This large brick building stands in the small town of Clifford near the base of the Thumb. Years ago it was built as a high school. It closed in the 70s and is now used as a library.
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This beautiful stone building stands on the campus of Hope College in Holland. It was originally constructed as a chapel in 1894. After the construction of a new chapel, it was converted into a library and later on into classrooms and lecture hall.
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Muskegon has many beautiful old historic buildings and one of my favorites is the Hackley Public Library. The Historical marker in fron of the magnificent stone building reads:
On May 25, 1888, Muskegon lumber baron Charles H. Hackley announced that he would donate a library to the city. Hackley stipulated that the facility be “forever maintained as a library.” Patton and Fisher of Chicago, one of the six firms invited to submit a plan for the library designed a Richardsonian Romanesque – style building. The library was constructed of Maine granite and trimmed with Marquette sandstone. The reading room windows depict Shakespeare, Goethe, Longfellow and Prescott.
Muskegon citizens celebrated the laying of the Hackley Public Library cornerstone on May 25, 1889, the anniversary of Charles Hackley’s donation of the library. It was the first annual celebration held in recognition of Hackley. The previous year the board of education had resolved that classes would be suspended annually on May 25 on Hackley’s honor. On October 15, 1890, the completed library was dedicated. The lot, building and furnishings amounted to a $175,000 gift.
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The first week of April is Library week. Michigan has many beautiful libraries and I put together a list of some of my favorite Carnegie Libraries. I still love going to my local library to borrow books and do research. Even in this hi-tech era with the internet, I find the good old-fashioned library is needed and they have lots of information that I can’t find on the internet.
Escanaba Public Library
The Carnegie library opened in May 1903 located at 201 South Seventh Street in Escanaba, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and constructed with $20,000 in funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. The city of escanaba promised additional yearly operation funds. The building was designed by local architect Theodore Lohff. In 1992, the city began construction on a new city hall and library complex. The library moved to the new location in 1995, and the old Carnegie building was sold to private owners, who refurbished it with the intention of converting it into a private home.
Houghton Public Library
The building was built with a 1908 grant from Andrew Carnegie. It served as the public library for Houghton, Michigan from its opening in 1910 until 2006. It is the former building of the Portage Lake District Library. The building was built in 1909, at the site originally occupied by the Armory Building for Company G of the Houghton Light Infantry, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. The building was declared a Michigan State Historic Site on June 18, 1976, listed as the Houghton Public Library. The building is built in the Classical Revival style.
Since 2006 it has been The Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw that houses changing exhibits about local cultural and natural history. In October 2013, the museum became a Heritage Site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park
Iron Mountain Carnegie Library
While in Iron Mountain on business during 1901, Andrew Carnegie saw the need for a library on the Menominee Iron Range which was then a prospering area. He donated $15,000 for this building. Serving the community for over seventy years, the Neo-Classical Revival structure, designed by James E. Clancy, was one of the earliest Carnegie libraries in the Great Lake State. In 1971 this edifice became the Menominee Range Museum, featuring the history of its namesake.
Manistee City Library
In 1885 a group of Manistee ladies formed the Lakeside Club, whose primary goal was to create a library. In 1902 the club joined forces with the local literary society and successfully campaigned for a public library. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation funded the construction. The Manistee City Library opened in 1905. Designed by Port Huron architect George L. Harvey, the building, with its grand entrance pavilion, reflects Beaux Arts Classicism. The library is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”
Marlette District Library
In 1914 the Marlette Research Club composed of women in the community decided to build a public library for Marlette. The club contacted the Carnegie Corporation for a grant to build the library. In compliance with the Carnegie Corporation’s rules, Marlette raised funds and instituted a quarter-mill tax for maintenance of the library. In 1918 the Carnegie Corporation agreed to fund the Research Club’s library project. The simple brick building was constructed in 1921. The building has a hipped roof and a portico of classical design. The library was the last in the Midwest to receive a Carnegie library grant and the second to the last to do so in the country. The Marlette District Library is one of fifty-three Michigan libraries funded by the Carnegie Corporation.
Owosso Public Library
The Shiawassee District Library branch in Owosso was built on a Carnegie library grant. The library was granted $20,000 on April 2, 1913
Petoskey Public Library
On 27 January 1908, Andrew Carnegie gave the City of Petoskey $12,500, and the Common Council agreed by definite resolution to maintain the library when completed The building was designed by the Grand Rapids firm of Williamson & Crow, Architects. It was constructed in 1908 and dedicated in 1909. Only the best stone and brick were to be used on the exterior, with black ash woodwork used extensively inside.The existing Carnegie Library building is one of the most significant historic buildings in Petoskey, architecturally as the most outstanding example of the neo-classical revival style, and historically as one of an ever-decreasing number of remaining Carnegie libraries in the country. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its inclusion in the Downtown Petoskey Historic District. It is the oldest municipal building in Emmet County in continuous original use.
