The Baker Street Library, is a library located at 1400 Baker St. in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The library was constructed from 1913 to 1915 and replaced Bakersfield's original library building. Architect O. L. Clark designed the building in the

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; the library is the only surviving building designed by Clark in Bakersfield. The library is designed as a central block with two wings at the east and west ends. The library's main entrance is located on the east wing; the entrance is a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

supported by columns and topped with a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

and a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

reading "PUBLIC LIBRARY". The ornate interior decorations incorporate classical and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

themes. The library was added to 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 ...

on April 1, 1981.

References

External links

Library website
* Buildings and structures in Bakersfield, California Education in Kern County, California Public libraries in California Library buildings completed in 1915 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Kern County, California Beaux-Arts architecture in California Neoclassical architecture in California {{KernCountyCA-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links