Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA
Posted by: 
sherpes
N 40° 24.102 W 079° 51.918
17T E 596288 N 4472961
The first public library in North America, dedicated on March 30, 1889 by Andrew Carnegie himself
Waymark Code: WM4KN7
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 09/03/2008
Views: 15
Braddock is now a run-down town on the banks of the Monongahela River, once the site of prosperus steel mills and center of industrial production. Here lies the very first library built by Carnegie in North America. More in the "castle" and monumental style than the future libraries that Carnegie built, this building is still operational as library and host to several non-profit organizations.
It was built in two parts. The original 1889 building (what you mostly see in your shot) was designed by William Halsey Wood of Newark NJ. The 1893 addition (the tall tower at the right, and all that's behind it) was by Longfellow, Alden and Harlow (Pittsburgh and Boston); that added the swimming pool, Music Hall, basketball court, and other smaller spaces. In the basement of the 1889 portion, the former bathhouse for Carnegie's millworkers has been adaptively rehabbed as a pottery studio, which produces ceramic water filters for third-world countries.
Braddock is a community currently in the mist of a renaissance, speared by the presence of a young mayor, John Fetterman that has brought into the town much outside talent and artists. The story was featured on National Public Radio (www.npr.org) on March 15.
The library recently celebrated its 120th anniversary ( (
visit link) )