The Streator Public Library is a historic Carnegie library located at 130 S. Park Street in

Streator Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 cen ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. Opened in 1903, the library was the first permanent home for Streator's library association. Architects Patton & Miller designed the

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing styl ...

building. The library 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 still home to Streator's main public library.

History

Streator's first library association, the Streator Library Association, lasted from 1871 to 1875 and was based out of various local businesses. After the association failed, the Ladies Library Association formed in 1876; it occupied space in multiple community buildings before eventually settling in the Plumb Opera House. Ralph Plumb, owner of the opera house, was a personal friend of

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

; when Carnegie began his library program, Plumb reached out to him to ask for a grant for Streator's library. Carnegie gave the community $35,000 for its library; the sum was one of the largest granted through the library program. Work on the building began in 1902, and it opened on January 31, 1903. The library was added to the

on May 2, 1996.

Architecture

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

architects Patton & Miller designed the library in the Classical Revival style. Two-story columns flank the front entrance, which is topped by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

. A

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracot ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

encircle the building; the cornice includes

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). Al ...

s and a

fretwork Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly u ...

pattern, while the frieze consists of flat panels. A brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

with an elaborate terra cotta panel at the front rises above the roof line, and a dome tops the roof. The interior of the building includes a two-story rotunda; the first floor of the rotunda is surrounded by columns, while the second floor features murals of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tra ...

, and

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

References

External links

Streator Public Library
{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in LaSalle County, Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Library buildings completed in 1903 1903 establishments in Illinois Carnegie libraries in Illinois Streator, Illinois Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois