321 S. Main St.

Summary

Waupaca Free Public Library
321 S. Main Street, Waupaca, Waupaca County
Architects: Parkinson & Dockendorff
Date of Construction: 1914

The Monday Night Club, Waupaca's oldest existing women's organization, and the Women's Club ran an active campaign to establish a library in the small town of Waupaca. Their campaign included speeches from leaders of the library movement in order to raise funds for the library's construction. The Carnegie Foundation of New York donated $10,000 to build the Waupaca Free Public Library completed in 1914. LaCrosse architects Bernard Parkinson and Albert Dockendorff, locally known for their Craftsman and Prairie School styles, designed the "modern" library to exemplify the influence of both Tudor and American Arts and Crafts styles.

Like many Carnegie libraries sited on the edge of neighborhoods, it was designed with a strong residential feel. Its placement and size are both consistent with the larger homes around it and has often been mistaken for a private residence. While the elements of Tudor design, such as steeply pitched roofs, multiple gables, and groups of tall casement windows, are easily recognizable, the influence of American Arts and Crafts is subtler. The wide, unclosed eaves, decorative, false beams, and an entrance porch supported by tapering square columns illustrate Arts and Crafts. The incorporation of these styles was uncommon to public buildings before World War I.

The Library remained in use until 1993 when collections and services became too large for the facility. The building is now privately owned, please respect the privacy rights of its owners.

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