Carnegie Library for Sale

Poor Andrew Carnegie is rolling over in his grave. After all of his efforts to leave us with a legacy of beautiful libraries, in some cases we can't manage to keep them open or even to maintain the buildings.

I found out about this deal a little late, otherwise, that would have been my bedroom window up there on the right. About five years ago the library was sold for some ridiculous amount ($140,000?) Last time I checked, it was sitting vacant with the space available for lease. I could be living in it and throwing lavish parties. That could have been your carriage out front. Here it is back in about 1906.

And here again, several decades later.  This is not the only Carnegie library to go up for sale. It's hard to really find out the details though. I couldn't even track down the newspaper article that listed the sales price or the details of the sale.

I  know that when this library became too small and there wasn't enough parking, Broome County built a newer bigger one. Then, due to budget cuts, the remaining four branches in Binghamton were all closed. I guess it's a pattern seen elsewhere too. The downtown is no longer the shopping and business center it used to be, so the main library has difficulty serving its purpose there. When the main library is then moved to another more suburban location, it's a given that people can't walk there, and it needs a big parking lot to go with it.  It's a sad progression from small neighborhood libraries that people could walk to.

I was surprised to discover that there are people who specifically collect library postcards, as well as people who are library history buffs.  The ultimate library history buff seems to be Larry Nix, a retired librarian who hosts the Library History Buff website. Mr. Nix also mentioned in his blog in May of last year that the Carnegie Library in Duluth, Minnesota was for sale for $862,000.

I'd love to know how many of the Carnegie libraries are still used as libraries, how many are used for something else, and how many are sitting empty or have been demolished. If you're interested in libraries and library history, be sure to check out Larry's website and another good one, Retiring Guy's Digest.

Running with the Chickens in Clemons, New York

I don't know what possessed me to buy these wrecked old cards, but there is something intriguing about them. The first one shows a boy happily running with the chickens.

The message, addressed to Hillside House, reads:
This is the youngest of the whole dam family Lee Jr.  Mountain view. More to follow.
Here's the back of the card.

And here's Hillside House near Lake George in the Adirondacks. If it's still standing, I can't find any record of it.

I was puzzled when I looked at the back of this card, which is only 3" by 4.5".  Something wasn't right.

The card was cut down in size, but why? Then, I noticed that the edge was coming up on one corner of the front. Look what's underneath! looks like the Brooklyn Bridge, doesn't it?

Thanks to Linda Ripley Smith for her helpful comments on this post and on the follow-up post, which you can see here.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The fist card really says it all.

The message on the card, sent to Billie Buswell in 1930, reads:

To see Oklahoma City,  you would never imagine it was only opened up to Homesteaders in 1889.

Dad

And here are two cards showing downtown Oklahoma City in about 1937.

The courthouse, designed by Solomon Layton, was built in 1937 for 1.5 million dollars. Here are the backs of the last two cards.