Library Postcards: Civic Pride in a Lost America

Carnegie Libraries of Wisconsin
Cities K - R

One would not think that 63 Carnegie libraries would require yet another web page, but they do. This section begins with Kaukauna and goes through Ripon.
If you have interests in Shawano through Wauwatosa, please change your bookmarks and links.

 Kaukauna

Similar to Richland Center, and to a lesser extent, Durand.

Card sent 1927.
Kaukaunians don't give you this construction date, but I do, from the Nix site: 1902.

However, the Kaukauna library gives you a whole bunch of postcards to view, 4 of which are of the library.
And guess what? The building is intact and still in use as a library. I don't know whether that saddens or gladdens me.

 Ladysmith

Built by Claude & Starck. Funds came from a 1907 grant. 30 years later, the Carnegie building became the city and county library. Replaced ca. 1997.

Since 1999, serving as the Carnegie Hall Bed & Breakfast. Unfortunately, damaged by a tornado in 2002, and fortunately, reopened in 2006.
Pat and Marty Reynolds are two devoted Carnegie caretakers!

 Madison

This Madison Public Library, bearing a strong, unfortunate resemblance to a school, predates the current location on Mifflin Street. In addition, Madison has 8 branch libraries, most of which are former storefronts. An excellent site by Dr. Bob Kann gives Madison Public Library history.

Normally I dislike modern library buildings, but Madison's is so unabashedly mid-century it's hard not to like it. Its card is tucked away near the bottom of the Miscellaneous Public Library page.

 Manitowoc

	L.L. Cook photo card with notations and dated 10-9-46.

Built 1902-1904. Replaced 1966.

The card on the right is one of two in my collection sent (1909) by the Johnson Service Company to tout its system of temperature regulation. Its one-cent stamp has a perfin monogram.

The current (1998) building is handsome, but resembles a small factory. There hadn't been (strange, because the library has a great local history section) a library history page when I first added the Manitowoc cards, but now there is.
Appreciated.

 Medford

Built in 1913; apparently still in use.
This is a charming building in the California Bungalow style. The details in the brickwork, the stucco, and the windows are beautifully executed. Letting the ivy cover them up is a shame (but maybe they saved a few bucks by skimping on the side decoration. Ivy is cheap.).

There are a lot of northern Wisconsin photo cards that have the black bottom edge with carefully lettered information. Most date from the '30s to the '50s. I've been able to date the others from card details, such as cars, but I'm stymied by this one.

 Merrill

Late 1907 grant: heavily renovated. I was sent a photo that shows how the new wing connects, in a way that I can see the Carnegie building. Merrill's web site photo is a little disorienting.
Such beauty.

Don't these E.A. Bishop cards display it well?

 Neenah

According to Nix, Neenah received its Carnegie grant in 1901.

Written on this E.C. Kropp Card: 'This library is just this side of Shattuck Park a little below our home nearer town and we also see this from our windows. Fox River is back of it.'

My monochrome E.C. Kropp card looks pretty sad in comparision.

 Neillsville

1913 grant. Renovated in the 1990s, and still in use. Information from the Clark County pages of U.S. GenNet stated that the Withee Construction built the library in 1914.

(L) Oh dear. It looks like there are both fasces and a menorah over the front entrance.
(C) Ivy obscures the trim on this RPPC. I don't know what the object just to the right of the light pole is. It's too bulbous to be a fire hydrant. Perhaps it's a drinking fountain (bubbler)?
(R) The ivy has gone berserk, and the added tinting makes the library look like a kudzu victim.

 Platteville

Dates from a 1914 Carnegie grant. Building no longer in use as of 2007, but still stands.
Tudor stylings appear to be somewhat common among Wisconsin libraries. Not stylistically accurate, but attractive nonetheless, above the doorway is some nifty metalwork spelling out 'Public Library' in a rather neat font. The RPPC was mailed in 1960.

 Plymouth

Dates from the 1908 Carnegie grant. I had believed that the building was no longer in use as of 2005, but a recent correspondent informs me that it was merely renovated instead.

Righthand card is an E.C. Kropp publication.

 Racine

Thanks to the Johnson Wax Company's HQ designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Racine has a reputation as a cool place in architectural circles. I don't think they noticed this 1913 Beaux-Arts contribution. The Carnegie building was still standing in 2007, not looking abandoned, but not looking as if it's serving any particular purpose. Just west of the old building, off STH 20, is another building that looks like a Carnegie building. I've been assured that it wasn't a library.
The new Racine library has the cool version of '60s architecture, and after a huge addition, overlooks Lake Michigan.

(L) Card published locally, by E.A. Bishop. Never postally used.
(R) Card layout and color choices resemble that used on the Duluth, MN card.

 Rhinelander

In the 1980s, this Wisconsin resort community updated its Carnegie library to become accessible to patrons with disabilities. And it was crowded inside before the upgrade! Unfortunately it cost the building a space on the National Register of Historic Places.

Needs must.

The card in the oval vignette (above left), a product of Chas. D. Bronson, has an entire back.

The left hand card below, produced by E.C. Kropp, is newer than the right hand card. The righthand card is postmarked 1924, and was published locally for the United 5-10-25 C store. The Labrador retriever in the front is an especially homey touch.

 Rice Lake

Similar to the Arcadia Carnegie Library: the tower evident on the righthand card may not be part of the library, but of a nearby building. The library building was added to the National Register in 1986, and is privately owned.

Card, published for the Fair Tire Store, was mailed in 1919.

We need a Real Photo card to tell us the truth about Rice Lake's Library. Note the wayward youth loitering in the perimeter. Not a one seems to be reading a book.
Look at the utility pole, deleted from the other cards. It has an original Wisconsin State Highway marker painted on it! It looks like route 23: this will merit further investigation.

 Richland Center

H.G. Zimmerman card, mailed 1911.	Real Photo Postcard dated 1909.	Unattributed (and curiously tinted) card mailed in 1909.

Library dates from 1903 Carnegie grant. Stylistically similar to Durand's 1905 library.

Replaced by the Brewer Public Library. They also want to tear down the Frank Lloyd Wright built warehouse. Sometimes progress isn't.

 Ripon

Carnegie Library, funded 1902, built 1905, replaced 1972. Still standing and in use as offices for Ripon College.

Postcard (L) has undivided back.

The old library looks like a bank. The current library, shown on its web page, looks like a Lutheran church. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
Its delightfully improved web site has a clear, concise timeline of the library's history.

(L) Leather post cards are not rare. However, this is the only leather library postcard I have ever seen. Since it was never mailed, I don't have a clue as to its age. However, the small round tree is in the same place as on the card directly above, and is absent from the right-hand card.

(R) German card with entire back, mailed 1907.

One can never have too many Rockford, Ripon, or Antigo library postcards.

Addendum: Recalling Ripon's history as a glove manufacturer, the leather postcard might be a legacy of those times. It's a good thing they didn't decide to make a card from tobacco. There was also a cigar factory in the city.

Author's comments

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 - 9 Judy Aulik

Uploaded as a subdivision, 02 July 2008.
Cards S - W.
Updated/corrected 07 June 2009.