{"nrhp_refnum":"75002002","name":"Ballinger Carnegie Library","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"204 N. 8th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ballinger","county":"Runnels County","state":"TX","lat":31.739944148000063,"lon":-99.95016464499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story masonry public library and community building at 204 N. 8th St. in Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas, built in 1909 in a vernacular version of the Classical Revival style. The builder was Rev. J. D. Leslie.","why_significant":"The building has served Ballinger as both a public library and a community center since 1909, only about two decades after the town was settled. It was funded through a Carnegie grant and housed an auditorium that hosted opera companies, lectures and concerts. It is considered significant to the social and cultural life of the community.","narrative":"Ballinger's Carnegie Library, at 204 N. 8th Street, is a two-story masonry building completed in 1909 in a vernacular version of the Classical Revival style. Its most striking feature is a two-story portico with coupled fluted Ionic columns on rock-faced limestone pedestals, topped by a pediment, with a stepped gable above. The ground floor held the library and club rooms, while the entire second floor was an auditorium. Ballinger received a Carnegie grant in 1908 and built on land donated by local banker Jo Wilmeth, who required that it always serve as a public library and provide a room for the Shakespeare Club. Rev. J. D. Leslie, the builder, first planned one story; a second floor was added during construction, partly funded by an extra $5,000 Carnegie sent after a director wrote to him. The auditorium hosted light opera, traveling shows, lectures and dances, and the building continues to serve as a library and meeting place.","period_of_significance":"1909","architect_builder":"J. D. Leslie (Rev. J. D. Leslie, builder)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Neo-Classical Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in excellent or good condition, still used as a library and as a meeting place for clubs and church groups; a restoration was planned as a bicentennial project.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.67978-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/86/9732/40973286/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75002002.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002002/fa0e33df10-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002002/fa0e33df10-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnegie_library_ballinger.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnegie_library_ballinger.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973286","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballinger_Carnegie_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q54871519"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/runnels-county/ballinger-carnegie-library-75002002/"}