Welcome!
If you have reached this site via the Carnegie Library article
on Wikipedia, please see the
entry
page for easier navigation of my site. There are many more pages of
Carnegie--and other--libraries.
Please see Carnegie Libraries of Wisconsin,
K - W, for the rest of this page, and
Wisconsin Libraries A - L or
Wisconsin Libraries M - Z for the rest of Wisconsin's public libraries.
Enjoy!
As the twentieth century dawned, the tycoons we remember as 'Robber Barons' actually had a sense of corporate responsiblity.
Andrew Carnegie may have been the most visible, with his committment to public libraries. But because these small dedicated library buildings are no longer functional in a twenty-first century world of electronic information, our children may never see these libraries except in photographs.
Some communities--notably Antigo, Wisconsin and Mendota, Illinois--preserved these buildings as museums. Others, such as Waukesha, Wisconsin and Rhinelander, Wisconsin, incorporated them into a larger facility. Unfortunately, many have been razed.
Not all Carnegie library buildings are works of architectural splendor, which may have contributed to the drive to replace them before the passage of the ADA and the adoption of computer systems made it essential. Tuscola, Illinois had a building that looked as if it was constructed of cement facing blocks and soot. (It looks better now!) Many looked nearly identical, such as those of Marseilles and Milford, Illinois. Different is not always better, though. Iola, Kansas had an especially homely Carnegie building.
Just as e-mail is linked in our minds with a current library benefactor, Bill Gates, postcards were the rapid communication of their day. Many of the cards in my collection bear messages eerily resembling today's quick e-mails exchanged among family and friends. In the small cities across the U.S., a postcard of the local library--perhaps built by the generosity of Andrew Carnegie--carried the word to those who needed it. Today's libraries provide Internet access that helps those away from home to electronically mail the same types of information.
63 Carnegie Libraries were located in Wisconsin towns. Antigo, Rhinelander, and Waukesha are those with which I am most familiar. Information about other Wisconsin libraries has been taken from the pertinent library's website. In some cases, information comes from Larry T. Nix directly, or from his wonderful website, Library History Buff. In rare cases, information comes from Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development, by George S. Bobinski. Unfortunately, some of the smallest libraries have no Internet presence; and libraries with the flashiest sites seem to have no sense of history.
The county seat of Langlade County received Carnegie funding in
March of 1903. Construction is dated 1904. The Georgian Revival structure was designed by Allan D. Conover,
but the Wisconsin State Historical Society credits C.F. Dallman as the
local architect. Mattefs Bros. Construction was also heavily involved in its
construction, especially the distinctive stone masonery foundation.
An astonishing number of postcards are available for this hamlet, which never broke 10,000 in population in its heyday.
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| 1906 postmark. Photo appears to be during construction. Note tar tank at the left, and rear windows clearly visible through front. | 1909 postmark. Caption 'Carnegie Library and Teacher's Training School.' | 1911 postmark. Trees are slightly taller in this photo. |
| | |
| Click above to see entire postcard, which was sent in 1910. Photo appears to be color version of the 1911 card. | Curt Teich postcard. | |
| | |
| E.C. Kropp card, sent 1938. Note the growth of the plantings surrounding the library. | E.C. Kropp card, sent 1951. Clearly the monochrome version of the earlier card. |
There is even a modern (1997) view of the old library, just prior to its conversion to the county historical society.
1916 Carnegie college library. Nix informs me that this building has been razed. Honestly, it doesn't look as if it would have sufficed for a decent-sized college for many years.
Someone leapt on the opportunity to produce this card. It was mailed August 22, 1916, hot off the press.
Grant from March 14, 1905.
Many things should be sublimated in a library. Iodine
crystals are not one of them.
Card published by the Massure Co. and mailed in 1910.
Generic Carnegie library (1902) in an unusual town
best known for its circus museum and Ringling Theater.
The lefthand card was also printed in Baraboo sometime after 1911.
The righthand card is older, with an unevenly divided back from
an unknown publisher.
What a frieze!
1912 grant, in the Prairie architecture phase. Still in use as a library.
Denison Publishing is to blame for this odd tint job.
An illustration of the need for disaster planning.
Doing a little surfing on the net reveals the possibility that this card was produced by G.L. Larsen of Fond du Lac.
Here's a page with more photos of the flood's aftermath. I believe most of these are by the same person, or at least taken with the same camera. There's a light leak in the same position on my card and most of the RPPC shown on the 'Summer of 42' site.
Early 1903 grant. Built in 1904. Still in use.
More library history on the
library's site. (I want the dogsled picture!)
This photo card postdates the flood and was produced by L.L. Cook of Milwaukee. It carries a 1947 postmark. Notice the two tones of brick used: it's much more evident on the library's site.
