{"nrhp_refnum":"91001726","name":"Akin Free Library","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"97 Quaker Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pawling","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.559114246000036,"lon":-73.54880180699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story limestone library building with a raised basement, a three-story central tower and a rear annex, at 97 Quaker Hill Road in Pawling, Dutchess County, New York. Construction began in 1898 and the building opened in 1908.","why_significant":"The library is significant as a distinguished example of eclectic late Victorian architecture, mainly Italianate in massing with Renaissance Revival and Neo-Grec details, designed as an impressive public monument. It also represents the philanthropy of Albert J. Akin and the growth of Quaker Hill as an affluent leisure community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.","narrative":"Akin Free Library is a limestone public library on Quaker Hill in the town of Pawling, Dutchess County. It has two stories over a raised basement, a three-story central tower with a clock and copper-clad cupola, a pink granite entrance portico and a copper roof. New York architect John A. Wood designed it, and Edward Lee Young planned the interiors. The cornerstone was laid in 1898 and the library opened in 1908. Its design is largely Italianate in massing, with Renaissance Revival and Neo-Grec details, and it looks back to styles that had faded in the region by the 1880s. The building honors Albert J. Akin, a banker and philanthropist who helped bring the railroad to the area, founded the village of Pawling and established institutions on Quaker Hill. His bequest funded the library's completion. Original mahogany furnishings, reading rooms, and a second-floor hall survive, and the building still serves as a library and community cultural center.","period_of_significance":"1898-1908","architect_builder":"JOHN A. WOOD","architectural_style":"Late Victorian (Italianate-inspired, High Victorian eclectic)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a library, with a natural history museum in the basement and historical society exhibition space on the second floor.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.503511-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/91001726.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001726/969a50d46c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001726/969a50d46c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rolf Müller (User:Rolfmueller)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akin_Free_Library_March_2007.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rolf Müller (User:Rolfmueller)</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Akin_Free_Library_March_2007.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317293","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akin_Free_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4543154"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/akin-free-library-91001726/"}