The Adriance Memorial Library is located on Market Street in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. It is a stone building in the

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

architectural style An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...

erected shortly at the end of the 19th century. In 1982 it 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 ...

. It is the oldest tax-supported library in the state and the third oldest in the United States, dating back to 1839 at various locations prior to the construction of the current building. It is also the main

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District, serving the city and

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of that name, with a branch in the suburb of

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

and a branch located at the Family Partnership Center on North Hamilton Street in

. It is a member library of the

Mid-Hudson Library System The Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) is a public library system in the Hudson Valley of New York. It was established in 1959 by the State of New York. MHLS comprises libraries in five counties: Columbia County, Dutchess County, Greene County, ...

, which has its headquarters next door. The building has been through two renovations and expansions. A large rear wing was built in the 1920s. It was removed in the early 21st century to make way for an even larger addition. During that time the main building was closed as well for renovations. It was reopened in 2009 with its appearance and layout intact.

Building

The library is located on the east side of Market Street between Noxon and Pine streets, just north of where Market forks to its south end at Montgomery Street. A

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

and a half to the north is Church Street (eastbound

U.S. Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonks ...

New York State Route 55 New York State Route 55 (NY 55) is a east-west state highway in southern New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River in Barryville to the Connecticut state line at Wingdale. It is the only other state ...

), Poughkeepsie's major eastbound arterial road and the south end of downtown. The area is extensively developed and urban, along the point where the terrain levels off after rising a half-mile (800 m) from the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

to the west. Nearby are several other buildings also listed on the National Register. To the southwest, across the fork of Market, is the Harlow Row, a group of attached brick rowhouses slightly older than the library. Across Market is the Market Street Row, a group of several houses, including the Mott–Van Kleeck House, the city's oldest. North along the same side of Market is the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

brick Hasbrouck House, now headquarters of the

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, with the brick

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

Amrita Club next to it at the corner of Church, opposite the city's former armory. A stone retaining wall, topped by a small decorative guardrail, runs along the street, broken by a set of steps in the center flanked by gas lampposts. The building itself is a one-story, 13-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

structure of Tennessee marble with a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

ed roof, projecting

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

with

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

s, plain

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

with "Adriance Memorial Library" carved into it. Atop is a small green dome. On the west (front) facade the seven bays in the middle are recessed. Within that section the middle three project slightly to form a central

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 ...

with four round

fluted Fluting may refer to: *Fluting (architecture) *Fluting (firearms) *Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) *Playing a flute (musical instrument) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump ''Fluting on the Hump'' is the ...

Corinthian columns. A double set of steps leads up to the main entrance. The entrance bay has a round-arched glass transom with radiating muntins, topped with a scroll keystone. It is flanked by two similar blind bays. Above each is a panel with

swag Swag, SWAG, or Swagg may refer to: Terms and slang * Swag (motif) or festoon, a wreath or garland or a carving depicting foliage and ribbons ** Swag, fabric dressing for a window valance * Swag, stolen goods, in 1800s thieves cant * Swag (pr ...

decorations. Outside the colonnade, each side has two flanking windows. They have similar decorative treatment as the central bays, but are set with one-over-one double-hung

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

above a recessed panel. On the sides, windows are set with two eight-pane casements, opening in the center, above a recessed panel. A

stringcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...

is at the bottom, paralleled by the building's

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

. Below them on the sides are square two-over-two double-hung sash in the basement. A parged brick

hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...

, two stories with two bays set with one-over-one double-hung sash between

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

sills and lintels, trimmed with a

molded Molding (American English) or moulding (British and Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the process of manufacturing by shaping liquid or pliable raw material using a rigid frame called a mold or matrix. This itself may have ...

wooden cornice, connects the main block to a rear addition built of smooth dressed stone blocks, rusticated on the first story. It is four storeys high, with a three-story front section, and a projecting rear. The front has modern paired windows with two small panes over one large one. Similar windows alternate on the addition's main block, and rise near the east corner of the rear section. The flat roof is trimmed with a cornice similar to that on the hyphen. The interior features Tiffany

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate, usually fixed to a wall or other vertical surface, meant to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military p ...

s and intact oak

woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...

. The library's annual report described it as a

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

building, but today it is more frequently described as

History

The Adriance Memorial library was given to the city of Poughkeepsie by the Adriance family, who ran a successful farm equipment company in Poughkeepsie. John and Mary Adriance's six children donated $100,000 from the fortune he made developing the buckeye plow to build the library, and purchase its books, in their parents' memory. It opened with a huge gala celebration on October 18, 1897. By the early 1920s it was running out of space. A brick addition was built on the rear in 1923. It would serve for the remainder of the century.

2007-2009 reconstruction

On September 30, 2007, the Adriance Memorial Library temporarily closed its main building in order to perform a major renovation project in order to more than double the space within the library. The 1923 addition was removed to make room for a new and larger addition at the back of the building, leaving the historic original structure intact in the front. The building was originally scheduled to reopen on October 1, 2009.Pough Keepsie Journal
In the interim, the main library was temporarily relocated to a former

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

building on Bancroft Road. On October 18, 2009, the 112th anniversary of the original opening, the library celebrated its Grand Re-Opening. As of April 2012, the Adriance Memorial Library has been featured as a special building for the Hudson Valley civilization in a mod-pack in the popular strategy game '' Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword''.

References

External links

Poughkeepsie Public Library District
{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1897 Public libraries in New York (state) Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Poughkeepsie, New York Neoclassical architecture in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Poughkeepsie, New York 1897 establishments in New York (state)

Building

History

2007-2009 reconstruction

See also

References

External links