1916 Public Library, Shelton, Washington

[LIB11131] Currently houses the Mason County Historical Museum.

Public Library Interior, Beach Haven, New Jersey

[LIB11130] Probably the 1920s.

In 1923 Mrs. Walter Pharo, in memory of her husband’s parents, Archelaus Ridgway Pharo and Louisa Willits Pharo - the founders of Beach Haven, and of her late husband Walter, presented the board of the library with a proposal to build, entirely at her own expense, a new library for the town two blocks away from the church on a corner lot owned by her at Third and Beach.  It was accepted immediately.  R. Brognard Okie, one of Philadelphia’s finest architects, was contacted by Mrs. Pharo.  He chose as his model a Pennsylvania farm house - not an early lifesaving station as has often been said. [Website]

Public Library (Morse Institute), Natick, Massachusetts

[LIB11129] The library you see today began in 1808 as a modest collection of about 100 books in the home of Samuel Morse, just up the street from today’s building. Thirty-nine years later, that early circulating library evolved into the Citizen’s Library, and accumulated 425 books by 1852. Natick resident Henry Wilson, the country’s vice president during Ulysses S. Grant’s second term, was one of the original shareholders of the Citizen’s Library. The town stepped in with funds for books and a librarian as well as a room to house the collection in 1857. [Website]

Public Library, Holyoke, Massachusetts

[LIB11128] There is ample evidence that the founders of the Holyoke Public Library were fully aware of the far-reaching consequences that a library can have in the life of a community. In dedicating the new building in 1902, President Whiting referred to it as the "People’s College”, and added that: "A library is as much a part of the intellectual life of a community as its schools, and should be supported generously as part of our educational system. Within these walls you will find authors devoted to literature, arts and science, and they are free to any who will ask. We can say to the citizens of Holyoke you have only to ask here and you will find knowledge to make your life useful and happy”.

Goodspeed Memorial Library, Wilton, Maine

[LIB11127] The Wilton Free Public Library is located in the foothills of western Maine, alongside Wilson Stream in downtown Wilton. The Library, which serves the communities and citizens of the Wilton, Dryden, East Wilton, and East Dixfield was incorporated in 1901 as The Wilton Free Public Library Association. [Website]

The Wilton Free Public Library Association was incorporated in 1901; the Goodspeed Memorial Library building, named for the family who gave it to the town in 1915, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The building was designed by the Lewiston architect Harry S. Coombs and was constructed by the B.F. Dunning Company of Massachusetts at a cost of $10,000.

The building is still in use as a public library.

1912 Public Library, Norfolk, Connecticut

[LIB11126] Mr. George Keller of Hartford was the architect for the building which first opened on March 6, 1889. At the time it was built, the structure went no farther than the north-south corridor of alcoves. The Great Hall, additional stacks, and the back alcove, also designed by Keller, were added in 1911, again the gift of Isabella Eldridge. [Website]

This view is from the railway. Still in use as a public library.