Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Iowa
Cities T-Z
The remainder of the Carnegie library postcards for Iowa.
Tama
1904 grant: built the same year. Replaced by the Louise & Lucile Hink/Tama Public library. Building now serves as a woodworking shop.
To the left of the library are either cords of obsessively cut stovewood, or books.
Amazing how the flag looks as if there's a 30 mph wind, and the trees are not bent at all. Thus is the collaborative glory between H. Soleman and Sons, and an unknown German printer.
Tipton
L.L. Cook photo post card.
Commercial Colortype Sky-Tint card.
Somebody flipped his negative!
Mailed 11/11/11
1902 grant, 1904 building, 1988 expansion. Still in use.
The Quint Cities Photo Service may or may not have captured the addition.
Traer
1914 grant; still in use with a slightly awkward addition.
The postcard photo was taken during construction. You can see sawhorses at the right of the card.
The Black and White branded card is also attributed to the Iowa Calendar Company of Marshalltown.
Villisca
1907 grant.
Still in use, as is, except for the addition of an elevator.
Photo postcard mailed from Denver to San Jose in 1914. Therein lies a story.
Vinton
Somewhat similar to the Charles City library.
1903 grant. Still in use, with an addition.
Black and White brand card.
Excelsior card, mailed in 1909.
Gilmore & Ullom card.
Waterloo
Waterloo, in some ironic twist, marks the beginning of my search for the branch libraries of larger cities, although I don't really think of this city as large.
It began with two remarkably similar postcards. Even though the first is only sepia monochrome, I like it a little better. The plant in the background is not corn. Maybe it's some type of prairie grass.
East Side
Fabulous!
Complete with a handy fire station.
Built 1906.
Currently used as city offices.
West Side
The card was made in Germany and mailed in 1909. Colors vary among cards of the era.
Built 1906.
Exhibits the Neoclassical revival style I think of as classic Carnegie. Most sources call the plan Classical Revival Type A.
Currently serves as law offices.
Waverly
1903 grant. Built in 1907: received a 1968 wraparound addition shown below. Replaced in 1998 and now serves as offices.
(L) One publisher, Wheeler & Meyer, for the Rexall Store, dared to take a front view photo of the Waverly Carnegie Library.
(R) Winter is coming.
C.U. Williams wanted to remind you.
Homuth Memorial Library
None of my sources, except for the postcard caption and the lettering above the entrance, refer to this building as "Homuth Memorial Library." But the building shown on Google Street View is clearly not this structure. There must be a back story to this short lived (1968-1998) name.
The postcard is likely an L.L. Cook photo postcard, and was never mailed.
West Liberty
Built in 1904, it has had at least one large addition. Note the curved window tops on this card. There are still lingering traces of Romanesque design on this predominantly Tudor-style building.
(L) Mailed in 1908.
(R) Made by Geo. L. Stevens of Congress Park, IL. Also mailed in 1908.
Winterset
This is an M.L. Metrochrom card that looks to be an imitation of the C.T. Artchrom Curt Teich line. It was mailed by Merdeth, who was recuperating from measles in 1916.
Gah, I hope she didn't lick the stamp.
1904 grant. Built in 1905, replaced by a huge single storey building. The somewhat plain Carnegie building now serves as City Hall. Maybe they have a real American flag by now.
Woodbine
Unknown postcard publishers.
One of the smallest Carnegie grants, $7,500 in 1909.
Built in 1910, expanded in 2001.
The municipal web site is nearly impossible to navigate, but the library's history page is here.
