Carnegie Free Library (Eureka, California)
Carnegie Free Library | |
 The front view of the Eureka Carnegie Library, now the Morris Graves Museum of Art. | |
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| Location | 636 F Street, Eureka, California |
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| Coordinates | 40°48′2″N 124°9′52″W / 40.80056°N 124.16444°W |
| Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
| Built | 1902 |
| Architect | Evans, Knowles & Trarver, B.C.; Foster, Ambrose |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000101[1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 23, 1986 |
The Carnegie Free Library in Eureka, California was built in Classical Revival Style in 1902. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986,[1] and currently houses the Morris Graves Museum of Art.
History
[edit]The first reading rooms and libraries in Eureka date from 1859, but they were not stable. The 1878 California Rogers Free Library Act permitted incorporated towns and cities to raise a tax for free reading rooms and public libraries. Eureka was the first city to finance a public library under the Rogers Act and housed its library in rented quarters.[2]
After receiving a $20,000 Carnegie library grant in 1901, the library trustees held a competition and selected local architects Knowles Evans and B.C. Tarver of Eureka to design the building[3] from red brick and Mad River granite exterior with two story solid redwood columns ringing a colorful tile mosaic floor in the domed rotunda.[2] When contractor Ambrose Foster ran over budget, the trustees sought but failed to obtain an additional $10,000 from Carnegie.[2] Changes to the building were few, but the original dome was removed; only a skylight remains.[2]
The Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986; recognized both as a Carnegie Library and an example of Classical Revival architecture in a nearly-original condition.[1]
In 1996, the City of Eureka and the Humboldt Arts Council helped save the Library which had been slated for demolition. The capital campaign to save the library raised $1.5 million from corporations, foundations and the local community. Restoration began in 1999 and the Library was converted to house a newly created Museum of Art, named after founding patron, northwest school artist Morris Graves, which opened on January 1, 2000.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Eureka, Humboldt County". Carnegie Libraries of California. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ Architectural Resources Group (1994). Eureka: An architectural view. Eureka, California: Eureka Heritage Society, Incorporated. p. 270. ISBN 0-9615004-0-9.
- ^ "Humboldt Arts Council, Eureka CA, Artists and Culture". Discover Humboldt. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
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- Government buildings completed in 1902
- Library buildings completed in 1902
- Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in California
- Neoclassical architecture in California
- Buildings and structures in Eureka, California
- Carnegie libraries in California
- National Register of Historic Places in Humboldt County, California
- 1902 establishments in California