Goodrich Memorial Library

The Goodrich Memorial Library is a public library in Newport, Orleans County, Vermont. It is the largest and only one of two full-time libraries in the county. It is located at 202 Main Street in downtown Newport, in a Romanesque building constructed in 1899.

Goodrich Memorial Library
Location202 Main St., Newport, Vermont  United States
Coordinates44°56′9.24″N 72°12′37.44″W
Built1899 (1899)
ArchitectWilliam Storey
Architectural style"Romanesque, Queen Anne"
Part ofNewport Downtown Historic District (ID06000898)
NRHP reference No.83004228[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 23, 1983
Designated CPSeptember 28, 2006

History

Converse Goodhue Goodrich and his wife, Almira, donated money for the construction of a free library. The land was worth $6000, the building $20,000. Construction was started in 1898. It dedicated on September 1, 1899.[2] Architect William Storey designed the building.[3]

The stock used to fund the operations of the library failed during the depression in 1933. This forced the library to enlist public support.[2]

It opened with 6500 books.[2]

In November 1983, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Administration

The library budget for 2008 is $160,550. Newport city contributes $99,000 of this amount.[4]

Facilities

There are fireplaces fashioned of colored brick, rooms finished in red birch, Georgia pine, cypress, native spruce, Swanton red marble, with furnishings in quartered oak.[2]

The upstairs hall consists of an art room, decorated more or less in period style, a long hall for meetings, an office, and a reading room. There are several old paintings on display in the art room, and a display case of postcards and paraphernalia from Newport's history.

Perhaps most noteworthy is the floor-to-ceiling wall of glass cases that house a variety of stuffed animals and natural curiosities. These include an alligator shot in Florida in the 1900s, an ostrich egg, and a flying squirrel found in Vermont. As they were originally preserved with mercury, they can only be handled and cared for by trained professionals.[2]

See also

Footnotes
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. History of the Goodrich Library Archived 2012-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "The Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance". vmga.org. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  4. Annual City & School Report, City of Newport, Vermont. Memphremagog Press, Inc., Newport, Vermont. 2007.
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