The Vinalhaven Public Library is the public library serving the island community of
Vinalhaven, Maine
Vinalhaven is a New England town, town in Knox County, Maine, Knox County, Maine, United States. Its town limits include the island of Vinalhaven, the largest of the Fox Islands, and smaller islands, some accessible from Vinalhaven Island by bri ...
. It is located at 6 Carver Street in downtown Vinalhaven, in a small architecturally distinguished
Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...
building built in 1906 with financial support from
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1989.
Architecture and history
The Vinalhaven Public Library stands near the eastern end of Vinalhaven's commercial downtown area, at the junction of Carver, Chestnut, and Main Streets. The building is a single-story structure, built out of quarry-faced granite and covered by a hip roof. The roof has extended eaves with exposed rafters, with a chimney rising near the left wall. The main entrance is in the center of the facade facing Carver Street, recessed under a round arch in a projecting section topped by a flat parapet. A high stringcourse runs beneath a narrow band of square windows on either side of the entrance. The interior has a central librarian's desk with flanking reading rooms, and original wooden shelving on the walls.
[ with ]
Vinalhaven's public library originated in 1887, when Governor
Joseph R. Bodwell, owner of one of Vinalhaven's granite quarries, made a pledge to provide space for a library if funds were raised to establish one. A private circulating library was added to this early collection in 1890, and was established in Vinalhaven's Memorial Hall in 1895. The present building was constructed in 1906, funded in part by a grant from
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
. It was designed by the firm of
George A. Clough and
Herbert L. Wardner, and is the only
Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...
library design in the state.
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See also
*
*List of Carnegie libraries in Maine
The following list of Carnegie libraries in Maine provides detailed information on United States Carnegie library, Carnegie libraries in Maine, where 18 public libraries were built from 18 grants (totaling $241,450) awarded by the Carnegie Corpor ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Knox County, Maine
Prairie School architecture
Library buildings completed in 1906
Libraries in Knox County, Maine
Carnegie libraries in Maine
1906 establishments in Maine
Vinalhaven, Maine