Guilford Smith Memorial Library (1836)

In 1836, Charles Smith (1807-1893) built a Greek Revival house on Main Street in South Windham. The following year, he and Harvey Winchester bought a nearby factory that they used for the manufacture of paper, forming the Smith & Winchester Company. Charles Smith‘s son, Guilford Smith (1839-1923), was born in the house. He was a wealthy philanthropist who left $25,000 for the establishment of a library in South Windham. A trust and Board of Trustees were established for in 1930 and the new Guilford Smith Memorial Library, occupying the old Smith House, opened on April 4, 1931.

Plymouth Library (1932)

The Plymouth Library is a small private library, operated by the Plymouth Library Association and located at 692 Main Street, not far from Plymouth Green. The library was founded in 1871, largely through the efforts of Rev. E. B. Hillard (1825-1895), pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church from 1869 to 1889. The original library building was destroyed by fire in 1929. The current building, designed by architect Raymond Percival, was dedicated in April 1932.

Acton Library (1873)

The original Acton Library building in Old Saybrook was erected in 1873 on land donated by Thomas Acton at the corner of Old Boston Post Road and Pennywise Lane. The Library was dedicated on July 4, 1874. Thomas C. Acton (1823-1898) was a New York City politician and Police Commissioner whose summer home in Old Saybrook was across the street from the library. Begun as a subscription library, it became a public library in 1904. A new Acton Library was constructed in 1967 at 60 Old Boston Post Road. The former library, at 40 Old Boston Post Road, was bought from the town by architect Robert Wendler in 1970. He converted it into a single-family residence.

Clark Memorial Library (1936)

A private library, called the Bethany Union Library, used to meet between 1798 and 1812 at the home of Capt. Isaac Judd. In 1930, residents of Bethany seeking to start a public library for the town, met at the home of Treat B. Johnson (1875-1947), a Yale chemistry professor and a descendant of two of the founding members of the original library. In 1936 a town library was finally erected at 538 Amity Road through the gift of Noyes Clark in memory of his parents.

American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailor’s Reading Room (1841)

One of the buildings at Mystic Seaport is set up to represent the American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailor’s Reading Room. The Society was incorporated in 1833 to provide moral and religious alternatives to the saloons, boardinghouses and brothels frequented by sailors while in port. The organization is best known for the libraries it placed aboard American ships for the use of sailors. The Society’s records are now held the Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport. This historic organization is interpreted for Mystic Seaport visitors in a building erected c. 1841 as a work shop and tool shed by Clark Greenman of the George Greenman & Co. Shipyard. Starting in 1951, it was used as the Seaport’s Children’s museum, before housing the Reading Room exhibit. The building originally stood where the Treworgy Planetarium was built in 1960. It was moved to its current location in 1959. (more…)

Norwalk Public Library (1903)

For my 50th post for the City of Nowalk, let’s look at the Norwalk Public Library building at the corner of Mott and Wall Streets (address: 1 Belden Avenue). The Norwalk Library Corporation was founded in 1879. This subscription library constantly struggled to find sufficient funds but its leaders finally persuaded the city to take it over as a public library in 1895. The library was originally located in rented rooms near Wall and Main Streets until funding was acquired from a Carnegie grant to erect a library building. A lot for the new building was donated by Hubert E. Bishop, the grandson of Norwalk manufacturer George G. Bishop. The Tudor-style library, designed by British architects W. and G. Audsley, opened in April 1903. The original entrance was on Belden Avenue, but when a major addition was constructed in 1978-1982 the entrance was moved to face Mott Avenue. The South Norwalk Library was founded as a completely separate entity, but was merged into the new city-wide system in 1975. (more…)