The Slater Library is the public library of
Griswold, Connecticut
Griswold is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,402 at the 2020 census. Griswold contains the borough of Jewett City and the villages of Doaneville, Kaalmanville, Rixtown, Glasgo, Hopeville, Nathanieltow ...
. It is located in a historic building at 26 Main Street in the borough of
Jewett City
Jewett City is a borough in New London County, Connecticut, in the town of Griswold. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census. The borough was named for Eliezer Jewett, who founded a settlement there in 1771.
Geography
According to the Uni ...
.
The Romanesque Revival building was constructed in 1884 with funds donated by
John Fox Slater
John Fox Slater (March 4, 1815 – May 7, 1884) was an American philanthropist who supported and funded the education of freedmen after the Civil War.
Early life and career
Slater, the son of John Slater (Samuel Slater's brother and partner), w ...
, a New England industrialist and philanthropist. The original building was designed by
Stephen C. Earle
Stephen Carpenter Earle (January 4, 1839 – December 12, 1913) was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut that were built in the late 19th century, with many in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in ...
, and was nearly doubled in size in 1930 with the addition of the Fanning Annex, designed by the
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
firm of
Cudworth & Thompson, and funded by a bequest from local businessman David Hale Fanning.
The building 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 ...
in 2002.
Griswold Historical Society Museum
The Griswold Historical Society Museum is located on the second floor of the Slater Library.
The museum's displays illustrate life in New England during the 18th and 19th centuries, and are themed around a farmer's workshop, a kitchen, school and children's playthings. The museum is open on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month in the afternoon.
Architecture
The library is a 1-1/2 story structure, built out of granite with brownstone trim, all finished with a rough quarry exterior. It is roughly rectangular in shape, with a projecting tower at the front right, and a hip roof from which hipped dormers project. The 1930 addition nearly doubles the size of the original building, and creates an L shape at the rear; it is built using similar materials. Most windows are set in rounded-arch openings with brownstone framing, with a brownstone stringcourse at the base of the arched section. Similar stringcourses and water tables also run below and at the base of the windows. The main entrance is set deeply recessed in the base of the tower.
See also
*
References
External links
Slater Library Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater Library And Fanning Annex
Library buildings completed in 1884
Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Griswold, Connecticut
Libraries in New London County, Connecticut
Public libraries in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut