The Chidsey Library or Chidsey Building is a historic building located in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, at 701 North

Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north� ...

. The building was home to the city's first public library from 1941 to 1976.

History

The library's

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references to Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

design was done by Martin Studio of Architecture consisting of

Thomas Reed Martin Thomas Reed Martin (April 28, 1866 in Menasha, Wisconsin – February 1949) was an architect who was brought to Florida by one of its major developers during the turn of the twentieth century. He designed some 500 residences and various publi ...

and Frank C. Martin. The Chidsey Library opened in May 1941 as the Sarasota's first public library building. The building was dedicated to John and Ida Chidsey in November 1941 as they made the building possible by helping pay for the majority of the cost for the project, which was approximately $25,000, . The library held approximately 18,000 books in 1946. In 1974,

Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, F ...

assumed responsibility for maintaining all public county libraries. The building was used as a library until 1976, when library operations moved to Selby Library at the former GWIZ building located at 1001 Boulevard of the Arts. Sarasota County Historical Resources moved into a portion of the Chidsey Library. The county's Historical Resources fully occupied the Chidsey Building in 1998, when library operations moved to its current location at Selby Public Library. The building was added to 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 ...

(NRHP) on May 4, 2011.

References

External links

{{Sarasota, Florida, state=collapsed National Register of Historic Places in Sarasota County, Florida Buildings and structures in Sarasota, Florida 1941 establishments in Florida Library buildings completed in 1941 Former library buildings in the United States Museums in Sarasota, Florida Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Works Progress Administration in Florida