Hawthorne Center for Working Families; Indianapolis, Indiana
Posted by: 
boatchick
N 39° 46.059 W 086° 12.099
16S E 568377 N 4402273
Indianapolis built five branch libraries with Carnegie funds. The former Hawthorne branch is now used as a community center.
Waymark Code: WM63Y5
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2009
Views: 5
The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library was founded in 1873. By the turn of the century, several branch libraries already existed to serve various neighborhoods. In 1909, the Indianapolis library was pledged $120,000 in Carnegie funds to build 6 new branches. However, only $100,000 was ultimately disbursed, and 5 branches were built. Of the five, two still exist as libraries and one is a community center. The Madison Avenue branch was razed in the 1960s, and the West Indianapolis branch on Morris Street was replaced by a new building across the street in 1986, and was later demolished.
Hawthorne is a neighborhood on the near west side of Indianapolis. The Hawthorne Branch library was one of two branches to be built with Carnegie funds in 1910. The building was designed by Indianapolis architect August Bohlen. Four generations of Bohlens were locally prominent architects: August was the grandson of Diedrich Bohlen, who emigrated from Germany in the middle of the 19th century. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis notes that over 20 Bohlen family designs are on the National Register of Historic Places. The former Hawthorne branch library is one of these, added in 2000 as building #00000499. Today, the building is used as the Hawthorne Center for Working Families, affiliated with the Hawthorne Community Center. A small red brick addition was built on the north side of the building in 2000, perhaps to provide a handicapped accessible entrance.
References:
Downey, Lawrence J. A Live Thing in the Whole Town (Indianapolis library history)
The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis
Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library