{"nrhp_refnum":"95000851","name":"Carnegie Library","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"240 Goundry St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Tonawanda","county":"Niagara County","state":"NY","lat":43.026504540000076,"lon":-78.86897387899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-07-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story Classical Revival Carnegie public library building at 240 Goundry Street in North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York, built in 1903 from a design by E.E. Joralemon, with a small frame outbuilding known as the \"Little House\" at the rear.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a distinctive, largely intact early-twentieth-century Carnegie library and a sophisticated example of civic architecture in an austere Neoclassical mode. It also reflects Progressive Era philanthropy and the public education movement, and it retains most of its original interior features despite conversion to an arts center.","narrative":"Built in 1903 on Goundry Street in North Tonawanda, this one-story brick library was funded by a $20,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie. Architect E.E. Joralemon of Niagara Falls gave it a Classical Revival design with Indiana buff stone trim, a hipped roof, a stained-glass skylight, a recessed entrance between Doric columns and a projecting semicircular rear pavilion. Inside, wood paneling, plaster moldings, mosaic tile floors and yellow pine flooring cut at local lumber mills survive. The library replaced a single room in the Goundry Street School annex, and local voters approved the gift and a building site in 1903. A small frame house at the rear, once the janitor's residence, served library activities, especially for children. In 1976 the building became an arts center with galleries, yet its original layout is still clear. It is valued as an intact Carnegie library and as an example of Progressive Era philanthropy in a former lumber city.","period_of_significance":"1903-1938","architect_builder":"E.E. Joralemon","architectural_style":"Classical Revival (described in the significance statement as Neoclassical)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Converted from a library into an arts center/gallery in 1976; the original function remains easily understood and most original features survive.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.469016-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/95000851.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000851/a0dc5ad950-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000851/a0dc5ad950-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Tonawanda_Carnegie_Library_Nov_08.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Tonawanda_Carnegie_Library_Nov_08.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100005471","name":"Sweeney Estate Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/sweeney-estate-historic-district-100005471/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320084","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Library_(North_Tonawanda,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5043932"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/niagara-county/carnegie-library-95000851/"}