National Register Listing

Cleburne Carnegie Library

a.k.a. Cleburne Public Library

201 N. Caddo St., Cleburne, TX

<p>The Cleburne Carnegie Library, located in the central business district of Cleburne, Texas, was the first professionally designed structure built in Cleburne. The library was constructed on a site of historical importance to Cleburne and has been the focus of community cultural and educational activities since it opened in 1905.</p><p>In 1901 the Women's Club of Cleburne was formed, under the leadership of Mrs. J.D. Osborne, with the specific goal of establishing a public library in Cleburne. Mrs. Osborne was able to assemble a collection of 800 books donated by Cleburne residents before plans for a library were actually completed. In 1902 and again in 1903, the Women's Club appointed Mrs. D.E. Waggoner to represent Cleburne at the Carnegie Foundation offices in New York. After several months she obtained a grant of $20,000 to construct and furnish a library, with the stipulations that the site for the library be donated to the library association, and that the city of Cleburne would levy a tax to maintain the library.</p><p>At a town meeting in 1903 the citizens of Cleburne agreed to the library tax, and began the solicitation of private donations to purchase a site for the library. A library board was established and officers were elected.<br><br>The architectural firm of Smith and Moore was selected by the library board to design a structure for the library site. The land purchased by the citizens of Cleburne for the library was of great historical value to the city of Cleburne. The property was the former site of Camp Henderson, an antebellum military outpost around which the area's settlers met at the site of the vacated outpost, and named their settlement Cleburne, after Confederate General Pat Cleburne, under whose command many of the area's men had served during the Civil War. The establishment of the library, the town's first attempt at formal architectural expression, on this significant site, was an expression of civic pride and enthusiasm for the library project.</p><p>The Classical Revival Library opened its doors to the public in 1905, with 2,608 volumes and an initial membership of 1,308. Most of the books in the library's original collection were donated by the citizens of Cleburne, but the Carnegie Foundation presented the library with a bookcase filled with books, by contemporary authors on international relations, history and philosophy. The Cleburne Library has preserved this original collection, which is still available to the public in a special section of the library known as the " International Mind" alcove.</p><p>The library acquired a large collection of Shakespearian and still maintains its original selection of over 400 stereopticon slides.</p><p>The library's second floor housed an auditorium which was the scene of local theatrical productions until the mid-1950s. Two groups--the little theatre group, and the Cleburne Shakespearean Club--presented regularly scheduled plays annually, and traveling Shakespearean troupes were invited to perform there once each year.<br>In 1952 the library board was dissolved and the city of Cleburne assumed ownership of the library. The library was renamed the Cleburne Public Library and was slightly modified by the installation of fluorescent ceiling lights, air conditioning, and an asbestos tile floor, on the first level.</p><p>The second-floor auditorium became the Layland Museum with the donation to the library of the Layland Historical Collection which had been the property of one of Cleburne's pioneer families.</p><p>The Cleburne Public Library, as it is currently known, is the only public library in Cleburne and one of the few libraries in Johnson County. The structure is significant primarily for its continued service to the community. The library's well-preserved and extensive original furnishings such as library tables and bookcases, are also of interest, as they have remained in daily use since the library's opening in 1905.</p><p>Few major modifications have been made in the structure, and the building continues to act as an important community focal point. The structure has been well maintained and is accessible to the public without charge.</p>

Local significance of the building:
Architecture

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

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.