Frank Hughes Memorial Library is a historic

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

building located at

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Clay County, Missouri Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Liber ...

. It was designed by the architectural firm

Wight and Wight Wight and Wight, known also as Wight & Wight, was an architecture firm in Kansas City, Missouri consisting of the brothers Thomas Wight (September 17, 1874 – October 6, 1949) and William Wight (January 22, 1882 – October 29, 1947) who d ...

and built in 1940. It is a one-story, rectangular

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style brick building. It has a gable roof with a wide elaborate

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. It features a flat-roofed portico feature a wide, simple wood entablature topped with a rooftop

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

. It was 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 ...

in 1992. It is located in the

Jewell-Lightburne Historic District Jewell-Lightburne Historic District is a national historic district located at Liberty, Clay County, Missouri. It encompasses 236 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential section of Liberty. The district developed between about 18 ...

References

Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Missouri Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Neoclassical architecture in Missouri Buildings and structures in Clay County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, Missouri Liberty, Missouri Library buildings completed in 1940 {{ClayCountyMO-NRHP-stub