Idaho Falls Carnegie Library ~ Idaho Falls, Idaho - Carnegie Library Buildings on Waymarking.com

In 1909, the Village Improvement Society of Idaho Falls was awarded a grant for $10,000 from the Carnegie Library Foundation for a new library in Idaho Falls. The first cornerstone was laid in May 1914 and it opened in 1916. At the time, the basement was used as a public assembly hall.

With the library's collection and the town both growing, the building was refurbished and expanded from 1939 to 1940, funded by the Public Works Administration.

The IF Public Library moved to its current location in 1977 and the old library became the headquarters of the Bonneville County Historical Society. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in August 1984 and became the Bonneville Museum in 1985.

In 1989, the Eagle Rock USA exhibit opened in the basement. It was a scaled down re-creation of businesses that would've been found in the early days of Idaho Falls.

The first modern expansion began in 2001 when the neighboring Masonic Lodge (which had opened in 1931) was remodeled and connected to the former library. When the expansion was completed in 2003, it reopened as the Museum of Idaho.

A second major expansion began in 2018 to house traveling exhibit on the north side of the building. The first phase of this expansion was completed in September 2019 and the second phase was finished in January 2021.

Address of Library Building: Museum of Idaho 200 N Eastern Avenue Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402 Current Use of Building: Museum of Idaho Year Built (optional): 1916 Website about building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/02/2023 ranger_woodlore visited it 10/21/2022 CheekyBrit visited it 09/09/2022 CheekyBrit visited it 04/01/2016 HM63 visited it

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