Library Postcards: Civic Pride in a Lost America

Divided from the Carnegie buildings of Michigan in June, 2009.

Non-Carnegie Michigan Libraries

I don't have as many of these as I have cards of Michigan's Carnegie Libraries.

 Battle Creek (Willard Library)


Circa 1907 building still in use, but the library as an institution dates from 1840.

(L) Unattributed card mailed in 1907. (R) The tinted card is from E.C. Kropp with a divided back.


 Bay View

No web presence. Curt Teich linen finish card.

 Big Rapids (Phelps Free Public Library)

Victorian - Italianate house converted into a library.

 Coldwater (The Edwin R. Clarke Library)


Now part of the Branch District Library. As opposed to a branch library. Well, it's that now, too.

Gothic/Romanesque building dating from the turn of the last century. This must have been a pain to make ADA compliant.

Card printed in Germany and mailed in 1908.


 Detroit

(L) Charming early chrome card, with unevenly divided back. Description on back:

The Detroit Public Library.-Situated at Gratiot Avenue and Farmer Street, was built in 1875 and contains 200,000 volumes. It is conducted by a board, appointed by the board of education.

(R) Very clear Rotograph card with superfluous glitter.
Italianate building that predates the Carnegie grants.



 Grand Rapids (Ryerson Public Library)

Home of Helen Barstow, noted librarian and postcard collector. From cards in her collection, I have learned that she was actively pursuing grant money for GRPL.

Built in 1904, heavily renovated in 1967 and 1997. Today it's essentially an inner city library, but a proud one.

German Rotograph card, undated, but mailed in 1908.

 Highland Park (McGregor Public Library)

1926 - 2002?

Relocated from Detroit's section on the Carnegie page.

When I wrote the comments on Highland Park, I was looking at a shuttered building on a Flickr page. What I didn't know at the time was that a renaissance was planned, to culminate in McGregor Public Library's reopening in 2009.

It's 2010.

 Ithaca (Thompson Memorial Library)

History from the Thompson Home Public Library.

Private home, built ca. 1890, willed by the family in 1930 for conversion into a library.
Demolished in 1974 despite some hefty arguments for preservation. The demolition picture would make another great postcard, in my opinion.

The photo card probably dates to shortly after the house conversion, as it is tagged, 'Thompson Memorial Library.'

 Kalamazoo

Quite definitively Romanesque. Replaced sometime before 2002.

 Lansing (Capital Area Public Library)


It looks like the front of this building has been tatted.

Merged with other Ingham County libraries in 1998 to form the Capital Area District Library.

See the Carnegie page for the original Lansing Carnegie building.



 Marshall

RPPC card featuring a Prairie/Federal hybrid building.

 Marquette

Absolutely spectacular interior view of Marquette's library on a Hugh C. Leighton card printed in Germany, and mailed in 1910. Among the magazines in the rack are Collier's, Leslie's, and the Saturday Evening Post.

The room's border is stencilled, the furniture is oak (You can see the quarter-sawn graining on the table legs!), and there are light fixtures galore. A rather odd mantel surrounds a fireplace, all set for a cheery fire.

 Menominee (Spies Public Library)

C.T. American Art Card published by V.J. Lundgren, Menominee, Mich.

 Nashville (Putnam Public Library)


Per the International Graphics card:

1973 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the library for the community in the old Putnam home. The home was bequeathed and endowed for this purpose. In 1965 it became a public library through reorganization.

What the purpose for the shutters below the first floor windows is, I don't know. Perhaps a covering for air conditioners?

 Quincy

Photograph copyright by Judy Aulik, 2009

Surprisingly controversial for such a sweet unassuming library of 1910.

On our 2009 Michigan vacation, a detour led us past this building. I yelled, 'That's a Carnegie Library! I know it!' We stopped. I whipped out the camera and photographed the building and the marker.
As I read the marker, it stated that Andrew Carnegie wanted the library to be named for him , and that its actual benefactor, Chas. W. Bennett, wished to not be memorialized.

Andrew Carnegie never demanded that his grant recipients name their library for him: many libraries did out of gratitude.

Terwilliger does not include Quincy on its list of Carnegie buildings: neither does Bobinski.
It's still a cute library, now a branch of the Branch District Library.


 Wayland (Henika Library)

Charming mini-Romanesque library. Not visible in this scan is the leaded window detail, 'Wayland Public Library.' The card was published by Will P. Canaan Co. of Grand Rapids.

 West Bay City (Sage Library)

During its albino phase.
This building was built of red brick, and has lovely trim, now that it's been uncovered. In 1905, when this Rotograph card was copyrighted, Romanesque must have been totally unhep.
What is cool, is that it's still in use despite a new library within two miles.

© 2007 - 2009 Judy Aulik
Uploaded 10 June 2009.
Updated 29 September 2009.
Correction made 10 January 2010: further updates in the works.

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