The Sioux City Free Public Library is a historic building located in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

, United States. The library was located in a section of the Municipal Building, no longer extant, between 1892 and 1913. It had outgrown the space when the Library Board contacted

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 1910 about providing the funding for a new library building. Their request was initially turned down. They chose to work with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

architect Edward L. Tilton, an architect preferred by Carnegie, in place of local architect

William L. Steele William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century. Career After graduating f ...

who was working with the board previously. with Local resident George Murphy donated the property for the new building. Meanwhile, Tilton designed the two-story brick

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

building. On April 8, 1911, Carnegie approved the project and donated $75,000 for the building's construction. The new building was dedicated on March 6, 1913, and it is considered "an excellent early twentieth century example of the architectural development of library planning and design." It was Tilton's only building in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. Plans were made to enlarge the building in 1938, but the bond issue failed. The library remained in its cramped quarters until 1989 when it moved into a former bank building downtown. Ownership of the Carnegie building was transferred to a group of investors in 1996 who transformed it into apartments. 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 ...

the following year.

References

Library buildings completed in 1913 Apartment buildings in Sioux City, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Renaissance Revival architecture in Iowa Former library buildings in the United States 1913 establishments in Iowa {{Iowa-struct-stub