Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Montana
Statistics come from George S. Bobinski's Carnegie Libraries. At one point there were 17 Carnegie libraries in the state.
Big Timber
1914 building: still in use.
Chas. E. Morris postcard, printed in Great Falls.
Bozeman
1902 grant: replaced in 1981; in use as law offices.
(L) The postcard is a Brammer-Palmer Drug Company product.
Dillon
Unmailed postcard: no publisher attribution.
Atypical 1901 Carnegie library. There are a few discrepancies in its timeline. Bobinski gives the grant date as 1/22/1902. The Library gives the date as 1901. But the Dillon donor, Mary Hooker, was determined to get the turret that Carnegie (likely Bertram) denied, and paid for it herself. It is said the stone was mined by a female miner, Katie Fitzsimmons.
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Doesn't this Romanesque building look like it needs a gargoyle or two?
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It has four. Well played, Mary & Katie. Your vision is still a functioning library.
Great Falls
The 1903 Carnegie building was replaced in 1967, and has been demolished.
(L) Photo by Heyn's Elite Studio: card published by Chas E. Morris of Chinook, Mont.
(R) Neat trademark!
Lewistown
1905 grant. The dressed stone building is still in use, but there is now a strange structure appended to the front.
(L) RPPC in very poor condition: annotated as Lewistown.
(R) Unattributed tinted post card, mailed in 1912.
Livingston
Now the Livingston-Park County Library.
Built in 1904 and still in use, with 1978 and 2005 expansions.
(L) A German postcard offers a glimpse of surrounding buildings.
(R) Owens Bros. card offers an idealized view, but on the right, a peek of another building was left behind.
Bad retoucher! E. Morris of Chinook, Mont.
Miles City
Established in 1902 after a 1901 grant. The library's site shows significant exterior alterations.
(L) Bloom Bros. postcard.
(R) Even better Bloom Bros. postcard, printed in Germany. At least they used consistent colors.
Missoula
Built in 1903, with A.J. Gibson as the architect. Only nine years later, Ole Bakke designed a Prairie addition to the upper floor, which is more than a little oxymoronic.
The building now serves as the Missoula Art Museum.
(L) Very verdant: no attribution.
(R) Extremely similar to the Stoughton (WI) Public Library. 'Made exp. for the Montana Souvenir Co.//Photo By McKay'. Divided back.
Seldom do you find an older card showing an early library expansion, but a real photo post card (RPPC) displays the addition.
