The Frederick H. Cossitt Library is a historic library building at 388 N. Granby Road in
Granby, Connecticut
Granby is a town in far northern Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,903 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined as a census-designated place known as Salmon Brook. Other areas in town include North Granby a ...
. It is a
Queen Anne style building, designed by
Jasper D. Sibley and built in 1890. Construction of the library was championed by
George S. Godard, later librarian of the
Connecticut State Library
The Connecticut State Library is the state library for the U.S. state of Connecticut and is also an executive branch agency of the state. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut directly across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol. The Sta ...
, and was funded by a bequest from Granby native Frederick H. Cossitt, a wealthy New York businessman. 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 ...
in 1988.
[ and ] It continues to serve as a branch of the town's public library system.
Description and history
The Frederick H. Cossitt Library stands in the crossroads village of North Granby, at the southeast corner of East Street ( Connecticut Route 539) and North Granby Road ( Connecticut Route 189). It is a two-story wood frame structure, roughly square in plan, with a brick-faced first floor and a clapboarded second level. It is topped by a hip roof with a tall central clerestory window
In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
band. The main entrance is on the second level, sheltered by a gabled porch supported by square columns. The brickwork and trim are detailed in the Queen Anne Victorian style.[
The library, the town's first, was built in 1890 to a design by Jasper D. Sibley of Middletown, and is one of the town's finest examples of Queen Anne architecture. Its construction was spearheaded by George S. Godard, who had taken a position as trustee of the town library while still studying library science at ]Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, and Godard became its first librarian. He went on to have a long and successful career as the state librarian. Funding for the library was given by Frederick H. Cossitt, a wealthy New York businessman whose family ancestry extends back to Granby in the mid-18th century.[
]
See also
* Frederick H. Cossitt Memorial Hall, Colorado Springs, Colorado, also NRHP-listed
* Memphis Public Library, Memphis, Tennessee, construction also originally funded by Frederick H. Cossitt
*
References
External links
F. H. Cossitt Public Library
- Town of Granby
{{authority control
Library buildings completed in 1890
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut
Libraries in Hartford County, Connecticut
Public libraries in Connecticut
Granby, Connecticut