National Register of Historic Places

Taunton Public Library

Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts
Listed
July 4, 1984
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
84002225

About this property

Taunton Public Library is the public library of Taunton, Massachusetts. It is located at 12 Pleasant Street, in an architecturally distinguished Beaux Arts building built in 1903 with funding support from Andrew Carnegie, to which a modern addition was made in 1979. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a particularly fine local example of Beaux Arts architecture. The Taunton Public Library is set on the south side of Pleasant Street, a short east–west road in the center of Taunton. It is set among a number of other civic and institutional buildings. The oldest portion of the building is a T-shaped masonry structure built out of Indiana limestone in 1903 to a Beaux Arts and Classical Revival design by Albert R. Ross. The leg of the T projects forward, creating a section three bays wide and one deep, with the main entrance at its center. The entrance is recessed within a round-arch opening, topped by a broken pediment and cartouche. The bays of the projecting section are divided by full-height Corinthian engaged columns, with Corinthian pilasters near the coroners. These support a multi-layer entablature, above which a dentillated cornice encircles the building below its truncated hip roof. Differing window sizes and shapes give variety to the structure. In 1979, a large addition brick-faced addition was added to the rear of the original building. The 1903 building's construction was made possible by a gift of $70,000 from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. National Register of Historic Places listings in Taunton, Massachusetts Media related to Taunton Public Library at Wikimedia Commons

Location

Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts
41.90342, -71.09420

Categories

EDUCATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Pilgrim Congregational Church
Industrial
0 mi
Morse House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Bristol County Courthouse Complex
Listed
0.1 mi
US Post Office-Taunton Main
Industrial
0.1 mi
Taunton Green Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Taunton Public Library listed on the National Register?

Taunton Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 4, 1984.

What type of historic resource is Taunton Public Library?

Taunton Public Library is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Taunton Public Library?

The period of significance for Taunton Public Library is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Taunton Public Library?

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