Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library - Gadsden, AL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 34° 01.532 W 086° 02.636
16S E 588265 N 3765399
Library, researcher center, and memorial
Waymark Code: WMPVGN
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 10/25/2015
Views: 1
County of site: Etowah County
Location of site:
"The Cotton Mill was built in Alabama by Dwight Manufacturing to meet their competition. Converting cotton in the south saved money. And cost control is a main ingredient of Manufacturing.
"Howard Gardner Nichols had finished college at Harvard in 1893 and he joined Dwight Manufacturing Company. Since his father was the Treasurer, it was probably an easy decision.
"H.G. Nichols seems to have done well with the company and was chosen to oversee the construction of the new mill to be located in Alabama City, Alabama. On Christmas Day, 1895, one year after the announcement of the planned building of the new southern cotton mill, a button was pressed at the Dwight’s Chicopee, Massachusetts mill to set in motion the giant Corliss engine in Alabama City to begin the mill operation. In his daily journal, Howard Gardner Nichols recorded that on Friday, February 7, 1896, workers opened the first bale of cotton and threw it into the feeder.
"The Library building was constructed between 1898 and 1900. The distinctive white columned building that is now the Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library became the first public lending library building erected in Alabama." ~ NEAGS. THEME BY SOLOSTREAM.