The Tripp Memorial Library and Hall is a historic building at 565 Water Street in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The building was constructed in 1912–13 to serve as Prairie du Sac's public library and village hall; the library had previously occupied two rooms of a local hotel. J. Stephens Tripp, a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms ...

and a public official in Prairie du Sac and neighboring Sauk City, donated the majority of the library's construction costs. Architect Joseph Dresen designed the Neoclassical building; the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

-based firm Ferry & Clas served as consulting architects. The two-story brick building's design includes brick

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s with

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

caps, a stone entrance surround topped by a plaque, and an iron

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 ...

. The building was used as a library and the home of village government for several decades; it is now a local history museum. The building was added to 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 ...

on September 14, 1981.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Sauk County, Wisconsin Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Library buildings completed in 1913 Government buildings completed in 1913 Neoclassical architecture in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-NRHP-stub Museums in Sauk County, Wisconsin