Waupaca Free Public Library - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Growing up as a kid in Waupaca this was the first library I remember visiting to check out books. The first books I remember checking out were Dr. Seuss stories. This building was listing in the National Register in 1996. Right across the street is the Main Waupca Post Office, which is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Monday Night Club, Waupaca's oldest existing women's organization, and the Women's Club ran an active campaign to establish a library in the small town of Waupaca. Their campaign included speeches from leaders of the library movement in order to raise funds for the library's construction. The Carnegie Foundation of New York donated $10,000 to build the Waupaca Free Public Library completed in 1914. LaCrosse architects Bernard Parkinson and Albert Dockendorff, locally known for their Craftsman and Prairie School styles, designed the "modern" library to exemplify the influence of both Tudor and American Arts and Crafts styles.

Like many Carnegie libraries sited on the edge of neighborhoods, it was designed with a strong residential feel. Its placement and size are both consistent with the larger homes around it and has often been mistaken for a private residence. While the elements of Tudor design, such as steeply pitched roofs, multiple gables, and groups of tall casement windows, are easily recognizable, the influence of American Arts and Crafts is subtler. The wide, unclosed eaves, decorative, false beams, and an entrance porch supported by tapering square columns illustrate Arts and Crafts. The incorporation of these styles was uncommon to public buildings before World War I. (from the Wisconsin Historical Society)

Street address: 321 S. Main St. Waupaca, WI USA 54981 County / Borough / Parish: Waupca Year listed: 1996 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering (Tudor Revival) Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Served as the City & County Public Library Current function: Privately Owned - used as a meeting location for various organizations Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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