{"nrhp_refnum":"80002704","name":"New York Public Library, 115th Street Branch","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"203 W. 115th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.802889951000054,"lon":-73.95352274099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, three-bay limestone branch library at 203 West 115th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, designed by McKim, Mead & White and built in 1907-08.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a simple but powerful neo-Italian Renaissance design, notable for its deep rustication across the entire facade and the skillful relationship of its elements. It is also one of the small Carnegie-funded branch libraries built in New York City after 1900, eleven of which were by McKim, Mead & White.","narrative":"This branch library at 203 West 115th Street in Harlem was designed by McKim, Mead & White and built in 1907-08. It rises three stories and three bays, faced entirely in deeply rusticated grey limestone, a treatment unusual in covering the whole facade and giving the small building a monumental quality. Round-arched openings on the first floor, band courses with Vitruvian wave and Greek fret patterns, and a bracketed cornice complete the design, which is described as a loose interpretation of neo-Italian Renaissance style. The building was one of the branches funded by Andrew Carnegie's 1901 gift to New York City. The standard plan placed adult circulation on the first floor, a children's room on the second, and an adult reading room and custodian's apartment on the third. The interior remains close to original, with an oak vestibule and light reading rooms. It is valued locally as a well-handled example of Carnegie-era branch library architecture.","period_of_significance":"1907-08","architect_builder":"McKim, Mead & White","architectural_style":"Neo-Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in good condition, in public ownership and in library use; the interior is close to original in plan and detail.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.96058-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002704.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002704/20a6bb2daf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002704/20a6bb2daf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Epicgenius","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harlem_Jul_2026_89.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Epicgenius</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harlem_Jul_2026_89.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319778","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/115th_Street_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7013880"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/new-york-public-library-115th-street-branch-80002704/"}