The Libby Museum is a
natural history museum at 755 North Main Street (
New Hampshire Route 109
New Hampshire Route 109 (abbreviated NH 109) is a north–south highway in Carroll County, New Hampshire. It runs southeast from Sandwich to the Maine border.
The northern terminus of NH 109 is at New Hampshire Route 113 in the village of Cen ...
at Lang Pond Road) in
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Wolfeboro is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,416 at the 2020 census. A resort area situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee, Wolfeboro includes the village of Wolfeboro Falls.
History
The town was granted ...
. The museum was founded by Dr. Henry Libby in 1912, and was the first museum in the state dedicated solely to its
natural history.
It is owned by the town of Wolfeboro, and is open seasonally between June and October. The museum's building 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 1998.
Setting
The museum is located in northwestern Wolfeboro, on the north side of NH 109 overlooking the Winter Harbor inlet of
Lake Winnipesaukee
Lake Winnipesaukee () is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately long (northwest-southeast) and from wide (northeast-southwest), covering & ...
. It was built between 1908 and 1912 by Dr. Henry Forest Libby and constructed by local workmen from timber felled from nearby Rattlesnake Island. It is a basically rectangular building, covered by a hip roof and set on a concrete foundation. Its exterior walls are finished in stucco, and are divided into bays articulated by pilasters. At the top of most bays, just below the roofline, is a large single-pane window. One bay at the center of the main facade houses the museum entrance, sheltered by a gabled portico. The interior of the museum is a single large chamber, with plaster walls and hardwood floors. An unusual air circulation pattern facilitates natural cooling of the building, with air vents to the outside at the base of some of the bays.
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]
Collection and history
The museum was the brainchild of Dr. Henry Libby, who had amassed a large collection of natural specimens, and began planning for the museum's construction in 1890. The museum building was designed by Dr. Libby in consultation with C. Howard Walker of Boston, Massachusetts, and was completed in 1912. Dr. Libby died in 1933, leaving the museum in trust to his children, or the town if they did not want to manage it. In 1956, the town formally exercised its authority to assume management of the museum. Of New Hampshire's early museums, it is the first to be exclusively dedicated to the state's natural history.[
The museum collection includes specimens of plants, animals, birds, and fish, as well as minerals.][ It is open seasonally between the beginning of June and the Columbus Day weekend in October; admission is charged.
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, New Hampshire
References
External links
Libby Museum
- Town of Wolfeboro
{{authority control
Educational buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
Museums established in 1912
Buildings and structures in Carroll County, New Hampshire
Museums in Carroll County, New Hampshire
Natural history museums in New Hampshire
1912 establishments in New Hampshire
National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, New Hampshire
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Museums on the National Register of Historic Places