Property Record
918 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Lake Geneva Public Library |
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| Other Name: | Lake Geneva Public Library |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 67435 |
| Location (Address): | 918 MAIN ST |
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| County: | Walworth |
| City: | Lake Geneva |
| Township/Village: | |
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| Year Built: | 1954 |
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| Additions: | 1963 1970 |
| Survey Date: | 1985 |
| Historic Use: | library |
| Architectural Style: | Usonian |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | James R. Dresser |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Maple Park Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/17/2005 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/21/2005 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | As of 1998, there are no plans to either relocate or rehabilitate this library. Lois Geiss is Assistant Director. [A]. "Circa 1954. Prairie Style. Designed by James P. Dresser, a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright. This is a modernist which style led to the ranch house of today. Note the general horizontal lines with an emphasis on the gently sloping roof with large overhang. The windows are arranged in strips. Chimneys are wide and there is geometric ornament. The entire lakeside has a wide expanse of glass incorporating angular lines and contributing to a lovely restful reading area. This lakefront property was deeded to Lake Geneva is 1894 by Mary D. Sturges, the wife of George Sturges, an early settler. The adjoining land was to fashioned into a public park "to be used forever as such". The present library replaces a small house that had served as the library since 1894. The first Librarian received a salary of $2.50 a week. The new library was dedicated on December 12, 1954. Nearly ten years later a room was added to the east. Two more additions incorporating a reading area, magazine display, and room for music and art materials were completed in 1970." A Walking Tour of Olde Lake Geneva Towne, The Lake Geneva Plaque and Walking Tour Commission, 1993. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [A]. 1998 phone conversation with Lois Geiss, assistant library director. A Walking Tour of Olde Lake Geneva Towne by the Lake Geneva Plaque and Walking Tour Commission, Spring 1993. http://www.wiscnews.com/news/local/obituaries/article_da8f374c-2b28-11e0-be6d-001cc4c002e0.html A Walking Tour of Lake Geneva, WI, Lake Geneva Historic Preservation Commission, 2015. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |