An Exercise on the Piano

The caption is a little hard to read, but it says "An Exercise on the Piano."  Postmarked on the back in 1909, this was about as titillating as you could get at that time!

Three Little New England Libraries

Three old libraries with lots of character.

In Rockland, ME, the library was one of the Andrew Carnegie libraries, built in 1903-1904. 

Carnegie librariew were built with money donated by Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist.  Almost 1,700 were built in the United States between 1883 and 1929, with money made available to towns through a grant system.  By 1919, half of the libraries in the US were built using Carnegie grants.

The Calais, ME library was built in 1892  .The yellow brick building, designed by A.H. Vinal, was constructed at the cost of slightly over $10,000 and was first opened to the public on July 4, 1893. Vinal was greatly influenced by the architectural style of Henry H. Richardson, designer of Boston's famed Trinity Church.

 

In Laconia, NH, the Romanesque Revival-styled library was originally a gift of Napoleon Bonaparte Gale, a local banker who died in 1894.  Construction began in 1901 and the buidling was dedicated in 1903.  

All three libraries are still in action today.  They have additions, but they're in the style of the original buildings.  Way to preserve these great architectural gems of the past!