As described in A Century of Meriden (1906), in the nineteenth century there had been “various spasmodic attempts to raise sufficient money to start a free public library” in Meriden, a goal finally achieved with the opening of a library in 1899, located in two rented rooms in a house on East Main Street. Funding for the library came from “the ladies of the Thursday Morning Club,” whose winter lecture series of 1897-1898 had “proved so successful that at the close of the season the treasury of the club was found to have quite a sum of money on hand.” The library quickly outgrew its small rooms and
On December 7, 1900, Mrs. George R. Curtis announced that she would contribute sufficient money to buy a site, erect a suitable building for a library and thoroughly equip it, providing the town would vote to annually appropriate $3,000 for running expenses. At a special town meeting held on the evening of March 12, 1901, it was unanimously voted to accept the offer made by Mrs. Curtis. Plans presented by W. H. Allen, of New Haven, were accepted, but as Mr. Allen at this time removed to California, Richard Williams, his successor, and who had drawn the plans, became the supervising architect. The Lawrence property on the east corner of East Main and Pleasant streets was bought and work on the site was soon begun.
The cornerstone of the Curtis Memorial Library was laid on September 28, 1901. The completed building, constructed of Vermont White marble by the H. Wales Lines Company, Meriden’s premier construction firm, was formally opened on April 20, 1903. The building served as the library for seventy years, until a new building was erected on Miller Street. Today, the former library is home to the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center, a non-profit organization founded in 2000, which hosts lectures, exhibits and interactive programs focused on the arts and sciences.