National Register Listing

Terrell Carnegie Library

207 N. Frances St., Terrell, TX

<p>The 1904 Terrell Carnegie Library is one of 32 libraries built in Texas with funds from the Carnegie Corporation, founded by steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The building served Terrell and the surrounding communities for eight decades as a public library and has undergone few changes since it opened to the public a century ago. In the mid-1980s, the public library relocated to new facilities, and the old library building became home to the Terrell Heritage Society's Terrell Heritage Museum, which houses artifacts and an archive about the history and culture of the area. The Classical Revival building is stylistically similar to many Carnegie Libraries across the country, as their plans - based on Carnegie Corporation guidelines - were often based on the same contemporary ideas about library design and architectural style.&nbsp;</p><h6>Terrell, Texas</h6><p>Terrell is at the junction of U.S. Highway 80 and state highways 34 and 205, thirty miles east of Dallas in northern Kaufman County. The town was laid out by C. C. Nash and John G. Moore in 1873, coinciding with the arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway, and named after Robert A. Terrell, a pioneer settler and farmer. Terrell was incorporated in 1875, and by the mid-1880s had a population of 3,000, two banks, two hotels, three flour mills, three cotton gins, three weekly newspapers, and nine churches. The North Texas Insane Asylum (now Terrell State Hospital) opened in 1885 to help relieve overcrowding at the Texas State Hospital in Austin. Because of its proximity to the railroad, the town served as the shipping point for local cattle, cotton, and timber, and beginning in 1892, Terrell served as the headquarters for the Texas Midland Railroad. The public school system was established by 1882, the town served as the location of several small colleges, including Toon College (est. 1897, later known as Wesley College before relocating to Greenville in 1912), the Texas Military College (1914-1949), and Southwestern Christian College (est. 1950). The population of Terrell grew from 10,481 in 1941 to a peak of 15,500 in 1970. The 2000 census reported 13,606 residents.</p><h6><br>1904 Terrell Carnegie Library</h6><p>The Terrell Carnegie Library, at 207 North Frances Street, was constructed in 1903-04 by the City of Terrell, Texas, and stands on land that was part of the William W. Rayel survey. The block changed hands several times. 0. B. Colquitt, publisher of the Terrell Times Star newspaper and later governor of Texas, purchased the property in 1890 for $2,000. Colquitt built a large home on the property in the 1890s, but after he became Railroad Commissioner and moved to Austin in 1903, he sold the Block and house to the Elks Club for $5,500. On May 16, 1903, the Elk's Home and Park Association sold 75 feet on the Frances Street side of Lot 1 to the City of Terrell for $750, to be used as a library site.</p><p>From its founding as a city in 1873 until the early 1900s, Terrell had no public library. In 1902 the women's clubs of Terrell joined forces to promote and support the construction of a public library. They were able to convince the city to provide a site and annual maintenance funding. The city applied for a Carnegie Corporation grant, which was awarded in early 1903. In June 1903, the city accepted the proposal for the design of the library by architects Howard Messer and S. Weymess-Smith of Waco, Texas, with the contract for construction awarded to Goodman and Anderson. The cornerstone on the building is dated September 25, 1903; the building was opened to the public on March 15, 1904.</p><p>For eight decades the building served as the public library in Terrell. Awareness of the architectural and historic significance of the structure led to an application and the awarding of Recorded Texas Historic Landmark status in 1983, and the marker is attached to the left of the front entrance of the building."</p><p>Throughout its century of existence, the Terrell Carnegie Library has served the cultural interests of the community. For the first eighty years, it housed a public library that served the surrounding area as well as the city of Terrell. Since the middle 1980s, the building has housed the Terrell Heritage Museum's collection of artifacts pertaining to the history of the area and an archive of printed materials and approximately 2,400 photographs available for display and to students and researchers. The Terrell Carnegie Library is one of only twelve extant Carnegie Libraries in Texas and is the most prominent and historic public building still in use in the city of Terrell.