Handley 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 100 West Piccadilly Street in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Completed in 1913, construction of the Beaux-Arts style building was funded by a wealthy

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

businessman. The building serves as the main branch for Winchester's library system, the Handley Regional Library System. 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 ...

(NRHP) and

Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is a list of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Registe ...

(VLR) in 1969.

History

Judge John Handley (1835–1895), an Irish-American coal magnate and lawyer from

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, Pennsylvania, visited Winchester several times and admired the city for its Scotch-Irish heritage. In his will, he left $250,000 for the city to erect a library "for the free use of the people of the city of Winchester" and schools for the poor. Construction of the library, designed by New York architects

Barney and Chapman Barney and Chapman was an American architecture firm based in New York, active from about 1892 through 1908. The partnership designed significant municipal buildings, churches, private estates, and an asylum complex for the state of New York. Jo ...

, was not begun until 1908. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

ceremony on May 26 was preceded by a large parade. The building's fireproof construction and facilities were considered advanced at the time of completion. The total cost of construction and furnishings was $233,230. The library opened on August 21, 1913, and originally featured a 300-seat lecture hall, study rooms and conference areas. C. Vernon Eddy was Handley's first librarian, serving in that position until 1960. Originally only white patrons were allowed to visit the library; in December 1953 city officials began allowing all residents to use the facility, regardless of race. The library was listed on the VLR on September 9, 1969, and the NRHP on November 12, 1969. It is also designated a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the Winchester Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1980. Architectural firm Smithey and Boynton of Roanoke designed an addition that was completed in 1979. Their work resulted in a first honor award from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. Dennis Kowal Architects of Somerville, New Jersey prepared a full historic preservation plan in 1997 and oversaw the comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation in 1999. In 2001, Dennis Kowal was awarded the Lucille Lozier Award by Preservation of Historic Winchester, Inc. for the "outstanding restoration" of the Handley Regional Library.

Architecture

The Handley Library is "perhaps Virginia's purest expression of the regal and florid Beaux-Arts classicism." It was designed to resemble an open book, with the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

representing the spine and the wings representing the covers. The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

building consists of an octagonal base and a central dome. A three-arched entrance faces the intersection of Braddock and Piccadilly Streets. Two wings flank the dome and feature single-pitched roofs with dormer lights,

balustrades 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 ...

and Ionic

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

s. Heavy stone

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s of figures and fruit flank several windows and doors.

References

External links

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Handley Library
// The National Park Service {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Beaux-Arts architecture in Virginia Buildings and structures in Winchester, Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Library buildings completed in 1913 National Register of Historic Places in Winchester, Virginia Limestone buildings in the United States 1913 establishments in Virginia

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links