Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Public Libraries of the Dakotas
North Dakota
Bismarck (Veterans Memorial Library)
Replacement for the Carnegie building.
I believe that I have been inside this building with family members.
Published by North Dakota Scenes.
Jamestown (Alfred Dickey Library)
Information from the James River Library's history page.
Built in 1919 in Louis Sullivan's Egyptian style by student J.A. Shannon. No wonder they planned so carefully for a forthcoming addition.
(L) Photo postcard dates from early in the Library's history. Note the auto.
(R) Dexter Press card mailed in 1953.
Lakota (A.M. Tofthagen Library & Museum)
Not often that a library admits to being small.
Small, but mighty: on the National Register since 1991.
(L) 1910s or 1920s town celebration. I would claim it to be the 1926 dedication, but I can't state it with certainty.
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(R) L.L. Cook photo postcard.
Mayville
1900 building, designed by William C. Albrant with funding by the Grandin brothers, of farming renown. In reality, the building is of several shades of red stone. It's quite lovely.
This unattributed postcard is not.
Wahpeton (Leach Public Library)
There's no history on the Library's website, but a current photo shows the red brick building is still in use, with no visible additions.
The postcard was produced by L.L. Cook, Milwaukee.
Williston (James Memorial Library)
(L) Unknown photo postcard.
(R) Bloom Bros. card.
Now in use as The James Memorial Art Center.
Built in 1911; replaced by the pretty Williston Community Library.
South Dakota
Canova
Googling this town and library yields two addresses, both of vacant lots. I do not think this is extant.
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The card was mailed in 1934, but the rest of the postmark is illegible.
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And the fountain/bird bath/sink at left in the photo is inscrutable.
Ipswich (Marcus P. Beebe Memorial Library)
Beebe was a real estate/farmland magnate who used postcards to tout the farming capabilities of South Dakota. He was only 59 years old at death.
This beautiful Tudor/vernacular library building is still in use. Mentally, I paint this building in pink and grey granite boulders, but it's an earthy brown.
Postcard by L.L. Cook.
Webster
Also serves (served?) as the Day County Museum and Webster City Hall.
Photo postcard.
