Converse Memorial Library
Converse Memorial Library | |
Converse Memorial Building | |
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Location | 36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°25′39″N 71°3′59″W / 42.42750°N 71.06639°WCoordinates: 42°25′39″N 71°3′59″W / 42.42750°N 71.06639°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1885 |
Architect | H. H. Richardson; Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge; Newhall & Blevins |
Architectural style | Richardson Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 85002014 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | September 05, 1985[1] |
Designated NHL | December 23, 1987[2] |
The Converse Memorial Library – also known as Converse Memorial Building – is a historically significant building designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. From 1885 to 1996, it housed the Malden Public Library, which now occupies a modern building adjacent to it. The former library is located at 36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts.
The building was a gift of Elisha S. and Mary D. Converse in memory of their murdered son, Frank Eugene Converse, who was the victim of the first bank robbery/murder in North America. It was constructed 1883-1885 in an overall L-shape, with a facade of brown Longmeadow sandstone, a tower rising from the L's inner corner, and a heavily arched entry porch set within the L's short arm. The main library room is 50 x 36 feet and finished in elaborately carved white oak with a high, vaulted ceiling. Its furniture was designed by Richardson and manufactured by the Boston firm of A. H. Davenport and Company.[3]
In 1896 two additions were made to the building, designed by Richardson's successor firm, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. One gable-roofed wing extends the building to the rear, along Park Street, following the same general lines of the existing structure. The other addition was a flat-roofed rectangular stack area also attached to the rear. An octagonal gallery space further extended the rear in 1916, designed by Newhall & Blevins.[3]
The Converse Memorial Building was the last of Richardson's library designs, and is generally considered among his finest works. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.[2][3]
See also[]
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
References[]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Converse Memorial Library". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
- ^ a b c Carolyn Pitts. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Converse Memorial Library / Malden Public Library" (pdf). National Park Service. Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) (includes plans and drawings) and Accompanying six photos, exterior and interior, from 1888, 1895, 1905, 1985 (32 KB)
- Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, 1985, page 314. ISBN 0-262-65015-0.
- American Library Association, Annual Conference Proceedings of the American Library Association, 1889, pages 78–79.
- National Historic Landmarks entry
- Digital Archive of American Architecture
General view from street
End view
Facade decorations
Tower detail
Columns
Detail
Ornament
1885 illustrations of the library
- Library buildings completed in 1885
- Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts
- Henry Hobson Richardson buildings
- National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
- Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
- Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Public libraries in Massachusetts
- Education in Malden, Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Buildings and structures in Malden, Massachusetts