Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Public Libraries of Maine
Cities O-Z
Ocean Park
(L) Linen finish Tichnor Bros. card, mailed 1941.
(R) Frank W. Swallow hand colored postcard shows the library in its Furber Park setting.
In use in summers only, as part of a Chautauqua-by-the-Sea.
Ogunquit
The Library is on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the history page of the library calls it Richardsonian Romanesque, to me the fieldstone construction is a bit more Eclectic.
Designed by Charles M. Burns and built in 1897-8. It was expanded in 1914: I believe that the lefthand postcard dates well before then.
Said postcard is also a Frank W. Swallow product.
(R) Handcolored Albertype postcard, mailed in 1940. These tinted cards survive in large numbers, but seldom in excellent condition, as the blues are fugitive.
Paris Hill (Hamlin Memorial Library)
From creepy to cute.
Formerly, the Oxford County Jail. Since 1902, the Library and a Museum.
Metropolitan News postcard, mailed in 1909.
Popham Beach
Popham Beach is now part of Phippsburg. However, I do not believe this to be the Phippsburg Albert F. Totman Library. as that Library's history seems to contradict the postcard caption.
POPHAM BEACH, MAINE. THE LIBRARY.
Built thru the efforts of the ladies of the village, without aid from Andrew Carnegie.
The W.F. Cobb card was mailed in 1920. However, Phippsburg's library was not established until 1924.
Port Clyde (Jackson Memorial Library)
Mary Elinor Jackson held an informal town library in her home. Upon her passing, the residence was moved in 1935 by WPA workers to a more suitable location. It was renovated in 1988, and promptly caught fire afterward. Surprisingly, it was rebuilt, but appeared to be only a stopgap.
In 2012, a school was donated to the library, and remodeled into a more suitable form.
J.V. Hartman postcard, mailed in the 1930s.
Portland
It's as if the library's history is classified information. I know it was founded in 1867, and I know that in 1979, this building was replaced. In turn, it was renovated in 2010.
(R) Early tinted post card.
A 1946 Curt Teich linen finish card also features the State building.
Rangeley
1909 building. Still in use with a 2002 addition. It is a proprietary library.
Curt Teich glossy card dates to either 1909 or 1910.
Sanford (Louis B. Goodall Memorial Library)
1937 building. Still in use with a branch.
This is one of the library systems in Maine assisted by Stephen King, via the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation; specifically, its energy efficiency.
Don't worry, the library is not totally King's books.
I'd almost be OK with that, however.
A Curt Teich linen finish card dates to 1948.
Sargentville
Evocative card featuring a tiny Maine library and three pine trees. One of my favorites.
Seal Harbor
Simply designated as 'The Library' on this early divided-back card, by the Hugh C. Leighton Co. of Portland. Yes, it was made in Germany.
Searsport (Carver Memorial Library)
Built in 1909 from stone. Hard to believe a single field coughed up all these rocks. It was renovated in 1998.
Unknown photographer and studio.
Skowhegan
From the card, it looks as if this incredible hulk, errr, Queen Anne edifice was built in 1889. Still in use.
The card is a Tichnor product, of the Quality Views line.
Sorrento
Like Niagara, NC, this library was a result of land speculation. However, this resort village near Bar Harbor succeeded. It sounds like the 1893 building, by Ball and Dabney, began as a private facility that was transferred to public use at the end of WWI.
This beautiful hall appears to hold more weddings than books today.
The postcard of the library interior dates between 1893 and 1907, when it was mailed.
South Paris (Paris Public Library)
Built in 1926 from a John Calvin Stevens plan. One can see the resemblance to the addition on the Steep Falls library. It's a Colonial Revival building, on the National Register of Historic Places. Personally, the sashed windows in the bricked arches looks quite clunky in my eyes.
The 1927 Curt Teich postcard was mailed in 1942.
Southwest Harbor
Located on Mount Desert Island, almost unbelievably, this 1895 Library is still in use.
Even for a Maine library postcard, this Hugh C. Leighton postcard is extraordinary. It was never entrusted to fly through the mail unprotected.
Squirrel Island
Yep, you read the caption correctly.
Casino & Library, Squirrel Island, Me.
Dedicated in 1904. The book nut of 4,000 volumes came from Albert H. Davenport, who died fairly soon thereafter.
Leighton & Valentine card.
Steep Falls, a.k.a. Standish (Pierce Memorial Library)
This was an Edward F. Fassett building, from 1917. It didn't take long to need an addition: in 1924, the Stevens father and son built the children's wing. It doesn't match very well.
This is an Easter Illustrating Co. card, from Belfast.
Westbrook
Hugh C. Leighton card, mailed in 1906.
Built in 1894. A somewhat defective 1984-9 addition had to be closed for 5 months in 2007-8 for repairs.
Still in use.
Normally Leighton cards are attractive, but look at this unattributed tinted card! You can see that the frieze has a quirk: the O looks more like °.
Wiscasset
An 1805 building. It began its use as a library in 1929.
Photo postcard with an RPO postmark from the Bangs & Boston Railroad. It was mailed in 1949.
Yarmouth (Merrill Memorial Library)
(L) Published by F.E. Merrill (a relative of the donor, perhaps?) of Freeport.
(R) Photo postcard, never mailed.
According to its web page, the Library was built in 1905. Interestingly, its architect, A.W. Longfellow, was a nephew of the famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Its style is said to match that of his other projects at Harvard, and Radcliffe College. It received an addition in 1988.
York Village
I'm uncertain if this is York, or York Village. Or perhaps it's York Harbor, whose 1952 postmark is clearly struck on the reverse.
Photo postcard was made by A.A. Peterson of Greenland, NH. Apparently, he (or she?) was quite prolific.