Artist's rendition on the BPL website suggests that the old building is incorporated into the new: Nix states the 1901 building was razed instead.
Beloit College's library also received a Carnegie grant.
Typical Carnegie library, built after a 1903 grant. What's not so typical is that it still serves as a library.
(L) Rather ordinary monochrome card published by H.E. Genske
of Plymouth, Wisconsin.
(R) Gently tinted E.C. Kropp card printed on pebbled paper.
This northern Wisconsin town boasts an atypical Carnegie library. Part of the reason is that this was one of the latter Wisconsin Carnegie buildings (1914). Many rural Wisconsin schools of the era also seem to share a similar plan.
Postcard reverse reads:
CARNEGIE LIBRARY, BLACK RIVER FALLS.
A handsome red brick structure maintained by the city. $10,000 of the initial cost came from the Andrew Carnegie Library Fund.
Bobinski concurs with that figure.
The crest, with the 1902 date, bears an odd resemblance to the crest used by the old Beatrice Foods company for its Meadow Gold milk.
Something about the composition made
the library look as if it tilted backwards. We don't know the photographer, but
the card was
produced by E.C. Kropp of Milwaukee, and was mailed in 1916.
So beautiful it could make you cry.
1915 grant, in the heights of the 'what can we do to the basic plan to
make it especially wonderful?' phase. The panel over the door shows a figure
with either stacks of books or gas cans. The door frame has molded, possibly terra cotta,
Deco decoration. Little squares on the doors echo the frames. Where other communities
made the obligatory lamp standards out of iron, these look like terra cotta.
Bet they fared well in a Wisconsin winter.
Do you think this beauty is still in use?
Nah.
Beware the .pdf file above.
Postmarked 1913.
Designed by Claude and Starck, and built in 1912, this is one of my favorite library buildings. Evidently the powers that be agree, since it was placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1991. The city has seen fit to keep it in use, and the library celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2002.
Columbus is also famous for its Louis Sullivan designed bank.
Seriously cool Real Photo card.
According to the historian Larry T. Nix, the building dates from a 1905 grant and is no longer in use.
Replaced by the L. E. Phillips Memorial Library in 1976. Respectfully
converted to and added to become
City Hall and Carnegie Library.
The link goes to a spiffy
panoramic photograph of the duo.
A page reprinted from the Eau Claire Leader/Daily Telegram gives the library's history up to 1968. The building shown on this card was built in 1904.
Built 1905, renovated 2006.
This building had a very unusual configuration, more deep than wide. The post-renovation picture reveals a near-twin on the left side, with a bay window where a doorway would be expected.
Edgerton was the home of author Sterling North. There used to be a billboard on I-90 commemorating that fact. It is also the center of Wisconsin's tobacco industry. I bet you didn't know Wisconsin had a tobacco industry.
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 |
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| Postcards not in chronological order. | ||
Built with 1902 grant.
No traces of this building remain in Fondy, but the current library is quite sprightly after its recent renovation.
Note: excellent and helpful reference staff, well-organized local history section.
Built after 1901, utilizing a large ($45,000) grant. Part of a library system serving Brown County.
Larger, vanilla Carnegie building up in Packerland.
The Packers are slightly newer (1919), however.
The lefthand card was postmarked 1909, the righthand card, 1911.
Many of the Janesville library cards I have seen are similar to that (R) Acmegraph
card.
(LL) Interior view, possibly take from behind a reference or circulation desk.
(LR) Exterior with aquamarine sky, probably by the same printer.
Janesville is traditionally an industrial city, the home of the Parker Pen. A GMC truck plant is its main employer today. If the building had to be replaced, it's good that it was done in 1968. I don't think it could be done today.
Come on inside for more information.
Janesville's Carnegie Library was built in 1902. J.T.W. Jennings is believed to have been the architect. Early on, it became inadequate, and was remodeled in 1927 and 1932.
According to its website, the library was totally replaced in 1968, and in 1996 in turn was remodeled into a strange modern edifice, Hedberg Public Library. HPL's site links to a great digital history page, in concert with the University of Wisconsin.
Built from a 1911 grant. This was a very small library
I remember as a child. We never stopped so that I could go inside. The concept of library district
boundaries hadn't sunk in yet.
The last time I passed through Jefferson, it looked as if the library
was either being moved, getting a new foundation, or torn down
in a strange manner. The address given via Google map is the
long-standing location as far as I can tell.
To the best of my knowledge, the majority of these cards has reached the public domain by virtue of the postcards' age. I claim full copyright on the text, which may be used in citation only. Also, I claim copyright on the scans, although given their quality, you might wonder why. Most of the troublesome scans are of early works, not linen-finish cards.
I hope to update this site as I locate more cards and find more references.
© 2003 - 8 Judy Aulik
Last updated: 03 July 2008.
Libraries from Kaukauna to Wausau
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