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The Bridge Academy Public Library is the public library of
Dresden, Maine Dresden is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States, that was incorporated in 1794. The population was 1,725 at the 2020 census. History The town was originally settled in 1752 under the name Frankfort by French and German Huguenots, who ...
. It is located at 44 Middle Road, in the former Bridge Academy building, which served as an area high school from 1890 to 1966, and is a sophisticated example of Shingle style architecture designed by Maine native George A. Clough. 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 1987.


Architecture and history

The Bridge Academy Public Library stands on the east side of Middle Road (
Maine State Route 197 State Route 197 (SR 197) is a east-west state highway in the US state of Maine. Route description SR 197 begins in Sabattus at the intersection with SR 9 and SR 126. This intersection is SR 197's western terminus. SR 197 heads east. ...
), a short way south of the town center, where Middle Road meets
Maine State Route 27 State Route 27 (abbreviated SR 27) is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from the village of Newagen in Southport, Maine, Southport at Maine State Route 238, SR 238 to the Coburn Gore–Woburn Border Crossing, wher ...
. It is a tall single-story wood frame structure, topped by a tall gambrel roof and set on a deep foundation. Its exterior walls are finished mostly in clapboards, with wooden shingles in a few gable ends. The roof, originally also finished in wooden shingles, is now asphalt. There are entrances at either end of the front facade, set under gabled hoods supported by scrolled brackets. A cross-gable section projects slightly between them, with a gable roof that is raised slightly above that of the main ridge, with an octagonal turret at the central meeting point. The interior of the building originally had a single classroom flanked by entrance halls, whose ceiling conformed to the roof line. The building's construction came about through two gifts. The first was a large general-purpose bequest by Llewellyn Lithgow, a native son, and the second was gift and the personal efforts of Samuel J. Bridge, who promised to match Lithgow's gift if it was used for a school instead of a bridge over the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
. George A. Clough, a native of Blue Hill, was the architect; although most of Clough's work took place in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, where he was the city architect for many years, he summered in Maine and is credited with a number of institutional buildings there. This building is the only known example of a late 19th-century school in the Shingle style. Bridge Academy served as a local high school until 1966, also taking in tuition-paying students from surrounding towns. By 1966, it could no longer meet state requirements for high schools, and was converted to a junior high school. It served in that capacity until 1983, and has since then been adapted for use as the local library.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Maine National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...


References


External links


Bridge Academy Public Library web site
{{Authority control Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Shingle Style architecture in Maine Library buildings completed in 1890 Libraries in Lincoln County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine