The Crane Memorial Public Library - Quincy, MA
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The Crane Memorial Library, commissioned in 1880, is considered the best of the H. H. Richardson's work in architecture, and is still part of Quincy's main public library.
Waymark Code: WMGTAM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/07/2013
Views: 5
In Quincy, along Coddington Street, is the Crane Memorial Public Library.
Library as Described in the American Guide Series for Massachusetts:
14. The Crane Memorial Public Library, at the rear of the Stone Temple, commissioned in 1880, is considered the best of H. H. Richardson's work in this field. The single low mass of the front is not broken by the gable over the entrance, and the stair turret is unemphasized. Romanesque to some degree, the design is also bold Richardsonian, with a notably original handling of fenestration, and the dominant Richardson theme - stress upon function and material - powerfully expressed.
-- American Guide Series: Massachusetts - A Guide to Its Places and People, 1937, p. 340.
Crane Library Today
The Thomas Crane Public Library is still there, and still part of the Quincy Public Library.
The building is now part of a larger building complex. The first addition was built by the time the book was published. It was designed by William Aiken Martin, following the Richardsonian style. Since the book was published, another addition was added in 1938, designed by architects Paul A. and Carroll Coletti, and another expansion was done in 2001, designed by architects Childs, Bertman, and Tseckares, doubling the size of the building. The building also contains two LaFarge stained glass windows. H. H. Richardson considered this one of his most successful civic buildings. The grounds were originally designed by his friend, Fredrick Law Olmsted.
The building complex is the main branch of Quincy's Public Library system. The library system contains more books in its collection than any other city in Massachusetts except Boston.
Sources
The Thomas Crane Public Library
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Wikipedia (Crane Public Library):
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