Architecture of the nineteenth century, in public buildings--as well as in many of the private homes of the wealthier class, represented more than practical form and function. There were monuments. Most of them were quite beautiful and such structures that remain today grace their communities with a sense of history, heritage, and art.
Even in small towns they remain impressive, and were usually the gift of benefactors. Above is a postcard published by A.R. Levering of East Northfield dating from about 1903 of the Dickinson Library in Northfield, Massachusetts. It was gift of Fitchburg shoe manufacturer Elijah Marsh Dickinson (1816-1902), who was born in West Northfield, left the farm as young man to make his way in the burgeoning Industrial Revolution of nineteenth-century Massachusetts, eventually found success with his E.M. Dickinson Shoe Co., and was able to support his old hometown with this excellent gift.
The Romanesque style was built of granite and limestone, and was dedicated in 1898. It allowed space for museum rooms, and as with most libraries, became a focal point of the community and a source of pride.
It still serves the community of Northfield.
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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of:
The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;
Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;
States of Mind: New England, essays from New England Travels
A Tragic Toast to Christmas -- The Infamous Wood Alcohol Deaths of 1919 in Chicopee, Mass.; as well as books on classic films and several novels.
Her Double V Mysteries series is set in New England in the early 1950s.
Most of her books can be purchased at Bookshop.org here, as well as most online shops.
TO JOIN HER MAILING LIST - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.
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