Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Indiana
Cities J-L
Jeffersonville
Sepia card from 1907. In anticipation of postal regulation change, the reverse of the divided back states, 'After Feb. 28, 1907, the space below may be used for correspondence.'
Curt Teich linen finish card includes the city's post office.
Card's purchaser annotated, 'Aug-2 1964' and 'Bought in Jeffersonville' via letterpress. Printed by Dexter Press, who called it 'A tax supported Carnegie Endowed Township Library.' Then, it contained ca. 21,000 volumes.
1902 grant. I don't know when it was replaced, but it had been used by IU-Southeast for classrooms, before its stint as a local history museum.
Formerly operated as the Remnant Trust repository for rare works and documents, but concerns over subpar conditions for archival preservation warranted a newer home. The most recent information I have (2010) states that it was up for rent.
Kendallville
(L) Curt Teich card from the 1920s.
(R) Side view in linen finish published by the Sturgis News Agency. Quite possibly printed by MWM.
1912 grant. According to Library Occurrent, Grant C. Miller (without Patton) was its architect. Now combined with the Limberlost (Rome City) Public Library. Replaced.
Kentland
Now known as the Kentland Jefferson Township Library.
Built in 1912, from a 1909 Carnegie grant. Resembles the Geneva, Illinois Carnegie library. A recent renovation was sensitively added.
In contrast to the architecture, the card isn't exactly made with high production values. It seems to date from the WWI era anti-German sentiments and embargoes. This is the only card I've seen by the Hoover-Watson Printing Company of Indianapolis.
Knightstown
1911 grant. Still in use.
Black and White brand card might have been a Curt Teich product.
Similar brand names include Octochrome, Sky-Tint, Commercialchrome, and Black and White.
Kokomo
(L) Curt Teich 'American Art' postcard.
Grant: 1902.
Demolished: 1965, according to the State Library of Indiana.
The system is now known as the Kokomo - Howard County Public Library.
LaPorte
Another Curt Teich 'American Art' postcard.
Information comes from the Indiana Historical Bureau's page about the Library's historical marker.
1916 grant, per Bobinski. This 1920 building replaced what I presume was an 1896 library building. The Carnegie-funded library was designed by architect Wilson B. Parker. Its 1991 addition was designed by architect Willam Koster.
Lagrange
(L) L.L. Cook Photo postcard.
(R) National Press is more known for the motel postcards it produced in the Midwest than for its library postcards. Still, it displays the Prairie architecture well.
Built in 1919. Lagrange County Public Library also encompasses Shipshewana and Topeka Branch Libraries.
Not only is the Carnegie portion still in use, an addition was made in 1976; and the Library next engulfed the Town Hall and Fire Station, which harbors the Bookmobile.
Lawrenceburg
We have officially bottomed out on postcard quality here. However, the Whitney Studio does provide a little information about the library:
Established 1910. Bldg. erected 1915. Circulation, 50,000 per year.
The Library's web page is stupendously unhelpful regarding the Carnegie legacy, but at least SHP Leading Design gives us an overview of its 2008 project, which blended the Carnegie building and its two additions with a train depot!
Really, it's nice looking.
Lebanon
Still in use, but the 1905 building was heavily renovated in 1991.
(L) Early E.C. Kropp card, mailed in 1911, showing both the residential neighborhood and the modern streets of the city.
(L) Litho-Chrome card, printed in Germany.
(R) The ca. 1955 Dexter Press card looks nearly identical.
The caption on its reverse reads:
LEBANON CARNEGIE LIBRARY
Lebanon, Indiana
The Lebanon Carnegie Public Library was established in 1903. The library now has 25,000 books available for loan or reference.
Liberty
This is one of the later Carnegie-funded libraries in the state, built in 1915. Strangely, the Masons of the area seem to have been involved. It's now the Union County Public Library, and has an addition.
The Big M Masons, that was.
This is another of those Wayne Paper Box and Printing Co. cards. Despite the coarse screening, you might be able to spot two men and a woman at the top of the stairs of the Prairie-influenced brick building.
Ligonier
Notice the zig-zag trim near the roofline. The brick building appears to have been painted in these cards, which date from 1907/1908, and pre-1907, respectively.
1907 grant. Addition dates from 1975. Still in use.
Linton
Christmas Eve, 1907 grant.
Tudor style.
This beautiful library building is still in use.
Wayne Paper Box and Printing Corporation card with an aluminized border. Many Midwestern libraries were memorialized by this firm.
Logansport
(L) Isn't the Carnegie building tiny compared to the mighty high school?
(R) Attractive Harry H. Hamm card in the white border style.
1904 - 1941.
Burned down on March 17, 1941 and rebuilt in 1942.
Logansport Cass County Library is not the luckiest organization in the library world. In 1924, it also lost its County Book Wagon in a fire.