Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Indiana
Cities G-I
Garrett
Here's a postcard maker for you:
Chucks Color-Fotos, Hicksville, Ohio, ©1958
Photo postcard, date uncertain and publisher unknown.
Lovely Commercialchrome card.
Gary
One of the more surprising members of the Carnegie family (1910 grant). It received a 1939 addition, but by 1955, it was outmoded, out of repair, and was demolished between 1962 and 1964. Gary also had a Carnegie branch library, Bailey, which is abandoned, similarly as to much of the city.
Shuttered to the public ca. 2011, the Administrative Offices building was its replacement. Four branches remain open to serve the public.
Pieces of the system's history are found on Wikipedia, as well as on a new history page on the library's web site. Very little of the system's history is available from a single resource.
Gary postcards are quite common, as are cards of its Central Branch.
(L) Crose photo postcard.
(R) 1949 Curt Teich postcard.
Goshen
This is it!
This is the very first Indiana Carnegie Library, dating from a 1901 grant.
The Beaux-Arts building, designed by Patton and Miller of Chicago, IL, was superceded in 1968. It was restored in 2004, and now serves as the Goshen City Hall.
(L) Very early E.C. Kropp (No. 3175) with entire back. If there is such a fault, perhaps the hand-coloring is a little too subtle.
(R) German card displays the wording and date above the entrance.
Greencastle
Greencastle's De Pauw University also has a Carnegie-funded building.
(L) Kind of a disappointing De Pauw souvenir, in my opinion.
(R) Attractive German Litho-Chrome card, mailed in 1910.
By the time the right hand card was published, the Indiana movement toward county libraries was begun. This card is labeled as the Greencastle-Putnam County Library.
It was mailed in 1955.
1902 grant. If the 1905 date on the DePauw card is correct, the builders took some care to preserve the surrounding trees.
The library is still in use, but has been modified.
Greenfield
1904 grant: replaced in 1985. Now the Hancock County Public Library.
The building is said to have been converted into a restaurant.
(L) Another Black and White brand card. The quality is worse than many cards of this marque.
(R) Unattributed card, but of decent quality.
The card caption reads:
The Proposed Carnegie Library, Greenfield, Ind.
It has an unevenly divided card back, placing it in 1907. Waymarking states that the first grant application was rejected, the second received in 1906, and the building erected in 1909.
Greensburg
(L) The back of this C.T. American Art Duotone card is stamped 'Sample from New York Office//Alfred Robbins//11 West 42nd St. New York// Lackawanna 5766'
(R) The photograph on the postcard bears the attribution 'St. John & Guthrie.'
Surprisingly well documented library. Finished in 1905, the library was built on the site of an old foundry. In 1994, it outgrew the Carnegie building, and is now known by the unwieldy moniker of the Greensburg/Decatur County Contractural Public Library.
The building now serves as a city building, and has been treated with sensitivity.
Hammond
1907 Curt Teich post card, mailed 1911.
It looks like the building on the far right of the postcard has 'HOLST' painted on it. This is an E.C. Kropp card, printed in Milwaukee.
One of the final postcards made of the library. This Curt Teich Art-Creation dates from 1955.
Most of the northwest Indiana libraries have extremely interesting histories. Hammond, due to its proximity to Gary, has a reputation that's worse than deserved.
1904 Carnegie grant. Razed, 1967. There was no attempt to keep the building in use via an addition, but times were good in the Steel Belt back then.
Hartford City
(L) Rather unattractive card, unattributed.
(R) 'Blue sky' card by the Auburn Post Card Manufacturing Co., never mailed.
1903 Carnegie grant. Minor 1986 renovation. Still in use.
Hebron
This is one of the later Carnegie-funded (1917) libraries in the state. Still in use, with an addition.
Curt Teich 1952 'Photo-Finish' brand card.
Hobart
1914 grant: the Carnegie building is now a museum of local history. Stylistically, this building is much more like those in Wisconsin (Durand, Plymouth, Platteville, Richland Center) than those in the rest of Indiana.
Hobart is a branch library in the Lake County Public Library.
Yet another Clear View card, fron the Wayne Paper Box & Printing Corporation. Some of this series has aluminized borders, but this has a grey border. I suspect that the grey versions were printed during WW II.
Huntington
Built in 1901. Currently (since 1987) used as an instructional center for schools.
(L) The card was produced by E.B. & E. Co. I believe that the twins are meant to be the original 'Siamese Twins,' Chang and Eng. The postcard appears to be derived from another postcard in my collection. What twins have to do with Huntington, or with libraries, is beyond me.
(R) Card mailed in 1908. Its style is similar to that of the Moline, IL Carnegie library postcard, although the buildings do not look much alike.
Indianapolis
There are (and were) Carnegie library branches in this capital city, none of which I have images. For the other buildings, visit the non-Carnegie Indiana pages.
Indiana Harbor
See East Chicago.