The Baker Street Library, is a library located at 1400 Baker St. in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The library was constructed from 1913 to 1915 and replaced Bakersfield's original library building. Architect O. L. Clark designed the building in the

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

style; the library is the only surviving building designed by Clark in Bakersfield. The library is designed as a central block with two wings at the east and west ends. The library's main entrance is located on the east wing; the entrance is a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

supported by columns and topped with a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

and a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

reading "PUBLIC LIBRARY". The ornate interior decorations incorporate classical and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

themes. The library was added to 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 ...

on April 1, 1981.

References

External links

Library website
* Buildings and structures in Bakersfield, California Education in Kern County, California Public libraries in California Library buildings completed in 1915 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Kern County, California Beaux-Arts architecture in California Neoclassical architecture in California {{KernCountyCA-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links