This Carnegie Library in Beaver is built in a Federalist Revival Style. Its plan is rectangular, with the broad side to the street. It has a flat roof and the front façade has a central door and two windows on either side, all of which are arranged with bilateral symmetry. The window detiling and the cornice are the most interesting architectural features on the exterior. The main windows are quite large and are filled with small panes of glass and wooden mullions. The windows are all arched and above them are arched transom windows with swag-like mullions. There are side lights as well and all the glass is outlined and emphasized with broad bands of decorative brickwork. The cornice is approximately 3 feet wide and is overhanging and banded with molding. Besides this, there are several decorative brick patterns and 2 brick string courses on the exterior. This brick is yellow color and was imported to Beaver. On the interior, the building still retains its original high ceilings, book cases, and furnishings. Only a month ago were the original hardwood floors covered with indoor/outdoor carpet.
Built in 1917 at 55 West Center Street in Beaver, Utah
The library is an excellent example of the Federalist Revival Style and is the only building designed so clearly in this style in Beaver. The building is one of a series of small town libraries built to enhance the cultural and educational life of rural areas by the Carnigie family. That it has remained totally unaltered until 1979 is a tribute to its excellent design and workmanship.
Built in 1914, the Garland Carnegie Library is one of 23 Carnegie libraries in Utah and one of over 1,650 library buildings in the United States that were built by millionaire/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie donated the entire cost of the building on the condition that the town provide the land, books, librarian, and an annual maintenance budget. Although many small towns found it financially difficult to maintain their new libraries, much less improve their library services, Carnegie libraries were generally beneficial in the communities in which they were built. In addition to providing improved and expanded library services, Carnegie libraries established standards of library operation operation and building design which were used for many years in the construction of non-Carnegie libraries in other communities. The general contract for the building was awarded to the Newton Company of Ogden, Utah. Architects may have been Watkins and Birch, who designed the similarly-styled Carnegie library in Richmond. Watkins and Birch actively pursued Carnegie library design contracts throughout Utah and designed at least five that were built in Utah.
Located at 86 West Factory Street in Garland, Utah and added to the National Historic Register (#84000146) on October 25, 1984.
Built in 1914, the Garland Carnegie Library is significant as one of sixteen remaining Carnegie libraries of the twenty-three built in Utah. Thirteen of the sixteen library buildings maintain their original integrity and are included in the Carnegie Library Thematic Resource Nomination. In addition to making significant contributions to public education in their respective communities, these libraries are Utah’s representatives of the important nation-wide Carnegie library program, and they document its unparalleled effect in the establishment of community-supported, free public libraries in Utah.
The Garland Carnegie Library was built in 1914 with an $8,000 grant from millionaire/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie funded the construction of over 1650 library buildings in the U.S., 23 of which were built in Utah communities. The conditions upon which all Carnegie grants were given were that the recipient community donate the building site and provide an annual maintenance budget of at least 10% of the grant amount.
The groundwork for the establishment of a library in Garland began around 1908, when a number of citizens began to promote the idea of a library in the town and prompted the organization of the Garland Library Board. In January 1912, secretary of the board, R.L. Bush, acting on behalf of the city, applied to and received from Andrew Carnegie a grant for $8,000 for the erection of a library building. It was noted in the Salt Lake Tribune that Garland was the first city in Box Elder County to be honored by the gift of a Carnegie library.
Actual construction of the library building did not begin until the spring of 1914. The general contract was awarded to the Newton Company of Ogden, Utah, and the plumbing and heating contracts were given to the Blumenthal Company of Provo, Utah. The architect of the Garland Carnegie Library is unknown, but the building closely resembles the Carnegie library in Richmond, so it is possible that the architects of that building, Watkins & Birch, also designed this building, especially since they are known to have actively pursued Carnegie library design contracts and designed at least five that were built in Utah.
The Garland Carnegie Library was completed in November 1914 and dedicated on December 12, 1914. The dedication ceremony was postponed two weeks in order that it be held in connection with the dedication of the Bear River Stake Tabernacle (of the LDS church), which was built across the street to the west of the library. The library was dedicated on Saturday and the tabernacle on Sunday; both services were conducted in the new tabernacle. Speakers at the library dedication included Professor Howard R. Driggs of the University of Utah, and Epraim G. Gowans, state superintendent of public instruction. Mattie Strong was appointed librarian.
General maintenance expenditures of the new library building proved, at least for a time, to be a burden on the community. City officials felt that their old quarters (location unknown) had served them better than the large, expensive Carnegie library. However, the building has continued in use to the present as the city library.
