Jesup Memorial Library is the public library of
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...
. It is located in an architecturally distinguished Colonial Revival building at 34 Mount Desert Street in the town's main village. The building was built in 1910-11, donated to the community by Mrs. Morris K. Jesup in memory of her late husband, both of them longtime summer residents of the area, and was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for its architecture.
Architecture and history
The Jesup Library is set on the south side of Mount Desert Street (
Maine State Route 3), about one block west of Bar Harbor's village green. It is a single-story brick building, with a slate hip roof. Its front facade is five bays wide, with a centered entrance recessed in a limestone arch flanked by paired pilasters, and a medallion above the doorway depicting an open book. The flanking bays have sash windows topped by rounded limestone panels with bullseye insets. The roof cornice is modillioned, and a pair of chimneys rise from the interior. The windows on the sides have a similar treatment to those on the front. An ell extends from the center of the rear, giving the building a T shape.
Bar Harbor's first library was organized by summer residents in 1875, and was at first a very small affair, operating out of people's homes before a small library building was built in 1877. By the early 1900s the library collection had grown to more than 8,000 volumes. Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, a longtime Bar Harbor summer resident, funded the $70,000 to build this building, and gave a $50,000 endowment for its maintenance. It was designed by the
New York City firm of
Delano and Aldrich
Delano & Aldrich was an American Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Ald ...
and built in 1910-11.
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Gallery
File:Jesup_interior.jpg, The library's interior, pictured in 2015
See also
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References
External links
Jesup Library web site
{{Authority control
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Colonial Revival architecture in Maine
Libraries established in 1911
Buildings and structures in Bar Harbor, Maine
Libraries in Hancock County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine