The Rumford Public Library is a library in
Rumford, Maine
Rumford is a New England town, town in Oxford County, Maine, Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Rumford is home to both ND Paper Inc's Rumford Mill and the Black Mountain ...
. The building it is in was designed by Maine architect
John Calvin Stevens
John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...
and was built with a funding grant from
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
in 1903. The architecturally distinguished 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 1989.
Architecture
The original portion of the Rumford library is a -story red brick structure with a side-
gable roof
A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...
. Its
Romanesque styling is most pronounced in its projecting entry
pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
, a gable-roofed section centered on the middle third of the main facade that has a large round arch, in which the entrance is recessed. A rectangular stone panel above the arch identifies the building, and there are a trio of sash windows above that, with a small round stone panel near the peak of the gable. A belt course of stone separates the main floor from the raised basement, which is also finished in brick.
A modern addition was added to the original block in 1969.
The main entry of the library leads into a
vestibule, and then a centrally-positioned circulation desk, with reading rooms to either side, and stacks in the modern addition to the rear. The reading areas are decorated with dark-stained window trim, vertical
wainscoting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
, and a fireplace with a bracketed mantel in the north room.
[
]
History
The first library established in the Rumford area was a private circulating collection of 1,000 volumes established by A. Z. Cates. A campaign for a permanent public library was enhanced by a $10,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation in 1903, with the gift of shelving and books by local industrialist Hugh J. Chisholm. The library building was designed by the Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
architect John Calvin Stevens
John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...
, who designed a number of public library buildings throughout the state.[
]
See also
*List of Carnegie libraries in Maine
The following list of Carnegie libraries in Maine provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in Maine, where 18 public libraries were built from 18 grants (totaling $241,450) awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York ...
*
References
External links
Library web site
{{Authority control
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Romanesque Revival architecture in Maine
Library buildings completed in 1903
Libraries in Oxford County, Maine
Buildings and structures in Rumford, Maine
Carnegie libraries in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Oxford County, Maine
1903 establishments in Maine