The Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, on Church Street in Naugatuck, was built in 1894 as part of the grand beautification plan of industrialist and philanthropist John Howard Whittemore for his adopted home town. The Library, named in honor of a son who had died young, was one of the first of the many structures that Whittemore, influenced by the “City Beautiful” movement, commissioned for Naugatuck Center. Designed by McKim, Mead & White and utilizing the same plan as the firm’s Walker Art Gallery at Bowdoin College, the Neo-Classical Revival library is constructed of pink granite, with buff terra-cotta panels above the windows and in the pediment above the front entrance. The frieze running around the buildings is incised with names of famous authors. The Library has a modern addition to the rear.
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