The basic form of the Garland Carnegie Library is similar to that of many of Utah’s Carnegie libraries. It is a one story brick rectangular building with a raised basement and a flat roof. A simple Classical Revival decorative scheme distinguishes the exterior, consisting of: the symmetrical arrangement of the façade with a central pavilion; the raised basement; the balanced arrangement of pilasters around the building, each distinguished by a capital that is a variant of the Ionic capital; and the pronounced cornice with dentils on the frieze topped by a parapet.
The façade is divided into five bays by pilasters, and has a projecting entrance pavilion centered between pairs of window bays. The main door may be original, but it is set into a panel of glass window cubes which probably reflects a 1930s alteration (exact date unknown). Each of the windows is two panes wide topped by a transom that is divided into four small glass panes. The ends of the building are two bays wide, also defined by pilasters, and there are two oblong three part windows per end. The rear of the building, like the façade, is divided into five bays. The pilasters along that wall, however, have no capitals and there are no distinctive decorative features on that side of the building. There are small square windows in four of the five bays, and a long, narrow window set into the central bay. There is a second entrance into the library on the west side at the basement level.
The building is essentially unaltered, except for the change made to the main entrance. That change, however, is not significant, and does not affect the original integrity of the building.
On February 3, 1916, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, along with several other civic groups, presented the idea of establishing a public library to Mayor Joseph J. Richardson and the Smithfield City Council. Constructed in 1921 at a cost of $20,000, the Smithfield Carnegie Public Library is significant as the first public library in Smithfield and is a fine example of the work of Fred. W. Hodgson, a prominent local architect who designed many other buildings in Cache Valley. The Smithfield Public Library was one of more than 1,400 public libraries established throughout the U.S. between 1898 and 1920, primarily through grants from Andrew Carnegie, a multi-millionaire and steel magnate who felt that the rich had an obligation to use their excess wealth for the benefit of mankind. Carnegie hoped to stimulate a community’s commitment to establishing a free library program by giving it much, but not all, of the money required to build the library, with the understanding that the community would be responsible for furnishing and maintaining it; this was the case in Smithfield. Continually used as a public library, the building is a key historic resource within the community of Smithfield. A new addition to the building was completed in 2014.
The Columbus School, later the Columbus Center, located at 2531 S 500 East in South Salt Lake City, Utah was a school from 1917 to 1968 and a community center after that, then a warehouse and then a library.
The board of directors of the free public library recognizing the value of the untiring services rendered by Mr. John D. Spencer, not only to the cause of library development during the past sixteen years, but also to the advancement of every laudable civic undertaking and desiring to express appreciation of such service, voted to designate the new branch library.
In taking this action the board has placed before the community in a permanent way, the name of one who though a private citizen has been a conscientious efficient and devoted public servant.
This building was constructed in 1938-40 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. The WPA was one of several New Deal programs designed to stimulate economic recovery during the Great Depression while providing needed public services and facilities. Over 230 public works buildings were constructed in Utah; approximately half of them retain their architectural integrity.
This building housed the city offices, library, police, and Hurricane Canal Company until the mid-1980s. The city then made it available to the Hurricane Valley Pioneer Heritage Foundation to develop as a museum.
The structure is built chiefly of hand-hewn sandstone that was quarried by construction workers from the banks of Berry Springs, about six miles west of Hurricane. The original estimated cost of construction was $22,300, but as the material cost was greatly reduced, the city was obligated to pay only $7,000.
William Sandstrom built this two-story frame and adobe commercial building in 1911. The first floor operated as a pool hall with a dance hall above. Later in the century, it was operated as a grocery store. It also served as the post office and, during the 1930s, had a WPA library on the upper floor. At one time it was occupied by the Dahl family.
William Sandstrom (1877-1911) built this two-story adobe-lined, wood frame commercial building about 1911. The first floor operated as a pool hall with a dance hall above. After Sandstrom’s death, James W. Blain ran a grocery store here and in the teens it was the post office. It also served as a bicycle shop, WPA library, and Dahl’s Grocery.*
Now the Leonardo Museum, this building at 209 E 500 S, Salt Lake City, Utah was the Salt Lake City Public Library from 1964 until the new Library was built in 2002 next door to the north.
The Sprague Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library, built in 1928 by prominent local architects, Ashton and Evans, in the Jacobethan Revival style, is significant under Criterion A for its contribution as a community and educational facility to the history of the Sugar House business district. The original Sprague Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library in Sugar House was established in 1914 and it is been an essential part of the community life of the Sugar House area. This particular building has provided a community gathering place for the people of the area and is a local architectural landmark. For this reason it is also significant under Criterion C. The Jacobethan Revival style building is the best example of its kind in the district and one of the best in the entire city, and has been well maintained. It has recently (2001) undergone an interior renovation with a sympathetic underground addition. However, the building retains its historical and architectural integrity. The Sprague Branch is being nominated as part of a multiple property submission, Sugar House Business District Multiple Resource Area under the context, “A City Within A City, 1910-1954.”
