Wright Memorial Library, more commonly known as the "Wright Building," is a historic library at 147 St. George Street in
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 2020 census. The tow ...
.
Historic significance
The Wright Building was donated to the
Town of Duxbury by Georgianna Wright (1837–1919), an influential citizen of Duxbury and philanthropist. In 1890, Wright had donated her guest house to serve as the first
Duxbury Free Library. The wooden building soon grew too cramped and by 1906, Wright decided to fund the construction of a new building. Sparing no expense, she hired a well-known architect,
Joseph Everett Chandler
Joseph Everett Chandler (December 11, 1863 – August 19, 1945) was an American architect. He is considered a major proponent of the Colonial Revival architecture.
Biography
Joseph Everett Chandler was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son o ...
, to design a brick library in the
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 ...
style. Other projects by Chandler include the
Frederic Adams Library in
Kingston, Massachusetts and the restoration of the
Paul Revere House
The Paul Revere House, built c.1680, was the colonial home of American Patriot and Founding Father Paul Revere during the time of the American Revolution. A National Historic Landmark since 1961, it is located at 19 North Square, Boston, Mas ...
in
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 ...
. The cornerstone was laid in 1907 and the building completed in 1909. A newspaper reporter present at the dedication noted some of the library's impressive features, including electric lighting and a reading room paneled in black cypress with gilded accents.
[Browne and Forgit, 20-21.]
Restoration
In 1997, the Duxbury Free Library moved to new quarters, leaving the Wright Building empty. Used sporadically by various organizations for a few years, by 2004 the Wright Building was vacant and suffering decay. By a vote of Duxbury
Town Meeting
Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...
,
Community Preservation Funds were appropriated and the Town of Duxbury undertook the extensive restoration of the building. The 1909 portion of the library was outfitted for use by the
Duxbury Rural and Historical Society for their Drew Archival Library where historic documents are preserved. The 1968 addition was refurbished for use by the Duxbury Student Union Association. The Wright Building was re-dedicated on September 22, 2007, just slightly over one hundred years after the cornerstone was laid.
[ It 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 ...
in July 2007.
See also
*
Notes
References
*
External links
Duxbury Rural and Historical SocietyDrew Archival Library catablogDuxbury Student Union
{{Authority control
Library buildings completed in 1909
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Libraries in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Former library buildings in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts