List of Carnegie libraries in New York City
The following list of Carnegie libraries in New York City provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in New York City, where 67 libraries were built with funds from one grant totaling $5,202,261 (worth some $148 million today), awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 8, 1899. Although the original grant was negotiated in 1899, most of the grant money was awarded as the libraries were built between 1901 and 1923.
Key
Building still operating as a library
Building standing, but now serving another purpose
Building no longer standing
Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Carnegie libraries in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island
In Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, 39 libraries were built and became part of the New York Public Library.
Library | Borough | Image | Location[1] | Notes[1][2] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 115th Street | Manhattan | 203 W. 115th St. 40°48′10″N 73°57′14″W / 40.80278°N 73.95389°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1908. | |
2 | 125th Street | Manhattan | 224 E. 125th St. 40°48′10.89″N 73°56′5.52″W / 40.8030250°N 73.9348667°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1904. | |
3 | 135th Street | Manhattan | 103 W. 135th St. 40°48′52.31″N 73°56′28.98″W / 40.8145306°N 73.9413833°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1905. Now part of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research center of The New York Public Library. | |
4 | 58th Street | Manhattan | 121-7 East 58th Street | Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened May 10, 1907. It was demolished and replaced by a new branch in two floors of an office tower at 127 East 58th Street, which opened in 1969. | |
5 | 67th Street | Manhattan | 328 E. 67th St. 40°45′53.69″N 73°57′34.29″W / 40.7649139°N 73.9595250°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard in the style of the Yorkville branch and opened in 1905, this building has undergone two extensive renovations in the 1950s and 2005. | |
6 | 96th Street | Manhattan | 112 E. 96th St. 40°47′9.57″N 73°57′6.34″W / 40.7859917°N 73.9517611°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard and opened in September 22, 1905. | |
7 | Aguilar | Manhattan | 174 E. 110th St. 40°47′39.11″N 73°56′36.32″W / 40.7941972°N 73.9434222°W |
Designed by Herts & Tallant, this building opened as a branch of The New York Public Library in November 1905. "This library is apparently not an entirely new building but is rather an extensive renovation of the earlier [1899] Aguilar Library building on the same site."[3] | |
8 | Chatham Square | Manhattan | 33 E. Broadway 40°42′48.25″N 73°59′47.44″W / 40.7134028°N 73.9965111°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1903. | |
9 | Columbus | Manhattan | 742 10th Ave. 40°45′53.85″N 73°59′28.53″W / 40.7649583°N 73.9912583°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard and opened in 1909. | |
10 | Epiphany | Manhattan | 228 E. 23rd St. 40°44′17.18″N 73°58′55.06″W / 40.7381056°N 73.9819611°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in September 1907. | |
11 | Fordham | The Bronx | 2556 Bainbridge Ave. 40°51′45.76″N 73°53′34.5″W / 40.8627111°N 73.892917°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1923, this building was the Fordham Library Center, The New York Public Library's central branch in the Bronx, through 2005, when it closed and was replaced by the newly built Bronx Library Center. | |
12 | Fort Washington | Manhattan | 535 W. 179th St. 40°50′52.12″N 73°56′2.41″W / 40.8478111°N 73.9340028°W |
Designed by Cook & Welch and opened in April 1914. | |
13 | Hamilton Fish | Manhattan | 388-92 East Houston Street | Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1909, the building was razed during the widening of Houston Street. A public housing project now stands at its original site. A new Hamilton Fish Park Branch opened at 415 East Houston Street in 1960. | |
14 | Hamilton Grange | Manhattan | 503 W. 145th St. 40°49′32.2″N 73°56′53.04″W / 40.825611°N 73.9480667°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1907. | |
15 | Harlem | Manhattan | 9 W. 124th St. 40°48′22.29″N 73°56′35.86″W / 40.8061917°N 73.9432944°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1909, this building was renovated in 2004 at a cost of nearly $4 million. | |
16 | High Bridge | The Bronx | 78 W. 168th St. 40°50′17.48″N 73°55′25.37″W / 40.8381889°N 73.9237139°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1908. Demolished in 1975 and replaced by a new High Bridge Branch on the same site. | |
17 | Hudson Park | Manhattan | 66 Leroy St. 40°43′47.95″N 74°0′18.57″W / 40.7299861°N 74.0051583°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1906. | |
18 | Hunt's Point | The Bronx | 877 Southern Blvd. 40°49′7.11″N 73°53′38.68″W / 40.8186417°N 73.8940778°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and completed in 1929, this was the final Carnegie building added to the New York Public Library system. | |
19 | Kingsbridge | The Bronx | 3041 Kingsbridge Ave. 40°52′44.18″N 73°54′26.79″W / 40.8789389°N 73.9074417°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened May 19, 1905. This branch outgrew its original building and closed in 1958. It is now the Spuyten Duyvil Preschool. | |
20 | Melrose | The Bronx | 910 Morris Ave. 40°49′35.73″N 73°55′3.42″W / 40.8265917°N 73.9176167°W |
A Carrère & Hastings design, this branch opened January 16, 1914. It was originally four stories but was reduced to two in 1959. | |
21 | Morrisania | The Bronx | 610 E. 169th St. 40°49′53″N 73°54′6.16″W / 40.83139°N 73.9017111°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard and opened in 1908. | |
22 | Mott Haven | The Bronx | 321 E. 140th St. 40°48′41.49″N 73°55′27.42″W / 40.8115250°N 73.9242833°W |
The oldest library building in the Bronx, this branch opened in 1905, designed by Carrère & Hastings. | |
23 | Muhlenberg | Manhattan | 209 W. 23rd St. 40°44′40.02″N 73°59′45.61″W / 40.7444500°N 73.9960028°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings, this branch opened February 19, 1906. | |
24 | Port Richmond | Staten Island | 75 Bennett St. 40°38′15.19″N 74°7′52.14″W / 40.6375528°N 74.1311500°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1905. | |
25 | Riverside | Manhattan | 190 Amsterdam Ave. 40°46′35.9″N 73°59′1.04″W / 40.776639°N 73.9836222°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1905, this building stood until 1969, when it was replaced by a newer library building on the same site. That branch was replaced by another in 1992, at 127 Amsterdam Ave. | |
26 | Rivington Street | Manhattan | 61 Rivington St. 40°43′15.15″N 73°59′24.84″W / 40.7208750°N 73.9902333°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1905, the building is now a church. | |
27 | Saint Agnes | Manhattan | 444 Amsterdam Ave. 40°47′5.44″N 73°58′38.96″W / 40.7848444°N 73.9774889°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard, this branch opened in 1906. | |
28 | Saint Gabriel's Park | Manhattan | 303-5 East 36th Street | Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1908. Razed in order to construct the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. | |
29 | Saint George | Staten Island | 5 Central Ave. 40°38′30.18″N 74°4′35.94″W / 40.6417167°N 74.0766500°W |
Known today as the St. George Library Center, this Carrère & Hastings work opened on June 26, 1907, and is the largest library on Staten Island. | |
30 | Seward Park | Manhattan | 192 E. Broadway 40°42′52.08″N 73°59′18.68″W / 40.7144667°N 73.9885222°W |
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard, this branch opened on November 11, 1909. | |
31 | Stapleton | Staten Island | 132 Canal St. 40°37′35.25″N 74°4′40.78″W / 40.6264583°N 74.0779944°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1907. | |
32 | Tompkins Square | Manhattan | 331 E. 10th St. 40°43′38.39″N 73°58′49.5″W / 40.7273306°N 73.980417°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White, this branch opened in 1904. | |
33 | Tottenville | Staten Island | 7430 Amboy Rd. 40°30′34.5″N 74°14′38.79″W / 40.509583°N 74.2441083°W |
A Carrère & Hastings design, this branch opened in 1904. | |
34 | Tremont | The Bronx | 1866 Washington Ave. 40°50′45.72″N 73°53′54.04″W / 40.8460333°N 73.8983444°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1905. | |
35 | Washington Heights | Manhattan | 1000 St. Nicholas Ave. 40°50′4.26″N 73°56′22.81″W / 40.8345167°N 73.9396694°W |
Designed by Carrère & Hastings, this branch opened in 1914. | |
36 | Webster | Manhattan | 1465 York Ave. 40°46′14.27″N 73°57′4.6″W / 40.7706306°N 73.951278°W |
This Babb, Cook & Willard work opened on October 24, 1906. | |
37 | West 40th Street | Manhattan | 457 West 40th Street | Designed by Cook & Welch, this building opened in 1913 and is now part of the Covenant House complex. | |
38 | Woodstock | The Bronx | 761 E. 160th St. 40°49′13.45″N 73°54′19.4″W / 40.8204028°N 73.905389°W |
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1914. | |
39 | Yorkville | Manhattan | 222 E. 79th St. 40°46′25.15″N 73°57′22.72″W / 40.7736528°N 73.9563111°W |
Designed by James Brown Lord, this branch opened December 13, 1902, the first Carnegie library built in New York City. |
Carnegie libraries in Brooklyn
Brooklyn received $1.6 million ($45.6 million today) of the entire grant to construct 21 libraries for the Brooklyn Public Library.
Library | Image | Location | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arlington | 203 Arlington Ave. at Warwick St. | ||
2 | Bedford | |||
3 | Brownsville | The first Brownsville Branch opened in 1905 on the second floor of the Alliance Building after the Hebrew Educational Society donated its books. The Carnegie-built branch, which opened at 61 Glenmore Avenue on December 19, 1908, continues to operate today.[4] | ||
4 | Bushwick | |||
5 | Carroll Park | Union and Clinton Streets | Designed by William B. Tubby, this location opened at 396 Clinton Street on March 3, 1905 and was originally called the Carroll Park Branch, until the name was changed to Carroll Gardens in 1973. A predecessor library operated out of a rented space at Smith Street and Carroll Streets from 1901 until completion of this building, which still serves the community today.[4] | |
6 | DeKalb | |||
7 | Eastern Parkway | |||
8 | Flatbush | 22 Linden Blvd. at Flatbush Ave. | ||
9 | Fort Hamilton | 9424 Fourth Ave. | This library started out as an independent free library and was absorbed into Brooklyn Public Library in 1901. The building was designed by the Lord & Hewlett architecture firm and formally opened at 9424 Fourth Avenue on October 16, 1907.[4] | |
10 | Greenpoint | |||
11 | Leonard | 81 Devoe St. at Leonard St., Williamsburg | The Leonard Branch was officially opened on December 1, 1908 at its current site at Devoe and Leonard Streets. The one-story classically styled building, designed by William B. Tubby, has an elegantly designed interior of 10,000 square feet that originally featured molded skylights, wood paneling and wood-trimmed windows.[4] | |
12 | Macon | 361 Lewis Avenue, Bedford-Stuyversant | The 11th Carnegie Brooklyn library | |
13 | Pacific | Pacific St & 4th Ave | The Pacific Branch was the first of the Carnegie-funded libraries to open in Brooklyn, on October 8, 1904. Architect Raymond F. Almirall designed the building, at 25 Fourth Avenue, and was hired again as architect after the building suffered structural damages due to BMT subway construction in 1914. Upon its opening, New York Tribune praised the branch for its classical and dignified design.[4] | |
14 | Prospect | Park Slope | ||
15 | Red Hook | |||
16 | Saratoga | 8 Thomas S Boland Street 40°41′5.1″N 73°54′54″W / 40.684750°N 73.91500°W | ||
17 | South | |||
18 | Stone Avenue | |||
19 | Walt Whitman | Saint Edwards Place, Ft Greene | Originally called the City Park Branch, this library was renamed to honor Walt Whitman (who once lived on nearby Ryerson Street) in 1943, on the 125th anniversary of his birth. The branch once boasted a naval architecture and science collection, to serve the workers of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[4] | |
20 | Washington Irving | 360 Irving Ave. Bushwick 40°41′51″N 73°54′44″W / 40.69750°N 73.91222°W | ||
21 | Williamsburg | 240 Division Avenue 40°42′25″N 73°57′27″W / 40.70694°N 73.95750°W | Although the branch didn’t open until 1905, it is often considered the first of Brooklyn’s Carnegie libraries. Thousands, including Mayor Seth Low, came out with much fanfare for a ceremony in November 1903, when a time capsule of documents including a copy of the Carnegie contract was laid in the cornerstone of the building at 240 Division Avenue.[4] |
Carnegie libraries in Queens
Queens received $240,000 ($6.8 million today) from the grant and built seven libraries for the Queens Library.
Library | Image | Location | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Astoria | 14-01 Astoria Blvd. | ||
2 | Elmhurst | 86-01 Broadway 40°44′18″N 73°52′38″W / 40.738470°N 73.877307°W |
Demolished 2012 | |
3 | Far Rockaway | Destroyed by fire in 1962 | ||
4 | Flushing | |||
5 | Poppenhusen | 121-23 14th Ave. and 13-16 College Point Blvd. |
||
6 | Richmond Hill | 118-14 Hillside Ave. | ||
7 | Woodhaven | 85-41 Forest Pkwy. |
Notes
See also:
- List of New York Public Library Branches
- List of Brooklyn Public Library Branches
- List of Queens Library branches
- 1 2 "Libraries and Hours, NYPL". Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ Dierickx, Mary B. (1996). The Architecture of Literacy: The Carnegie Libraries of New York City, pp. 104-186. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the New York City Dept. of General Services, New York. ISBN 1-56256-717-9.
- ↑ Dierickx. The Architecture of Literacy, p. 125.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Carnegie Libraries | Brooklyn Public Library". www.bklynlibrary.org. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
References
- Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC 1282382.
- Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4.
- Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
- Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890-1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC 2603611.
- Dierickx, Mary B. (1996). The Architecture of Literacy: The Carnegie Libraries of New York City. New York: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the New York City Dept. of General Services. ISBN 1-56256-717-9.
Note: The above references, while all authoritative, are not entirely mutually consistent. Some details of this list may have been drawn from one of the references without support from the others. Reader discretion is advised.
External links
Historic Districts Council pages on Carnegie libraries in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens.