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Calais Free Library is the
public library A public library is a 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 service, civil servants. There are ...
in
Calais, Maine Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,079, making Calais the third least-populous city in Maine (after Hallowell and Eastport). The city has three Canada–US border cr ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. It is located at 9 Union Street, at the edge of the city's business district, in an architecturally distinguished Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by Arthur H. Vinal and completed in 1893, with a major addition in 1984-85. It is 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 ...
and is also home to an art gallery.


Architecture and history

The Calais Free Library is located at the eastern end of Union Street in downtown Calais, and is set between the street and the St. Croix River. It is a single-story brick building with brownstone trim, topped by a hip roof. The right side of its front (southwest-facing) facade has a tall gable section with a projecting rounded bay on its left and the main entrance recessed under a large round arch. The left side of the main facade consists of a bank of round-arch windows. At the center of the roof an octagonal cupola with louvered sides rises to a bellcast pyramidal roof and finial. Set behind this original building, at a lower elevation due to the sloping lot, is a modern addition, joined to this building's basement by a narrow hyphen. The basic form of the original building is echoed in the addition. Library services in Calais began with a private subscription service in the 1830s, whose collection was significantly damaged by a fire in 1870. The impetus for the Calais Free Library came from
James Shepherd Pike James Shepherd Pike (September 8, 1811 – November 29, 1882) was an American journalist and a historian of South Carolina during the Reconstruction Era. Biography Pike was born in Calais, Maine, and was a journalist in the United States dur ...
, one of the city's leading citizens, who died in the early 1880s, bequeathing his house to the city for use as a library. Due to the fire in the previous library, the new library's trustees opted to build a new stone building, selling Pike's house and having it moved off the lot.
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 ...
architect Arthur H. Vinal was awarded the contract in 1892, and the new building opened its doors in 1893; it is one of only three of Vinal's commissions in Maine to survive. The 1984-85 addition was designed by WBRC Architects/Engineers of
Bangor Bangor or City of Bangor may refer to: Places Australia * Bangor, New South Wales * Bangor, Tasmania Canada * Bangor, Nova Scotia * Bangor, Saskatchewan * Bangor, Prince Edward Island United Kingdom Northern Ireland * Bangor, County Down ** ...
.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Maine This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Maine. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Maine, Un ...


References


External links


Calais Free Library
official site {{authority control Library buildings completed in 1892 Buildings and structures in Calais, Maine Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Public libraries in Maine Libraries in Washington County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Maine 1892 establishments in Maine Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Maine