Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Washington
Cities A - R
Aberdeen
1907 Carnegie grant. Demolished, prior to 1966, for a new building.
Warts and all: dirt street, rickety shed, and time-worn house.
(L) Sprouse & Son card, mailed in 1910.
(R) Lowman & Hanford card, printed by Curt Teich in 1913.
Bellingham
One of the very few multi-grant cities where I have cards of the branches, too.
Main
57 steps to the top.
1908 grant: demolished in 1953.
They even regraded the hill.
Fairhaven (12th Street)
1903 grant.
Still in use with a small addition.
Acmegraph Co. card that looks like some Edward H. Mitchell postcards.
Centralia
1911 grant. Still in use, after a 1976 renovation.
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Watson M. Vernon was the original architect; Harry B. Rich the renovating architect.
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Photo postcard, unattributed.
Chehalis
Part of the city's Civic Center. 1908 grant: damaged in a 1949 earthquake, and demolished in 2007.
Photo postcard.
Ellensburg
1909 - 1967
Carnegie building replaced in 1966.
Sepia tinted card by the Pacific Novelty Co.
Everett
North Yakima
1903 grant. Stood between 1906 and 1958.
Card, by unknown publisher, was mailed in 1911. I don't know if that's when its damage occurred.
Olympia
In use as the library 1914-1978, according to the What Was There web site. The Joseph Wholeb building now serves as a church.
I guess that a building built for fan stacks could work as such.
E.C. Kropp postcard with Panama-Pacific Exposition cancel.
Pasco
Late 1909 grant. No longer in use as a library, but is now a museum.
Self-framed card.
Port Angeles
These RPPCs were photographed within a short time span. At first, I was angry, believing I had bought duplicates.
(L) Shrubs are tinier, and the empty trellises resemble scaffolding.
(R) The bushes are larger and a monument rock has been added.
Most information came from the City's Public Works and Utilities Department, page no longer on line.
Late 1916 grant: dedicated in 1919. Served faithfully until 1968, when an addition was needed. Replaced in 1998. Now it's the Clallam County Historical Society.
Surprisingly, some of the bond money for the replacement building was divertible (Is that a word? It is now.) for restoration, beginning in 1994.
Port Townsend
1912 grant. Still in use, with those crazy, death-defying steps.
The photo postcard was done by the Torka Studio, and the library looked a bit damp that day.
Prosser
1909 Carnegie grant. Demolished.
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Unattributed postcard, of decent quality, mailed in 1920.
Puyallup
1912 grant. The building was demolished in the early 1960s. The Wikipedia entry on Washington Carnegie Libraries calls this brick building Georgian: I disagree, as its sole ornamentation comes from the unusual basement entrance beneath the main entrance.
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The postcard dates, at minimum, from the 1930s.
Renton
Late (1913) grant.
On photo card as Carnegie Library - Rentin. Not visible on the scan, unless you're Superman, is an early gas station. Hanging from its canopy is a round sign, possibly for Standard Oil of California.
Odd library style: not really Prairie, not really Federal, either. No longer in use: demolished because it was not really distinguished, perhaps.
Ritzville
1906 grant. Still in use! (Open 31 hours per week.)
Tiny Carnegie building with bunting around a window and near the entrance.
In the background of this Sprouse & Son German card is the Adams County Court House.
Initial (1902) collection of books and photographs donated by Daniel Buchanan.