In 1891, Captain Elihu Spicer, a wealthy ship captain of Mystic and Brooklyn, NY, announced that he would construct a library for the Groton communities of Mystic and Noank. Located on the corner of West Main and Elm Streets in West Mystic, the completed Mystic & Noank Library was dedicated in January of 1894. Capt. Spicer did not live to see the opening, having died the year before. The Library‘s architect was William Bigelow of New York (a former partner of McKim and Mead) and the construction was supervised by Spicer’s own architect, William Higginson. When built, the library collection was on the second floor and a meeting room occupied the first floor; today both floors and a 1990s addition to the building are used as library space. Two relief busts, representing Literature and Art, are featured on the front facade of the Library.