Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Public Libraries of Iowa
Cities A-H
There don't seem to be quite as many Iowa libraries founded through local philanthropy (or completely funded by the municipality) as in neighboring Illinois. Then again, Illinois' population is far greater.
Adel
Clearly, this was a church building reused as a library. However, I can't find either any information about the time frame, or whether this brick building was preserved.
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I believe the building in the background is the Dallas County courthouse. Using Google Street View in that neighborhood turns up zero buildings which could have held the Library, but I stand ready to be corrected.
The postcard image appears to have been taken in the 1930s, and it was mailed from Cumberland in 1943.
Anamosa
Anamosa is best known in Iowa as the location of the state reformatory. This building, replaced but still extant, has been scrubbed of its ivy, denuded of unruly shrubbery, and converted to a police station.
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The new, generously sized building is known as the Anamosa Library & Learning Center.
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The postcard was produced by L.L. Cook, and mailed in 1950.
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Belle Plaine (Hart Memorial Library)
Belle Plaine's library service began with its Portia Club, which I believe to have been a woman's club. After a stint in a church and in a Main Street business building, Samuel S. Hart decided in 1929 that his former home needed better library quarters.
Sometime after 1960, this building, in turn, was replaced by a rather utilitarian library which looks to be nearly doubled in size.
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Postcard by L.L. Cook.
Belmond
Demolished in 1971 subsequent to a 1966 tornado. Sometimes you just cannot save every historic building.
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This Gothic-esque 1917 building was dedicated to Sarah Crist and built in 1917.
Boone (Ericson Library)
(L) Curt Teich 'C.T. American Art' card, also featuring an M.E. Church. Apparently dates between 1908-1910, so that this card shows the original building.
(R) Evidently part of the Ericson building served as a museum. This card, mailed in 1912, shows an artist among wildlife mounts.
They loan Wilton cake pans!
1901 building which was enlarged in 1923 and 1993. The citizens voted for a one-cent local option sales tax to accomplish the latter. (Information on library web site no longer accessible to me.)
So, shop Boone!
(L) Lousy postcard with a surpringly clear image of the Italianate building. I believe it was made by C.U. Williams.
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It was mailed in 1910.
Burlington
(L) S.H. Knox card, mailed in 1911.
(R) Published by the Ingersoll News Agency of Burlington.
Built between 1896 and 1898. The original library building is still standing and is in use as the Des Moines County Historical Museum.
Centerville (Drake Public Library)
(L) Albertype brand card made for the City Book Store.
(R) Unknown publisher.
No, that's neither a Doughboy helmet nor a UFO landing on top of the library.
The woman who mailed the right hand 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 ...'
Gift of a former Iowa governor, built by J.W. Sanderson, and dedicated in 1903, per the library's history page. The 1903 library is still in use. In the recent photo on the Library's site, the dome is silver.
Clarion (Morgan Everts Library)
Surprisingly, this is not listed as a Carnegie building, even though it appears to conform to the supposedly standard plan. Even the Library's web site mentions the resemblance. Builder F. F. McManus seemed to lack a certain spark of originality.
(L) This card has an unevenly divided back, therefore dating between 1907 and 1911. Its publisher is unknown.
(R) Card by O.H. Peck. I'm assuming that the photo vignette is of Mr. Everts. He deserves one.
Creston (Matilda J. Gibson Memorial Library)
(L) L.L. Cook photo card revealing Matilda J. Gibson Memorial Library incised over the doorway.
(R) 1934 Curt Teich card.
Still in use after remodeling.
Davenport
Des Moines
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.
(R) RPPC dated 1939. However, since it seems to be in ballpoint, I don't think it's contemporaneous with the photograph.
Closed February 4, 2006: the Library moved on April 8 to its new building.
The old building has been repurposed as the World Food Prize Foundation Hall of Laureates.
Forest City
The Library's history page appears to have stopped with 1899. I don't think the building shown is quite that old.
Photo postcard is likely by L.L. Cook, and was mailed in 1943.
Grinnell (Stewart Library)
Along with Muscatine and Sioux City, this is one of the few Romanesque libraries in Iowa. (One could debate whether Anamosa's public library was Romanesque.) The library was formed in 1894 and the building finished in 1902. The Library's web site stated (no longer found) 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 needed 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. The Drake Community Library replaced it in 2009.
I hope that the Grinnellian powers that be find a new use for the Stewart building.
Harlan (H.H. Paup Free Public Library)
(L) Probably the newer of the two cards.
(R) The stamp box of this photo card has the initials DOPS. Actually, both cards show this.
According to v. 47 of Library Journal, Paup gave $20,000 on the proviso that the library paid him 5% interest for life, plus raise $1,000 each year for library maintenance and support. The building was built in 1924.
No longer in use, but appears to be standing in good repair.