Rushmore Memorial Library

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View of the Rushmore Memorial Library from the southeast, 2008

The Rushmore Memorial Library , also called Rushmore Memorial Building is known, is a former library at the junction of New York State Route 32 and Weygant Hill Road in Highland Mills in the State of New York . It is a small building in the style of the Arts and Crafts Movements , which was built in 1920 with the help of financial assistance from Charles E. Rushmore . Rushmore was a resident of the place after which Mount Rushmore is named.

The building served as the Town of Woodbury's public library until the late 1950s . Today it is the seat of the city's historical society. After two failed attempts in the 1980s to list it on the National Register of Historic Places , it was finally listed in 2008.

building

The library is a one-storey building, each with three bays in length and width and was built in an irregular wall structure made of locally broken conglomerate rock . The house is covered by a gable roof made of ceramic , which in Mission Revival Style towers above the dimensions of the house on all sides and also covers the steps at the front. A stone fireplace made of a stone composite similar to the walls of the house rises up on the west side. A ramp for wheelchair users leads to the rear entrance, a few steps lead to the front entrance.

The interior consists of a single room with an open fireplace and a large fireplace parapet. The book shelves are made of mahogany . The rest of the original wooden interior is original. A bronze plaque with a poem by Jane Rushmore Patterson, Rushmore's daughter is here. The building has a complete basement.

history

Woodburys Public Library began in the years after World War I as a small collection of books on a shelf in the local drug store, which then moved to the grocery store and later to a telephone company office. Jane Patterson eventually urged her parents to help build a permanent home for the library. They eventually bought the property and provided the money to build the building. The foundation deed stipulated that the building with the property must remain in use as a library or similar use or it would revert to the Rushmore family.

War returnees and architect Howard Gregory, a young man whose father's company built the Rushmores' home in 1906, designed the library and oversaw the construction of the building in 1924. Some of his first architectural drawings are on display in the building today. His use of irregular stones was consistent with the principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement and with other buildings in the area, such as the gatehouse of the FF Proctor estate and the structures a few miles away for the state parks at Harriman and Bear Mountain and the newly established Tuxedo Park settlement .

Charles Rushmore died in 1931, and eight years later the library was renamed in his honor. At that time it came under the administration of the Highland Mills Common School District, which in 1951 was merged with a few others to form the new Monroe-Woodbury Central School District. The library remained under the care of the new school district for five years, which transferred it back to the town in 1956. It became the Rushmore Memorial Public Library, the branch of Monroe's City Library at Highland Mills, in 1958.

In 1959, the library was a founding member of a regional library network in the Ramapo Catskill area. The library was run by volunteers until 1966, when it switched to paid staff. The barrier-free access to the rear of the building was created in 1970. For this purpose, a window was converted into an entrance door. In 1985 the city built a new, larger building and briefly considered whether to keep the building or not. Ultimately, it was decided that the local historical society would use the building to store their local history collection.

At this point, the Historical Society tried twice to get the library listed on the National Register, but the request was denied in both cases. With the help of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation , a third attempt was successful in 2008.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d William Krattinger: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Rushmore Memorial Library ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . October 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  2. ^ Woodbury Historical Society: About Us ( English ) Woodbury Historical Society. 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  3. ↑ John Sullivan: Historic Register recognizes Rushmore Memorial Library (English) . In: Times-Herald Record , Ottaway Community Newspapers , May 5, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2009. " [I] t took two rejections - once in 1984, and then again shortly after - before the property finally received a nod as a notable historic site. " 

Web links

Coordinates: 41 ° 20 ′ 57 ″  N , 74 ° 7 ′ 30 ″  W.