{"nrhp_refnum":"05000894","name":"Newport News Public Library","other_names":["West Avenue Library","DHR File  # 121-0080"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2907 West Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newport News (Independent City)","county":"Newport News","state":"VA","lat":36.982122178000054,"lon":-76.43403378299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-08-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A public library building at 2907 West Avenue in downtown Newport News, Virginia, built in 1929 to designs by Richmond architect Charles M. Robinson. It was the first building in the city constructed as a library.","why_significant":"The building is an excellent example of Georgian Revival architecture and the work of a master architect, Charles M. Robinson. It is also tied to the desegregation of Newport News, as the library opened to all adult citizens in 1952, making it one of the first establishments in the city to desegregate.","narrative":"Opened on October 14, 1929, this brick library at West Avenue and 30th Street was the first building in Newport News constructed specifically as a public library. Richmond architect Charles M. Robinson designed it in the Georgian Revival style, with Flemish bond red brick, a slate gable roof, four dormers, a domed cupola and a pedimented entrance portico. The plan forms a modified crucifix, with a main reading section at the front and a three-level book stack section at the rear. Funding combined a city bond issue approved by voters, library board contributions and land donated by the Old Dominion Land Company. The exterior has never been structurally altered, and the building still serves as a library. Its significance rests on its architecture and on its role in civil rights history: after a local attorney petitioned the city council in 1949 and 1950, the library opened to all adult citizens in 1952, among the first local establishments to desegregate.","period_of_significance":"1929-1954","architect_builder":"Robinson, Charles Morrison, Architect","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still operating as a public library (West Avenue Library) in its original capacity, with a high degree of physical integrity and only minor modifications.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.28196-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/6820/41682061/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/05000894.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000894/1f95e187c5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000894/1f95e187c5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Joseph Sullivan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newport_News_Public_Library_(Front_Left).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Joseph Sullivan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newport_News_Public_Library_(Front_Left).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100009200","name":"Newport News Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/newport-news-downtown-historic-district-100009200/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682061","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News_Public_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7018939"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/newport-news/newport-news-public-library-05000894/"}