</p><h6>Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Library Program</h6><p>Andrew Carnegie was a central figure in the development of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835, and emigrated with his family in 1848 to Pittsburgh, Pa., the iron- manufacturing center of the country. Through work as a delivery boy, he met Thomas A. Scott, an executive at the Pennsylvania Railroad who hired him as his private secretary and personal telegrapher. Carnegie worked his way up the ladder at the company, becoming superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division. After the Civil War, Carnegie resigned from the Pennsylvania Railroad and began work at the Keystone Bridge Co., a manufacturer of iron bridges.</p><p>Carnegie recognized that the Bessemer process of converting large amounts of iron into steel would transform industry. In 1875, he established a steel plant in Braddock, Pa., just east of Pittsburgh. In 1883, he purchased the Homestead Steel works on the south side of the Monongahela River across from Braddock. In 1899, Carnegie consolidated all of his steel holdings into a single corporation - Carnegie Steel - which dominated the market. After J. P. Morgan purchased Carnegie Steel in 1901 for $480 million, the company became U.S. Steel. After the sale of the corporation, Carnegie devoted his time and energy to various philanthropic pursuits, including the establishment of over 2,500 public libraries and financial support for institutions of higher education. Carnegie died in Lenox, Mass., in 1919.</p><p>In his book, The Gospel of Wealth, Carnegie asserts that personal wealth beyond that required to meet the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community. Carnegie's philosophy eschewed charity, calling instead for providing a means for self-improvement and greater opportunities through education. Between 1886 and 1917 Carnegie and his philanthropic organizations (including the Carnegie Corporation, founded in 1911) spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world. Cities granted libraries were responsible for their maintenance and were asked to pledge 10 percent of the amount of the gift for that purpose. Texas was late to embrace the public library movement, and before the Carnegie program, there were only a few public libraries in the state, mostly in large cities such as Galveston, Houston, El Paso, and San Antonio. The first Carnegie Library in Texas was built in 1898 in the northeast town of Pittsburg, the county seat of Camp County. In all, Texas cities and towns received 32 Carnegie Library grants.?</p><h6>Carnegie Library Design</h6><p>In addition to funding future upkeep of the buildings, applicants for Carnegie Libraries were responsible for securing the land and providing designs for the libraries. Although libraries were designed at the local level, clear similarities exist between Carnegie Libraries across the country. Designs had to be approved by the granting organization, which did not provide detailed plans, but rather outlined specific ideas regarding library design and efficiency. In 1911, project reviewer James Bertram of the Carnegie Corporation produced a booklet called "Notes on the Erection of Library Buildings" which included schematic plans and advice on library design." The Carnegie Corporation promoted innovative library designs and efficiency was of the utmost importance.&nbsp;</p><p>Libraries were designed so that a centrally located librarian could supervise the whole building, rooms were to be less monumental in scale and therefore less intimidating, and books were located in the reading rooms rather than in stacks which required the assistance of a librarian. The Corporation recommended one-story buildings without full-height interior partitions, and basements but only for auxiliary functions. Particular architectural styles were not endorsed, but most Carnegie libraries are symmetrical buildings with some sort of Classical Revival or Beaux Arts styling, in keeping with popular architectural tastes of the period. 10 The Terrell Carnegie Library exhibits elements of the Classical Revival style, which was popular in public buildings from the 1890s to the 1930s, through its Ionic columns and entablature, delicate balustrades, symmetrical plan, and rectangular form &amp; massing.</p><h6>Summary</h6><p>The Terrell Carnegie Library represents the dedication of both Andrew Carnegie and the town of Terrell to bettering the lives of citizens through education. The building is an excellent local example of a Classical Revival library and is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in the areas of Architecture, and Social History. Since its construction, the library has served the educational needs of the community first as a library, then as a museum. The library represents both Terrell's commitment to education and Carnegie's extraordinary contribution to the development of small-town libraries.</p>

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2006.