{"nrhp_refnum":"02000037","name":"Olney Carnegie Library","other_names":["Carnegie Building Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Olney","county":"Richland County","state":"IL","lat":38.73110408800005,"lon":-88.08146755299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-02-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Carnegie library building at 401 East Main Street in Olney, Richland County, Illinois, opened in January 1904. Gaddis was the architect and B.L. Robards the builder, and it is now used as a museum.","why_significant":"It is locally significant under Criterion A for education, because it provided library services to Olney, and under Criterion C as the only Classical Revival building in Olney. It meets the Carnegie Library property type defined in the Illinois Carnegie Libraries multiple property documentation.","narrative":"Built of buff brick with limestone trim, this Carnegie library at 401 East Main Street in Olney, Illinois, opened in January 1904. Gaddis was the architect and B.L. Robards the builder. The Classical Revival facade has symmetrical windows with pale lavender leaded glass, six brick pilasters with Corinthian capitals, and large terra cotta finials. Inside, the main room has a tiled floor, two small fireplaces, and a 12-foot-square stained glass dome supported by four wooden Ionic columns. Alterations were modest: a roof over the dome, a rear entry, a fire escape, a 1960-61 mezzanine, and a 1984 reading room made from the old coal bin. Olney's library effort began in 1882 with a private association and passed to the city in 1886. The Carnegie building served as the library until 1990 and is now a museum. It is the only Classical Revival building in Olney, and it recorded its significance in education and architecture from 1904 to 1951.","period_of_significance":"1904 - 1951","architect_builder":"Gaddis, Architect; B.L. Robards, Builder","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now in use as a museum (Carnegie Building Museum); it served as a library until 1990, when a new library was built.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.400079-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/8914/28891422/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02000037.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000037/d16c468194-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000037/d16c468194-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olney_Carnegie_Library.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olney_Carnegie_Library.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891422","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olney_Carnegie_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263984"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/richland-county/olney-carnegie-library-02000037/"}