lefthand card has a view of the gaslit reading room overlapping the picture of the entire library.
Note the newly planted tree.
No lions.
Lions.
The State of Wisconsin has a different, Progressive philosophy towards funding its libraries. In short, every resident is entitled to a card. If you don't live within a district, you might wind up with two or more cards!
However, your local library may be open fewer than 40 hours per week, and may not even be open every weekday.
Paper mill barons are among the early philanthropists that funded the first Wisconsin public libraries. Therefore, many of the non-Carnegie libraries appear in the Wisconsin River or Fox River valleys.
Not Philo T., but George W., president of the Oconto Lumber Company.
Farnsworth's donation was joyfully accepted in 1902, and the new library opened in 1903. Apparently, it's still in use.
This is another one of those pseudo-Blue Sky cards, but the effort to tint seems hardly worth the effort.
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| Postmarked 1906, lefthand card has a view of the gaslit reading room overlapping the picture of the entire library. Note the newly planted tree. |
Second card is postmarked 1911. Note that the entrance is barren. | Third card, in linen finish and heavily retouched, is by E.C. Kropp of Milwaukee. Note the addition of the lions. |
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| Beautiful Rotograph card. No lions. | Photo card, mailed 1926. Lions. |
Righthand card dates from the 1950s. These simply cannot be the trees from the second card. |
Another city which turned down Carnegie funding. Read the library's history at its
site, and revel in the wonderful
e-resources OPL provides.
Despite having declined the Carnegie grant, Oshkosh's old library strongly resembled that of Rockford, IL. Unlike Rockford,
when Oshkosh expanded, it did so with delightful grace, retaining the beauty of the old section in
its local history room.
Village hall. Library. Loading dock?
Chrome card from the late 1950s. Frankly, I think it looks like a motel.
City Hall and Library
The card, No. 6501, is by an unknown manufacturer. The building is rather generic, but Prairie du Sac is not that large a town.
Replacement for the
Carnegie building, which is still standing.
According to the L.L. Cook card, dedicated May 18, 1958.
Still in
use,
but heavily renovated in 1991.
Are you squinting at the words on the building?
They read:
The World of Books
is the most remarkable creation of Man
Poor quality Excel Post Card. Deckle edge cropped.
The multi-color sandstone library was built in 1936 by Clas & Clas, and is so highly regarded that it's on the National Register of Historic Places. The horrible postcard must not have appeared during the decision making.
Still in use with an addition. Given the size of Randolph, I'm surprised it was needed.
City Hall and Library
Not too impressive an institution for a university town. Sometime along the way,an attractive library building was built, somewhat resembling the UWRF buildings' style.
The card, by L.L. Cook, dates from 1958 or later, judging by the Chevy near the corner. The little sign is a Navy recruitment poster.
1924 building, now replaced.
Part of the Wisconsin Valley Library service. Still in the log cabin.
AKA White Memorial Library
1904-
Replaced by Irvin L. Young Memorial Library in 1991.
According to the library's
website, 'The White Memorial building continues to serve the community as it provides office space for the Chamber of Commerce,
Cable Station 13, and the Community Development Authority.'
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.
e-Mail me at (first name)(at)roadmaps (dot) org.
© 2003-9 Judy Aulik
| Divided from the
M and N libraries on 02 July 2008. Updated 24 June 2009. A - L is the first section. Return to home page. |