Alameda High School
2200 Central Ave., Alameda, CAThe Alameda Free Library building, erected in 1902-03, is significant as the City of Alameda's first library building, still in use as the City's main library. It was built with a $35,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie and designed by architects William H. Willcox and John M. Curtis of San Francisco who designed many private and public buildings in California. The builder was C. H. Foster and Son who lived in Alameda and built over 100 private and public buildings in Alameda over a 30-year period. The building is located across Santa Clara Avenue from the Alameda City Hall (1896; Percy and Hamilton, included on the National Register in 1980), and next to the Park Street Historic Commercial District (application for inclusion on the National Register pending, February 1982). The Library is outstanding for its craftsmanship in the use of brick and stone in a major public building. The entry columns were said to be the first brick columns ever constructed in California. The building conveys the appropriate monumental Neo-classical imagery of its type and period and is notable for the high quality of its interior and exterior design. It is in excellent condition with only a few minor alterations.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.