Noblesville City Hall; Noblesville, Indiana
Posted by: 
boatchick
N 40° 02.720 W 086° 00.730
16T E 584266 N 4433256
An old Carnegie library has been incorporated into the design of the modern-looking Noblesville City Hall.
Waymark Code: WM6D7C
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 05/15/2009
Views: 9
The September 1910 edition of Library Occurrent mentions that "The citizens of Noblesville have begun an earnest movement for a Carnegie Library building. At present the public library is housed in crowded quarters in the High School building, which is far removed from the center of town." After some struggles with city council, the citizens convinced council to buy a lot downtown and request a Carnegie grant to build a new library. A grant of $12,500 was received. The building was planned by Herbert Foltz of Indianapolis, who also designed the Carnegie-funded East Washington branch of the Indianapolis library. Grand opening was 8 May, 1913.
Today, the building stands in much different form. The former library has been absorbed by the Noblesville city hall. The 1912 cornerstone of the Carnegie portion of the building is at the northwest corner, behind a limestone block reading "NOBLESVILLE CITY HALL 1987". A large expansion project from fall 2004-November 2006 added 67,000 square feet and modernized the building. Entering the lobby from 10th Street, a part of the exterior wall from the original building remains. Bricks for the expansion were chosen to match the old building as well as possible, and interior railings were selected to match old photos of the Carnegie building. Although modern and up-to-date, Noblesville City Hall pays homage to the original design of the oldest section of the building.
References:
Library Occurrent, Indiana Public Library Commission, Indiana
State Library: Volume 2, Number 8 (September 1910), V.2, No.12 (September 1911), V.3, No.3 (June 1913)
Odle McGuire Shook website
City of Noblesville website