Cobb Memorial Library
| Cobb Memorial Library | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 The building in 2014 |
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| location | Truro , Massachusetts , United States | ||
| Coordinates | 41 ° 59 '41.3 " N , 70 ° 3' 2.6" W | ||
| surface | 0.32 acres (0.1 ha ) | ||
| Built | 1912 | ||
| architect | unknown | ||
| Architectural style | Arts and Crafts / Bungalow | ||
| NRHP number | [1] 13000367 | ||
| The NRHP added | June 12th, 2013 | ||
The Cobb Memorial Library is a historic library in Truro in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . Today the city archive is located there . It was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 .
general description
The one-story building was built in 1912 as a bungalow in the style of the American Arts and Crafts Movement and is more the size of a house than a library. It stands out particularly because of its roof construction, decorative elements and its covered entrance area. The roof originally consisted of red Lehmkacheln and the walls were covered with stucco ornaments, but in 1940 the walls with wooden shingles and the roof were shingles from fiberglass redesigned. Today the roof is covered with asphalt shingles.
The clock tower was added as early as 1930, and a rear annex was built in 1960 to install a toilet system and a tool room. In addition to the building, the NRHP entry includes three other contributing properties : a concrete wall running around the entire property, a commemorative plaque and a flagpole.
architecture
Outdoor areas
The wooden building has external dimensions of 40 ft (12.2 m ) by 24 ft (7.3 m) and is aligned with the long side parallel to the street. The one-storey, west-facing library stands on a concrete foundation and has a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles with sloping ends, the visible rafters of which are partially covered by a modern gutter system. In the middle of the roof is a four-sided clock tower clad with copper plates, which has a pyramid-like roof that is also covered with copper plates. Octagonal clocks are set into the west, north and south walls of the tower. A weather vane sits enthroned on the top of the tower . There is a brick chimney on the back of the roof.
The outer walls are clad with wooden shingles. On the western front of the building, the roof forms an extension over the herringbone paved entrance area, which is supported by two pilasters . The columns are each connected by a wooden bench with pilasters of the same type on the building wall. To the north of the entrance is a large metal plate with the inscription "Cobb-Memorial Library AD 1912", which is surrounded by a simple wooden frame. To the south there is a three-part window, the frame of which protrudes. Just like the frame of the metal plate, the window frame is also supported by consoles .
Indoor areas
The interior of the main part consists of a single room divided into three parts (central area with fireplace in Colonial Revival style and two reading areas of different sizes) and is spanned by an arched, vaulted ceiling. The white-painted walls have a surrounding chair rail below the window line, the floors are covered with fir wood planks. To the left of the fireplace a door leads into the annex.
Historical meaning
The Cobb Memorial Library was the first public library in Truro operated by the city council in 1912 and thus formed the starting point for the further development of the city's public librarianship. In 1999 the building, named after its founder Elisha Wiley Cobb (1856–1928), was rededicated as the city archive . From an architectural point of view, as the only commercial building in Truro, it is a very well-preserved and also rare example of the style of the American Arts and Crafts Movement , which was particularly popular in the United States between 1905 and 1920.
On March 19, 1912, Cobb bought a piece of land from Thannie Dyer in downtown Truro and had the building designed and built by an unnamed architect. On September 6th of the same year, he transferred the completed building including the land to the city in memory of his parents, with the condition that it be used as a library in the future, and provided additional funds for its operation. The library was inaugurated on August 31, 1912 and opened to the public.
In 1913 the city commissioned Charles W. Snow to build a concrete wall around the entire property. Where the wall meets the staircase, it rises to form low pillars that end at the top with a hemisphere that he formed from his house with the help of lampshades. On the street side, the wall had geometric decorations in the Art Deco style .
In 1914 the library inventory contained 4689 books, of which 4526 had already been loaned. In 1916 the library received a portrait of Shebnah Rich, which is now on display in the Highland House . Rich came from Truro, worked among other things as a writer and was a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society . On the occasion of Labor Day 1917, Elisha Cobb donated a flagpole that was erected on the property. In 1929 his daughter Nellie gave the library a portrait of her father, which is now on display in the Highland House. In 1930 she and her husband financed the erection of the clock tower on the building and at the same time gave the town hall a carillon , the ringing of which was stimulated by an impulse from the new library clock . A bronze plaque set in a stone, also donated by her, commemorates these gifts and was placed north of the staircase at the entrance to the library.
In 1955, the city government made available US $ 1,500 (around $ 14,300 today) to replace the electromagnetic mechanism in the clock tower, which was held responsible for a fire and which also allegedly disrupted television reception in the area, with a mechanical system. In 1959, a donation from the Magee couple made it possible to set up an acceptance box for books outside of business hours, which no longer exists today. The city government approved a grant of $ 3,300 in 1959 (approximately $ 28,900 today) to build a 9 ft (2.7 m) by 20 ft (6.1 m) annex that was completed in early 1960 and in which storage and previously missing toilet rooms were housed.
In 1999, a new library was built in North Truro because the Cobb Memorial Library had become too small due to the growing population and growing book inventory. The building was then used as an archive for maps and documents of the Truro Historical Society, but was not renovated until 2009 and formally rededicated as the city archive.
See also
literature
- Dray, Eric; Friedberg, Betsy: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. ( PDF ) National Park Service , February 5, 2013, accessed on February 16, 2016 (English, accessible via the "NR" button).
Individual evidence
- ^ Cobb Memorial Library. National Park Service , accessed February 16, 2016 .
- ↑ cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 4.
- ↑ cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 5.
- ↑ a b cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 6.
- ↑ cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 7.
- ↑ cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 10.
- ↑ cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 13.
- ↑ a b cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 14.
- ↑ a b cf. Dray / Friedberg, p. 15.