While living in Petoskey in 1919, the library was a favorite haunt of Earnest Hemingway’s and, in December, wearing his Italian cape and Red Cross uniform, he spoke here to the Ladies Aid Society about his world war I experiences. At that event he met the Connable family who led to his connection with the Toronto Star newspaper and his employment as its European Correspondent
Port Huron Public Library
The Port Huron Public Library opened on May 26, 1904. The keynote address was delivered by Melvil Dewey, State Librarian of New York, and creator of the Dewey Decimal System. The building was financed by a $40,000.00 donation from Pittsburgh philanthropist and steel entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie. In 1967, the Port Huron Public Library was moved and reconstituted as the St. Clair County, Michigan Library System. the building was slated for demolition. Through the dedicated efforts of concerned volunteers, the Museum of Arts & History opened its doors on May 3, 1968.
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Near the Historic Midland Street district in Bay City is the magnificent brick Sage Library. A green Michigan historical marker stands in front of it giving a little history of the building.
Henry W. Sage (1814-1897) founded the village of Wenona (later West Bay City) in 1863. A merchant and philanthropist, he was also a founder of the Sage, McGraw & Company sawmill. In 1881 he donated property, building funds and $10,000 for books to West Bay City for its first public library. The structure was built in 1882-1883 at a cost of nearly $50,000. Charles Babcock of Cornell University designed the French Chateauesque-style building, and the local architectural firm of Pratt & Koeppe superintended the construction. The library was dedicated on January 16, 1884, in a ceremony presided over by Cornell’s Moses Coit Tyler. Michigan Supreme Court judges, congressmen and state officials attended. Offering continuous public library service since 1884, the library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
What the sign does not tell, is that the historic building is rumored to be haunted. According to the book Haunted Bay City, Michigan the library has had some strange occurrences over the years. Librarians have sometimes heard loud heavy footsteps behind them as they work. After turning around no one is there. When closing up at night all the books are neatly organized and in the morning sometimes a few books are found strewn about as if a storm or something, or someone has moved them in a disorderly manner. Most disturbing is people have seen a little girl in a white dress on the third floor. Legend has it she died over a century ago by contracting smallpox from a book she borrowed from the library.
I am not sure if any of the ghost sightings are true but it is a beautiful old library with a lot of history.
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Muskegon has many beautiful old historic buildings and one of my favorites is the Hackley Public Library. The Historical marker in fron of the magnificent stone building reads:
On May 25, 1888, Muskegon lumber baron Charles H. Hackley announced that he would donate a library to the city. Hackley stipulated that the facility be “forever maintained as a library.” Patton and Fisher of Chicago, one of the six firms invited to submit a plan for the library designed a Richardsonian Romanesque – style building. The library was constructed of Maine granite and trimmed with Marquette sandstone. The reading room windows depict Shakespeare, Goethe, Longfellow and Prescott.
Muskegon citizens celebrated the laying of the Hackley Public Library cornerstone on May 25, 1889, the anniversary of Charles Hackley’s donation of the library. It was the first annual celebration held in recognition of Hackley. The previous year the board of education had resolved that classes would be suspended annually on May 25 on Hackley’s honor. On October 15, 1890, the completed library was dedicated. The lot, building and furnishings amounted to a $175,000 gift.
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Some claim that this historic library in Belding is haunted. They do not know who it is that haunts the Alvah N. Belding Library, but according to the internets when doing a little googling some say that they have heard children laughing in the children’s section when nobody is around. I don’t know about this place being haunted but it is a beautiful old building. The historical marker out front proudly tells some of its history.
Alvah N. Belding erected this library in 1917/18 as a memorial to his parents, Hiram and Mary Wilson Belding. Alvah and his brother Hiram began peddling silk around Belding (then Patterson’s Mills) in 1858. With the help of their brother Milo they began the internationally known Belding Bros. & Company in 1863. Michigan’s first silk mill was erected here in 1886 and operated until 1932. This library, which cost $50,000, was dedicated and presented to the City of Belding on May 14, 1918. It is the only structure built by the Beldings still being used for its original purpose. An example of Classical Revival architecture, the limestone structure features a Spanish-tile roof. Its interior contains trim of marble oak and pine.
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Michigan has some spectacular and impressive library buildings throughout the state. This library in Elk Rapids is rather unique being in a historic house on an island. Known as the Island House, it was built in 1865 by local businessman Edwin S. Noble. He converted a four-acre sand bar into an island by covering it with clay and dirt and planted over sixty different species of trees on it. After building a bridge to the island he lived in the house with his family. Noble died in 1922 and in 1949 the house became a public library.
It reminds me of a quote by Lemony Snicket “A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.”
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I love this little library in Wayland. Here is what the Historical Marker next to it reads:
Upon her death in April 1899, Julia Robinson Henika bequeathed two thousand dollars to the Wayland Ladies Library Association for construction of a library building. Her husband George H. Henika, and mother, Mary Forbes, later donated additional funds toward its construction. Grand Rapids architect Fred H. Eely designed the building, which the Wayland Globe newspaper predicted would be “A Very Pretty and Modern Affair.” The picturesque library opened in the spring of 1900. Although domestic in scale, the building gleans an impressive Richardsonian quality from the random ashlar fieldstone and Eely’s design. The stone used in construction was gathered from a local farm.
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The Peter White Public Library stands in downtown Marquette and its massive stone construction makes it look like a temple. Built in 1903, it replaced the small library that was inside City Hall. The library is named after Peter White a local businessman, postmaster, real estate developer, Michigan state legislator, and philanthropist who lived from 1830 until 1908.
I use my local library often and having a place to go and find information along with people to help with research is invaluable. Happy National Library Week.
“A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.” Lemony Snicket
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