Iowa Carnegie Libraries here.
Built between 1896 and 1898. The
original library
building is still standing and is being converted to the Des
Moines County Historical Museum.
Make sure you click on the library's
photo link. You'll need to use your browser's back button to return to my page.
Published by the Ingersoll News Agency of Burlington.
No, that's neither a Doughboy helmet nor a UFO landing on top of
the library.
The woman who mailed it in 1910 was fairly aware of the card's shortcomings.
She commented, 'This does not do justice to building but thought I would
send any way ...'
The 1903 library is still in use. In the recent photo on the library's site, the dome is silver.
Surprisingly, this is not listed as a Carnegie building, even though it appears to conform to the supposedly standard plan.
This card has an unevenly divided back, therefore dating between 1907 and 1911. Its publisher is unknown.
Another pseudo-Carnegie building.
Another C.T. Photo-Finish card (4A123) by Curt Teich. I'm assuming there is
a photo hidden under all that artwork.
Why did they retouch so heavily for a monochrome card, anyway?
Closed February 4, 2006.
Reading the Roman numerals on the left-hand card
would lead you to believe the Des Moines library was founded
in 1804 and built in 1900. I'd believe the latter.
Looks
like the library will be moved on April 8, 2006.
According to the library's website, the old building will become
the World Food Prize Foundation Hall of Laureates.
Well, that's different.
The right-hand card, by Curt Teich, for Hyman's News and Book Store of Des Moines, seems to be more gung-ho about the Coliseum than the library. No one even cared enough to give the library striped awnings.
Along with Muscatine and Sioux City (below), this is one of the few
Romanesque libraries in Iowa. The
library was formed in 1894 and finished in 1902. The library's
web site says that Carnegie buildings were visited by Joel Stewart
before construction began, but from the outside, this just looks
nothing like a Carnegie building.
Perhaps this is why the building so sorely needs replacement. (Note:
Grinnell College is still using its Carnegie building, albeit no longer
as a library.) Its 1976
listing on the National Register of Historic Places certainly makes expansion difficult.
Plans for the new building have been drawn up from planning begun in 1999. I hope that
the Grinnellian powers that be find a new use for the Stewart building.
This is a city with a fascinating history, but along with many other
Mississippi River cities, has gone into a decline.
This was a spectacular Romanesque library: the replacement library is not nearly as grand.
1892 - ?
This library building pre-dated the
Carnegie building in
Sioux City.
Its size stems from the
inclusion of the library within City Hall. Sometime between 1950 and
1986 the building burnt.
The card was postmarked in 1910
and has an evenly divided back.
Built 1904.
MacKinlay Kantor, Civil War author, was a Webster City native. Quote from Martin E. Nass:
Kantor stated that 'he did not attend college, but Kendall Young Library was his university from the day it opened' when he was a small boy. Librarian Charlotte Crosley encouraged him in his pursuit of knowledge. His special interest was the Civil War. He spent hours sitting and listening to the Civil War veterans. This led him to write his novel, Andersonville, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1956. His novel Glory for Me was made into the Academy Award winning movie 'The Best Years of Our Lives' in 1948.
How hard it must have been to do the necessary research here,
in the days before interlibrary loan, fax machines, and photocopiers!
No wonder he gave Ms. Crosley her props.
(L) German litho-chrome postmarked 1910.
(R) Curt Teich
'C.T. Blue Sky' card postmarked 1939.
© 2006-8 Judy Aulik
First uploaded: 27 February 2008.
Return to main library postcard site.