Probably I have more chutzpah than brains to put up my offerings, given these great pages that have beaten me to Iowa library history:
CLIP:
Carnegie Libraries in Iowa Project
State Library of Iowa's list of Carnegie library construction dates.
Fairfield (Jefferson County) library was the first
Carnegie library west of the Mississippi.
D - L postcards are on a new page.
Monroe County
Carnegie-Evans Library, built 1903, apparently in
anticipation of high water. This building is a prime example
of inaccessibility for many.
Apparently still in use, I hope with ramps.
Card originally sepia monochrome, with an unknown publisher.
Unusual, asymmetric Carnegie building dating from 1903.
The SLI site states that it is now a gift shop, which seems like
a peaceful retirement occupation. Whether it still is, I know not.
(L) RPPC, never mailed.
(R) Bland, monochomatic card from Tanner Souvenir of New
York. The postmark is hard to read, but my guess is that it
was sent in 1913.
Built in 1904 with help from a Carnegie grant: expanded in 1907, 1940, and 1985.
The library's web site has a more thorough history, along with several interesting photographs. The 1940 renovation looks to have more than doubled the library's size.
Built in 1902 with help from a Carnegie grant: remodeled since.
I don't know whether it's just the card's quality, but this is a very striking library. The card was made in Germany for Jno. T. Faber, a publisher in Milwaukee.
Built in 1903; currently a museum.
Another monochrome card that is saved from being boring by a few details, such as the house (?) at left, the woman posed at the entrance, her companions at the bottom of the steps, the possibly leaded windows, and the details beneath the windows that look like 2 Liberty caps flanking a book.
No, I don't know who Dayton was.
1902 grant, dedicated in 1903. Demolished in 2004, ostensibly because it couldn't be made ADA-compliant.
E.C. Kropp card, never mailed.
Carnegie Library, built 1901. Currently the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. They conserved the library facade, but I sorta wonder why.
(L) Mailed in 1926. Close examination reveals that this is the Lublic Library, again dated 1804. Someone either needed the library or bifocals.
(R) Unevenly divided back card, postmarked 1917. Evidently not a big
seller for the Baylis Post Card Co. This is another Acmegraph
card from Chicago. However, they did do a great job getting
the roller blinds properly aligned. Maybe the little girl, seen on
the front steps,
used her parasol to direct the procedure.
(L) For those of you with a martial bent, note the honkin' cannon
on this pre-Great War German card. This time there's a man in some
sort of uniform on the library's steps.
As to the building on the left,
my best guess is that it was an early car dealer or garage.
(R) Delightful interior view. This was another Carnegie building more impressive on the
inside than outside, although I'm certain that K-Win & Co. (a new publisher in my collection)
was at least partially responsible.
Post-2008 flood addendum: the new CR library building was flooded, and
will probably lose its entire adult collection, according to
American Libraries.
Disaster update page.
Built in 1903; with an addition or two, still in use.
Its closest stylistic relative might be Sigourney.
The card is a 'Sexichrome,' which sounds more exciting than it was. The red is out of register. I don't know if red looks worse when out of register, but it seems like when one color is out, it's generally red.
Built in 1903; currently serves as an art center.
I hope they kept the stained glass fanlight and windows. However,
this is an odd mash-up of styles: Moorish, Federal Georgian, and
a hint of Prairie Bungalow.
This is an E.C. Kropp card, published in Milwaukee, and in excellent condition.
1903 grant, built 1905. Added to the National Register of Historic Sites in 1986. Seriously modified in 1998.
Unevenly divided back postcard printed in Germany for A.C. Besselman of New York.
1908 Carnegie building, replaced in 2002 - 04 due to ADA concerns. Today, houses small businesses. A nice photographer's blog contains some nice pictures and recent information.
Replacement known as the Lied Public Library.
(L) Frankly boring monochrome card with an entire back.
(R) Colored version of the left hand card.
Built 1901; opened in
1904;
scheduled for replacement in 2002.
As of January 2006, no progress had been made, and moving the
childrens' library from the Carnegie building to an old post office building was seriously
being considered as a solution.
As of 2007, that solution seems to have been tossed out the window,
and now, installing the library into the Harding School building
is the current idea.
Delightful RPPC by the Hamilton Photo Co. of Ames, Iowa.
Note the gap in the bushes. You probably can see the wire fence. What's not visible in a scan of this size is the 'Keep off the Grass' sign.
The library was built in 1904 and is still standing. However, it doesn't seem to have a website.
Built in 1903.
Replaced in 1998: building houses the
Union Pacific
Railway Museum.
(L) C.T. Photochrom by Curt Teich.
(R) C.T. American Art, also by Curt Teich.
Card styles change much, or what?
© 2006 - 9 Judy Aulik. Part of the
Library Postcards: Civic Pride in a Lost America
web site.
Divided from my
D - L Iowa Carnegie Libraries page: 05 July 2009.
Minor update (Chariton): 09 September 2009.
Return to main library postcard site.
Visit the rest of
Iowa's Carnegie libraries.
Visit
Iowa's non-Carnegie libraries.