1865 with a gift of 3,700 volumes from the Rumford Institute for Mutual Instruction, an 1826 organization established by the proprietors of the

Boston Manufacturing Company The Boston Manufacturing Company was a business that operated one of the first factories in America. It was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, in partnership with a group of investors later known as The Boston As ...

as a service to its employees. It grew over the rest of the 19th century by the gifts of other collections, and was at first housed in the Welch Building at Charles and Moody Streets. In 1894, Francis Buttrick, then the city's largest landowner, bequested funds for the construction of a permanent home. The oldest portion of the building was designed by the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

firm Loring & Leland, and was completed in 1915, it having taken twenty years to locate and acquire a suitable parcel of land. A gallery space was added in 1933, and a modern addition made to the rear later in the 20th century.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Library buildings completed in 1915 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Colonial Revival architecture in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Waltham, Massachusetts Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts

Architecture and history

See also

References

External links