The first Sprague branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library in Sugar House was located at 1065 (also 1085) East 2100 South (now demolished) in rented quarters in the center of the business district. Its opening in 1914 coincided with the paving of the surrounding streets (1100 East, Highland Drive and 2100 South) and the installation of sewer and gas lines in the Sugar House district. The branch was created after repeated requests to the city from citizens of the Sugar House area. It was named for Joanna H. Sprague, an early head of the Salt Lake City public library, who spoke at the opening ceremonies. She began her work in Salt Lake City in 1898, the same year that the library was established, and oversaw the beginnings of the city branch library system during the forty-four years that she was associated with the city library. She earned a national reputation in her profession and was named president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association in 1928. The Sprague branch library was heavily used from the beginning with much community support, and its success spawned the current building.
The Salt Lake City Council and the Sugar House Businessmen’s League were influential in the construction of the new branch building in 1928 on land that had been part of the Sugar House Park and donated by the city to the library. An effort was made during the design of the building to have the exterior “fit the park surroundings” and to not be of the “usual and conventional style.”4 In 1933 the American Library Association declared the Sprague branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library the most beautiful branch library in America.
The Sugar House community heavily uses the library. It is one of the busiest branches of the Salt Lake City Public Library system. Salt Lake Magazine readers voted it the “best sanctuary on Sunday” in 1999 for its reading room and relaxing atmosphere. Statewide, the Utah Heritage Foundation recognized it for the quality of its 1990 renovation and restoration. The Sugar House Community Master Plan refers to the Sprague Library as “a long-standing community gathering place.” The building retains its historic integrity and contributes to the historic quality of the Sugar House Business District.
The Sprague Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library was built in 1928 a half block south of the center of the Sugar House commercial district at 1100 East and 2100 South. It is constructed in the Jacobethan Revival style of brick masonry with the main gable roofline running north/south and cross gables to the east (reading room) and west (entrance vestibule and stairs). Its property boundary on the northwest is Parley’s Creek, currently underground in a conduit, and the parking lot of the Sugar House Commons shopping center.
The building is a colorful combination of brick, stone, terra cotta, cast concrete, and slate with a rock-faced ashlar sandstone foundation in a pale buff color. The striated brick laid in an English bond ranges in tones from red to brown and the terra cotta accents are pale ivory. The slate roofing varies in color with predominant tones of grays, blues, and purple. The main entrance to the library is on the west facing 1100 East through a raised entrance vestibule under a small gable. A larger west-facing gable section has triple casement windows. Each window is tall and narrow with twelve rectangular lights, metal muntins and mullions, and wooden sash. A three-sided bay section to the south on the facade has the same windows. Half-timbering fills the tops of the north and south gable ends.
The first floor interior has coved ceilings and an open plan with the stacks in the north area, a reference desk and the main circulation desk in the central room and a smaller reading room and staff work area to the east. The interior space retains the open area with the high coved ceilings of the initial library space. The basement of the original building has more stack area, a large children’s section, and public rest rooms.
Efforts have been made over the years to maintain and improve the building beginning in 1954 with work on the foundation and continuing with interior renovation in 1971. A 1989-90 remodeling project done by Brixen and Christopher, Architects, for $405,000 using LSCA and Salt Lake City Public Library funds, stabilized the foundation, removed asbestos, added a rear entry/ handicapped access, installed an elevator, replaced lighting throughout, installed energy efficient heating and cooling systems, upgraded the electrical system, insulated the attic, and did other improvements.
Renovations completed in the spring of 2001, again by Brixen and Christopher, for $939,000l , included improvements to the children’s area and the reading room on the main floor as well as the addition of a new community meeting room and staff office space in the newly excavated basement area with a leaded glass and copper skylight pyramid on the east plaza. The plaza serves as the roof of the addition and provides an outdoor gathering space to the east of the building. The new eastern entrance is in a sympathetic style, using the same materials as the original building. The copper clad skylight pyramid with leaded glass complements the building.
The building faces west, set back from the street, on 1100 East in a landscaped lot with mature trees and concrete walks leading to the oak doors at the raised entrance. The library retains its original appearance from the traditional entrance on 1100 East. The Sprague Branch library makes a significant contribution to the historic character of the Sugar House business area.
Built in 1928 at 1255 Park Avenue, this was Park City High School until the new high school on Kearns Blvd was built in 1981. This is now the city library.
During the 2002 Olympics the top two floors were Norway House, housing the King and Queen of Norway and many Norwegian athletes, officials and business people. A Norwegian restaurant and display area were open to the public. Next door in the Library Park monster.com built a giant snow maze for children.