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The Seth Mason Richards House, housing the Richards Free Library and the Library Arts Center, is a historic house, public library, and art gallery at 58 North Main Street in
Newport, New Hampshire Newport is a New England town, town in and the county seat of Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. It is west-northwest of Concord, New Hampshire, Concord, the state capital. The population of Newport was 6,299 at the 2020 United States ...
. This three-story
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 ...
house was designed by
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 ...
architect
James T. Kelley James or Jim Kelley may refer to: People *James Kelley (Pennsylvania state senator) (James Reeves Kelley, born c. 1933), Pennsylvania judge and politician *James R. Kelley (Pennsylvania state representative) (1839–1871), speaker of the Pennsylvan ...
and built in 1898-99 for Captain Seth Mason Richards, a scion of one of Newport's wealthiest families. The property, including the house and carriage house, were donated by his heirs for use as the town's public library in 1962. The library is housed in the main building, while the carriage house has been converted for use as a gallery space. The property 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 ...
(as "Richards Free Library") in 1984.


History

The Richards family had a long history of prominence in local affairs. Dexter Richards, the father of Seth Mason Richards, owned the Dexter Mill, and had funded both the construction of a school and the establishment of the Richards Free Library in 1888. Seth Mason Richards was politically active, serving in the state legislature and its Governor's Council. His house is one of the finest examples of Colonial Revival architecture in the state, and was donated to the town as a home for the library by his daughter in 1963. The town took great care to maintain the architectural details of the building while adapting for its new use.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New Hampshire This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New Hampshire. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New H ...


References


External links


Library web siteLibrary Arts Center web site
{{Authority control Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Colonial Revival architecture in New Hampshire Library buildings completed in 1898 Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Newport, New Hampshire