National Register of Historic Places

Gordon-Nash Library

New Hampton, Belknap County, New Hampshire
Listed
September 14, 1988
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
88001437

About this property

The Gordon-Nash Library is a private non-profit library at 69 Main Street in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Founded in 1887, the library is "the only private non-profit library in New Hampshire that is open to all residents, students and sojourners," and effectively functions as New Hampton's public library. It is housed in an 1895 Renaissance Revival building that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Gordon-Nash Library is located in the village center of New Hampton, on the south side of Main Street opposite the New Hampton School. The building consists of the original 1895 building, to which several additions have been made to the rear. The original building is a single-story masonry structure, built out of gold-colored bricks and covered by a hip roof. It has a three-part front facade, whose defining element is a central projecting hip-roof section. It has a central arched entrance, with a brownstone surround including pilasters and an entablature above the keystoned arch. The outer left section has three sash windows sharing a brownstone lintel, which are separated from transom-like windows by a similar header. The outer right section only has square windows in the transom positions. The library was established on paper in 1887 by Stephen Gordon Nash, whose childhood home had been home for a time to a private subscription library founded in 1818. Nash died in 1894, having purchased land for the library building, but made no further steps toward creating the institution. In his will, he dedicated $10,000 for the construction of a building, and left the residue of his estate as an endowment for its maintenance. The building was erected in 1895 to a design by James E. Fuller of Fuller & Delano, architects based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was the first purpose-built library building in Belknap County. National Register of Historic Places listings in Belknap County, New Hampshire Media related to Gordon-Nash Library at Wikimedia Commons

Location

New Hampton, Belknap County, New Hampshire
43.60547, -71.65201

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

New Hampton Community Church
Industrial
0.2 mi
Mooney, Washington, House
Industrial
0.8 mi
New Hampton Town House
Industrial
1.8 mi
Dana Meeting House
Industrial
2.8 mi
Bristol Town Hall
Industrial
4.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Gordon-Nash Library listed on the National Register?

Gordon-Nash Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1988.

What type of historic resource is Gordon-Nash Library?

Gordon-Nash Library is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Gordon-Nash Library?

The period of significance for Gordon-Nash Library is recorded as the industrial era.

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