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Provincetown Public Library (old)

Field	Value
name	Provincetown Public Library
image	Provincetown Public Library (2023).jpg
caption	The library building as the town’s tourism board in 2023
location	330 Commercial St., Provincetown, Massachusetts
coordinates
locmapin	Cape Cod#Massachusetts#USA
built
added	April 21, 1975
area	less than one acre
refnum	75000248
nrhp_type2	cp
designated_nrhp_type2	August 30, 1989
partof	Provincetown Historic District
partof_refnum	89001148

Note

the original site of the library

The Old Provincetown Public Library building is a historic building at 330 Commercial Street in downtown Provincetown, Massachusetts. Built in 1874, it served as the town's public library from then until 2002, when the library was moved to the former Center Methodist Church. The building, a fine local example of Second Empire architecture, now houses the local tourist board. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Description and history

The former Provincetown Public Library building stands on Commercial Street, Provincetown's principal commercial street, at the northwest corner with Freeman Street. It is a 2-1/2 story wood-frame structure, with a mansard roof providing a full third story. The exterior is finished in wooden clapboards, and the roof features a mansarded turret at the center of the front facade. The front is three bays wide, with a center entrance. Windows are sash, and are framed in a variety of different bracketed moulded hoods, some featuring simple cornices, with others have segmented-arch or triangular pediments. The main cornice is adorned with paired brackets, and a second cornice marks the transition between the differing slopes of the roof. A 1970s addition extends the building to the rear.

The former library building was constructed in 1874, and was a gift to the town from Nathaniel Freeman. Originally, only the ground floor housed the library: the second floor housed a YMCA, and the third floor was used as commercial space.

The space housed the library until 2002, when the library was moved to the former Center Methodist Church. The building now houses the local tourist board offices. Image:1899 Provincetown public library Massachusetts.png |1891 Photo, reprinted in 1899 Image:PtownoldLibrary withnewowner.jpg |The same building in 2007 when it was occupied by the offices of Seashore Point

References

Laurel Guadazno, "Architectural Treasure Restored", Provincetown Banner, April 28, 2005

References

{{NRISref
"MACRIS inventory record for Provincetown Public Library". Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In the library's early years, the most colorful of its stewards was Abbie Cook Putnam. In 1977, the library — by now the building's sole occupant — was extensively renovated. The librarian at the time was Alice O’Grady Joseph (d 2010), who was in charge from 1965 to 1982.Dunlap, D. W. (2015). Building Provincetown: A guide to its social and cultural history, told through its architecture. Provincetown, MA: Town of Provincetown Historical Commission.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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