The Carnegie Library in

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. Its population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the 2000 census. First known as a railroad st ...

, is a building at 406 East Oklahoma Avenue. Constructed in 1901, It was the second Carnegie-funded library built in Oklahoma and the oldest one still in existence. The Guthrie library opened on May 20, 1903,"Guthrie."
Retrieved August 10, 2014. It remained Guthrie's main library until 1972, when the city decided to tear it down and build a new facility in its place. Fred Pfeiffer, a local philanthropist, offered to fund a new structure next door to the Carnegie Library, if the old building were kept intact. The city accepted his offer, and gave the building to the

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1971. The old building is now part of the Oklahoma Territorial Museum.Oklahoma Territorial Museum & The Carnegie Library.
April 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014. Oklahoma Territorial Museum opened Nov. 13, 1973."Carnegie Library - Guthrie, Oklahoma - Carnegie Library Buildings on Waymarking.com
Retrieved on August 10, 2014

History

The Federated Women's Clubs of Guthrie established a library board and requested a grant from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

to construct a building. In 1901, Carnegie initially granted $20,000, then added another $5,000. The library board hired H. J. Vandenberg as the construction contractor. The women's club apparently raised additional money for the project, because the total cost of the project was approximately $35,000. They probably collected books and furnished up the meeting room, since that was the usual arrangement for Carnegie libraries."Carnegie Libraries." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Everett, Dianna. Retrieved August 10, 2014. Initially, there were no criteria for architectural style of the Carnegie library buildings, although Carnegie voiced his expectation that the edifice should, "... signify its importance to the community." The building was designed by J. H. Bennett, a local architect. Its architectural style has been described as "

Second Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

." It is a two-story building, constructed of brick and stone with a full attic. The building was by . The ground floor featured a room in the center covered by a rotunda. The dome is in diameter and rises . The rotunda was surrounded by five rooms for reading, book storage and club meetings. Carnegie was displeased when he learned that grant funds had been spent for a rotunda, a meeting room and fireplaces in the reading rooms. He wanted the money to be used for buying books and installing shelves to hold them. The Guthrie library was the last Carnegie library in Oklahoma to use his grant money for such an expenditure, Significant historical events at the building included the 1906 inauguration of the last territorial governor,

Frank Frantz Frank Frantz (May 7, 1872 – March 9, 1941) was an American Rough Riders, Rough Rider and politician who served as the seventh and final governor of Oklahoma Territory (1906–07). Frantz ran on the Republican Party (United States), Republican ti ...

and the November 16, 1907 inauguration of the first state governor,

Charles N. Haskell Charles Nathaniel Haskell (March 13, 1860 – July 5, 1933) was an American lawyer, oilman, and politician who was the first governor of Oklahoma. As a delegate to Oklahoma's constitutional convention in 1906, he played a crucial role in draftin ...

. It is a supporting building for the Guthrie Historic District. A statue on the grounds of the library/museum complex commemorates the symbolic wedding of Mr. Oklahoma and Miss Indian Territory during Governor Haskell's inaugural.

Oklahoma Territorial Museum

The Oklahoma Territorial Museum contains documents and exhibits about the creation of the

Unassigned Lands The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883, it was bounded by the Cher ...

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, the

Land Run of 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. The ...

, homesteading and the governments of both

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

and the State of Oklahoma (1907 - 1910).Oklahoma Territorial Museum & The Carnegie Library. "About the Museum
April 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014. The museum building has two stories and is adjacent to the Carnegie Library building, which operates as part of the museum. The physical address is 406 East Oklahoma Avenue in Guthrie. The first floor of the new building presents exhibits about the Land Run and the lifestyle of settlers in the Oklahoma Territory. The second floor is "territorial government, transportation, education, entertainment, and the statehood experience.""Oklahoma Territorial Museum."
Retrieved August 11, 2014.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Logan County, Oklahoma Carnegie libraries in Oklahoma Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Library buildings completed in 1901 Guthrie, Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Logan County, Oklahoma Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Oklahoma 1901 establishments in Oklahoma Territory

History

Oklahoma Territorial Museum

See also

Notes

References