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Goodrich Memorial Library
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| Location: | Newport, Vermont United States |
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| Built: | 1899 |
| Architect: | William Storey |
| Architectural style: | Romanesque, Queen Anne |
| NRHP Reference#: | 83004228[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | November 23, 1983 |
The Goodrich Memorial Library is a public library in Newport, Orleans County, Vermont. It is the largest and only one of two full time libraries in the county.
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Converse Goodhue Goodrich and his wife, Almira, donated money for the construction of a free library. The land was worth $6000, the building $20,000. Construction was started in 1898. It dedicated on September 1, 1899.[2] Architect William Storey designed the building.[3]
The stock used to fund the operations of the library failed during the depression in 1933. This forced the library to enlist public support.[2]
It opened with 6500 books.[2]
In November 1983, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[4]
The library budget for 2008 is $160,550. Newport city contributes $99,000 of this amount.[5]
There are fireplaces fashioned of colored brick, rooms finished in red birch, Georgia pine, cypress, native spruce, Swanton marble, with furnishings in quartered oak.[2]
The upstairs hall consists of an art room, decorated more or less in period style, a long hall for meetings, an office, and a reading room. There are several old paintings on display in the art room, and a display case of postcards and paraphernalia from Newport's history.
Perhaps most noteworthy is the floor-to-ceiling wall of glass cases that house a variety of stuffed animals and natural curiosities. These include an alligator shot in Florida in the 1900s, an ostrich egg, and a flying squirrel found in Vermont. As they were originally preserved with mercury, they can only be handled and cared for by trained professionals. [2]
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