The Carnegie Library of Albany is a Carnegie library in

Albany, Missouri Albany is a city and county seat of Gentry County, Missouri, United States. With an annual growth rate of -0.30%. The population was 1,679 at the 2020 census. History Albany was originally called Athens, and under the latter name was platted in ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It was designed by Edmond J. Eckel and opened in 1906.

History

The city of Albany had a

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights c ...

which operated from 1885 to about 1890. Because of renewed interested in having a public library, a grant was requested from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

. A pledge of $10,000 was made on June 2, 1903, and a lot was purchased in July 1904. The building was designed by Edmond J. Eckel. After requesting bids in November 1905, Louis Walin was selected. The final bid was $9,071, which required further grant money from Carnegie, bringing the total donation to $12,500. The library opened to the public on March 1, 1906. The library basement housed city hall from 1939 until the mid-1960s, and then the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Extension Office. The building continues to serve as a library in Albany. The library was nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its significance in social history as a Carnegie Library and Criterion C for its architecture. The library was listed on the National Register on February 23, 1990, as the "Albany Carnegie Public Library".

References

Bibliography

External links

Libraries.org listing
Library buildings completed in 1906 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Neoclassical architecture in Missouri Government buildings completed in 1906 Buildings and structures in Gentry County, Missouri Carnegie libraries in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Gentry County, Missouri 1906 establishments in Missouri {{GentryCountyMO-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links