National Register of Historic Places

Thayer Public Library

Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Listed
July 20, 1978
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
78000446

About this property

The Thayer Public Library is a public library located in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts with 102,000 books, 200 periodical subscriptions, and 8,000 videos, DVDs, music CDs, and audiobooks. The library is a member of the Old Colony Library Network. The library is named for General Sylvanus Thayer, who helped found it through a $30,000 bequest in his will. The original building was dedicated June 4, 1874, and opened to the public in September of the same year. It operated as a library until 1953, when it was replaced by a larger building across the street. The 1874 building was occupied by the Braintree Water Department for many years, but is currently vacant. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 1997, the 1953 library building was razed and replaced by the current three-story brick postmodern building that opened in 1999. In March 2008, the Thayer Public Library was notified that it was among several libraries in Massachusetts that would share in the 2002 settlement of an antitrust case that was brought against BMG, EMI Music, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment by the antitrust division of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, along with the Attorneys General of thirty-nine other states. The lawsuit was settled in 2002 for $144 million, and alleged that the music distribution companies illegally inflated the price of CDs by requiring retailers to sell them at or above a set level in order to qualify for substantial advertising funding. National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts

Location

2 John F. Kennedy Memorial Dr.
Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
42.20607, -71.00557

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
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

Thayer, Gen. Sylvanus, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
All Souls Church
Industrial
1.2 mi
Curtis, Noah, House
Industrial
1.9 mi
Barnicoat, S. H., Monuments
Industrial
2 mi
Curtis, Thomas, House
Industrial
2.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Thayer Public Library listed on the National Register?

Thayer Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 20, 1978.

What type of historic resource is Thayer Public Library?

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

What is the period of significance for Thayer Public Library?

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

Can I research the history near Thayer Public Library?

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