Property Record
307 WASHINGTON AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Washburn Free Public Library |
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| Other Name: | Washburn Public Library |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 1481 |
| Location (Address): | 307 WASHINGTON AVE |
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| County: | Bayfield |
| City: | Washburn |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1904 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1999 |
| Historic Use: | library |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brownstone |
| Architect: | HENRY WILDHAGEN; Sheridan and Swain, contractor |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Washburn Public Library |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/1/1984 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. FRONT PORTICO WITH TALL IONIC COLUMNS DISTYLE IN ANTIS. TYPICAL CARNEGIE TYPE LIBRARY BLDG CHARACTER. MRS MAY GREENWOOD THE NATION'S OLDEST LIBRARIAN WORKED HERE 1893-1959. Built with an $18,000 gift from Carnegie Library Fund. The cornerstone was laid in June 1904, and the building was completed in 1905. Mrs. May Greenwood, a librarian who began her job in 1898 and worked for over six decades at the library, served until age 91, overseeing the growth of the library from a small reading room to an integral part of Washburn. When the cornerstone was removed in 2004 and the time capsule opened, local newspapers and lists of civic boards and officers were found, which described government in 1904. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [A] NRHP NOMINATION FORM Eckert, Kathryn. Sandstone Buildings in the Lake Superior Region. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2000 Washburn Heritage Preservation Association. Wood, Stone, and Water: Washburn Walking Tour. Bayfield: Roslyn Nelson, 2005, P. 20-21. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |