The Rumford Public Library is a library in

Rumford, Maine Rumford is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 census. Rumford is home to both ND Paper Inc's Rumford Mill and the Black Mountain of Maine ski resort. History Originally called New Pennacook ...

. The building it is in was designed by Maine architect

John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Main ...

and was built with a funding grant from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

in 1903. The architecturally distinguished 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

The original portion of the Rumford library is a -story red brick structure with a side-

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ...

. Its Romanesque styling is most pronounced in its projecting entry

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, a gable-roofed section centered on the middle third of the main facade that has a large round arch, in which the entrance is recessed. A rectangular stone panel above the arch identifies the building, and there are a trio of sash windows above that, with a small round stone panel near the peak of the gable. A belt course of stone separates the main floor from the raised basement, which is also finished in brick. A modern addition was added to the original block in 1969. The main entry of the library leads into a

vestibule Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin ''vestibulum, -i n.'' "entrance court". Anatomy In general, vestibule is a small space or cavity ...

, and then a centrally-positioned circulation desk, with reading rooms to either side, and stacks in the modern addition to the rear. The reading areas are decorated with dark-stained window trim, vertical

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

, and a fireplace with a bracketed mantel in the north room.

History

The first library established in the Rumford area was a private circulating collection of 1,000 volumes established by A. Z. Cates. A campaign for a permanent public library was enhanced by a $10,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation in 1903, with the gift of shelving and books by local industrialist

Hugh J. Chisholm Hugh Joseph Chisholm I (; May 2, 1847 – July 1, 1912) was a Canadian industrialist who later became a citizen of the United States. He was born in Chippawa, Ontario, to parents of Scottish ancestry. His early years as an entrepreneur in the n ...

. The library building was designed by the

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

architect

, who designed a number of public library buildings throughout the state.

References

External links

Library web site
{{Authority control Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Romanesque Revival architecture in Maine Library buildings completed in 1903 Libraries in Oxford County, Maine Buildings and structures in Rumford, Maine Carnegie libraries in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Oxford County, Maine 1903 establishments in Maine

Architecture

History

See also

References

External links