1880 - Meriam-Gilbert Public Library - West Brookfield MA
Posted by: 
nomadwillie
N 42° 14.101 W 072° 08.555
18T E 735781 N 4679824
Located at 3 West Main St in West Brookfield MA
Waymark Code: WMC0XT
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/12/2011
Views: 3
The Meriam-Gilbert Public Library is primarily a brick structure. It has a rather ornate centralized entrance. The windows are palladin in style with stone detail around the windows.
The Merriam-Gilbert Public Library was built in 1880 when Charles Merriam (born in West Brookfield in 1806), famous for publishing the first Webster's Dictionary, provided the funding for the structure. After seven months of construction the building was dedicated as the Merriam Public Library and Reading Room. The Library was eventually re-dedicated in 1960 as the Merriam-Gilbert Public Library after it received an unexpected and generous bequest from Helen E. Gilbert, a former West Brookfield native.
The exterior of the Library remains relatively unchanged with the exception of a cupola, which was destroyed in the Hurricane of '38. Also, an elevator tower was discreetly added during the 1997 building renovation project that both refurbished and made the building accessible to the handicapped.
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