Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Nebraska
Cities O-Z
Main information source: Nebraska Public Library Founding Dates.
More library photos at Nebraska Memories.
O'Neill
1912 Carnegie grant. Still in use, with a massive addition.
(L) Card by O'Neill Photo Co.
(R) Bloom Bros. (Minneapolis) card, likely dating to the mid-1910s.
Pawnee City
(L) In 1924, Carolyn S. wrote:
Having a wonderful time out here. Every day is perfect, only a little too warm a 103 in the shade.
(R) Architect's rendering displaying the corporate signature in tiny script at the lower left. The card was mailed in 1909.
Ethereal, yet firmly rooted, this Carnegie Library was designed by John P. Eisentraut of Eisentraut, Colby and Pottenger Architects, and built in 1907. Replaced in 2012.
Pierce
1911 grant. The little neoclassical building has been replaced. However, it is part of a foundation and town meetings are held there.
The card is from Als Photo Lab.
Ponca
Randolph
Replaced by the Lied Randolph Library. I'm uncertain whether this building is extant.
This isn't the best of photo postcards: it's a little blurred, a bit underexposed, and slightly cockeyed. But sometimes that's all that turns up.
Schuyler
From a 1911 Carnegie grant. No longer in use. A 2012 Google Street View shows it boarded up.
Plate number 26806. Whose is unknown.
Sidney
1913 grant. Building occupied by 1917. Now serves as the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Information Center. Did they remove the little "Keep off the Grass" sign?
The building is remarkable for its unusual roofline ornamentation above the entry.
South Omaha
South Omaha is no longer a distinct municipality.
Unusual architecture: slightly Romanesque, but the roofline is Prairie school.1901 grant. Construction date uncertain: probably 1904. Demolished in 1953.
A bookmobile provides library service to this section of the city.
Postcard published for the Omaha News Company, by 'Poly-Chrome' process.
Superior
Another Christmas Eve grant, 1907. Now in use as the Chamber of Commerce and as law offices.
This may be the farthest-flung of the Patton & Miller library buildings.
(L) Lithochrome card.
(R) Mailed in 1961 to the Sociology and Business Department of Denver Public Library.
Sutton
Card mailed in 1914.
Plaque reads, 'Gift of A. Carnegie 1910.'
This building was one of those that rather grew on you. I don't know how they combined Deco, Prairie, and Craftsman styles (especially when Deco hadn't been coined as a style), but the resulting library must have given Carnegie a warm feeling in his frugal heart.
After 50 years, the warm feeling started to give Sutton residents heartburn. Because of structural issues, it was condemned in 1967, and in 1969, the library moved on an emergency basis into a former jewelry store. It took until 1986 for a dedicated replacement to be built.
The city web site, showing the Library beside a waterway, shows one of the problems with which it had to contend.
Tecumseh
(L) Spectacular photo card. Notice the subtle differences in the roof line from the plan (R).
(R) These cards feature the architect's drawing. Perhaps Williamson-Haffner Publishers added the sky, with puffy clouds.
Nebraska Memories also displays a similar card.
Built in 1907: designed by the architectural firm Eisentraut-Colby-Pottenger. Replaced in 2000: a 2004 article states that a clothing store had taken over the premises.
Tekamah
Dedicated in 1916. Received a huge, attractive addition in 2013, and is now the Lied Tekamah Public Library.
Wayne
Beautiful photo postcard.
Asymmetric, Prairie-style building, built courtesy of a 1911 grant. The card has 1915 written on the back.
Replaced. Now serves as a Luther Youth Center.