{"nrhp_refnum":"79002225","name":"Main Library","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3 S. Perry St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Erie","county":"Erie County","state":"PA","lat":42.12895424200008,"lon":-80.08366106199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-04-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Main Library of the Erie City and County Library system, a two-story rectangular brick building with granite and terra cotta trim in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1880 with Henry Shenk as builder and the Pittsburgh firm of Alden & Harlow as architects.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the older and most architecturally distinctive public buildings in Erie, and a fine example of a late nineteenth-century library. It has served the city and county for about 98 years. It is also presented as a well-preserved example of the work of Alden & Harlow, an architectural firm important in western Pennsylvania.","narrative":"Built in 1880 in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Main Library is a two-story rectangular building of light brown vitrified brick, with its first story sheathed in granite and white terra cotta used for the roof balustrade, Corinthian capitals and window trims. Henry Shenk built it to designs by Alden & Harlow of Pittsburgh. A one-story portico of Georgian marble with Ionic columns shelters the round-arched entrance. Inside, the entrance leads to a vestibule wainscoted in Verte Campan marble and a central rotunda with a mahogany second-floor gallery. Four large allegorical paintings representing Literature, Poetry, Science and Art decorate the cove. The building has served the city and county for roughly 98 years. Its architecture is regarded as a fine example of the late nineteenth-century library type, and the surviving building is considered a well-preserved work by its architects.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Alden & Harlow (architect); Henry Shenk (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition marked excellent","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.020589-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002225.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002225/7e451bf266-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002225/7e451bf266-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Niagara","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Main_Library,_Erie,_Pennsylvania.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Niagara</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Main_Library,_Erie,_Pennsylvania.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995525","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Library_(Erie,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6735999"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/erie-county/main-library-79002225/"}