Eldredge Public Library
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Eldredge Public Library is the public library of
Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeastern tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by th ...
. It is located at 564 Main Street, in a National Register-listed Romanesque Revival building donated by Chatham native Marcellus Eldredge. It was designed by
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
architect A. M. Marble.


Architecture and history

The library is set at the southeast corner of Main Street and Library Lane in Chatham's central business district. It is a 1-1/2 story brick and stone structure, with a slate roof and a granite foundation. Its Romanesque Revival features include parapeted end walls, eyebrow dormers, and brownstone trim, including beltcourses, window trim, and corner quoining. A 1968 addition, extending the building to the rear, was rebuilt in the early 1990s to more sympathetically resemble the original building. The interior has floors of marble and oak, and lavish oak woodwork. The Chatham library has its origins in a small library in South Chatham in 1875, and a library and reading room in Chatham village in 1887. Marcellus Eldredge, a Chatham native who made a fortune as a brewer in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...
, offered the town a new library building, which was constructed in 1896 at a cost of $30,000. The designer was the otherwise little-known Boston architect A. M. Marble. Eldredge also established a $20,000 endowment to maintain the library. This building was enlarged in 1968 to a design by Alger and Gunn of Hyannis, and again in 1991-92 by A. Anthony Tappe of Tappé Architects in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. The library 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 ...
for its architectural significance in 1992. It is the only major Romanesque Revival work in the town, and one of very few in Barnstable County.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Barnstabl ...


References


External links


Eldredge Public Library
- official site {{authority control Library buildings completed in 1896 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Libraries in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Public libraries in Massachusetts 1896 establishments in Massachusetts Chatham, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County, Massachusetts