The Hubbard Free Library is the

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 ...

serving

Hallowell, Maine Hallowell ( ) is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,570 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Hallowell is noted for its culture and old architecture. Hallowell is included in th ...

. Built in 1879-80, it is the oldest library building in Maine built for that purpose.Library Postcards
/ref> It was designed by architect Alexander C. Currier to resemble an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

country

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. Dedicated in 1880 as the Hallowell Library, it was renamed the Hubbard Free Library in 1894, after a $20,000

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

from

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Thomas Hubbard. The building is a contributing property in the

Hallowell Historic District The Hallowell Historic District encompasses the historic 18th and 19th-century heart of Hallowell, Maine. The city developed as a major port on the Kennebec River, during which time its downtown and adjacent residential area were built up. F ...

Founding

The Hallowell Social Library was instituted in 1843, by forty-three stockholders, who paid $20. When first established, the collection was inaccessible to the general public; only subscribers and members of their families were entitled to use the books.''Manual of public libraries, institutions, and societies: in the United States, 1859'', p. 71. The library became a public library five years later, and the use of the library to individuals of the public other than stockholders was available for $3 per year. This fee was reduced to $2 annually the following year, in 1848. The Friends group began a campaign to raise money for a permanent building in 1878, and in 1880 the building was dedicated. The cost of the original library was $8,300, which included the land and building. Alexander C. Currier donated his services, designing and supervising the

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

of the original building. The entire building is of Hallowell

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and was contributed by Joseph R. Bodwell, then-president of the Hallowell Granite Co. and later

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

. The

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

fret work that originally adorned the peaks of the building was donated by Prescott & Fuller Iron Foundry.

Expansion

In 1893, Thomas Hubbard, a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, railroad executive, financier, businessman and philanthropist, donated the funds for the construction of a free library. In March 1894, the new structure was complete and was renamed Hubbard Free Library. The money was used to build an addition to the existing building, in the form of a cross-axial

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, in keeping with the original church design. A second addition was added in 1897, with $10,000 donated by Eliza Clark Lowell of Hallowell, a direct descendant of Deacon Pease Clark, who was the first settler in Hallowell.Maine Memory Network - Eliza Clark Lowell, Hallowell, ca. 1897
/ref> File:Hubbard Free Library Hallowell ME circa 1880 HABS cropped.jpg, Interior, circa 1880. File:Hubbard Free Library Hallowell ME 1971 HABS.jpg, Interior, 1971.

References

External links

*
City of Hallowell
{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1880 Public libraries in Maine Libraries in Kennebec County, Maine Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Historic district contributing properties in Maine Buildings and structures in Hallowell, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Kennebec County, Maine 1880 establishments in Maine