Oroville Carnegie Library
Also known as: Carnegie Building
Why it's listed
Oroville's Carnegie library, built in 1912 at 1675 Montgomery Street, is a small two-story temple-style building in the Classical Revival manner. Concrete walls faced with smooth cement, a pedimented portico with Greek columns, and a stair to the entry give it a monumental look for its size. Architect William Henry Weeks designed it and Frank Sullivan built it, using a $10,000 Carnegie grant received in 1911. The town's library tradition reaches back to an 1859 mining-town library, and Senator George Perkins donated an office building and later the property for library use before the city took ownership in 1907. The building is one of eighteen surviving temple-style Carnegie libraries of its kind in California and one of seven temple-style designs by Weeks. A 1937 WPA restoration mostly affected the interior. The building was vacant at the time of listing, with renovation underway to meet accessibility requirements.
Significance in brief: It is one of thirty-six Temple Style Classical Revival Carnegie libraries completed in California between 1903 and 1915, and one of eighteen still standing. It is significant locally in social history, through its role in Oroville's library development, and in architecture, as an example of William H. Weeks's temple-style Carnegie designs.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 07000405, listed May 8, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1675 Montgomery St., Oroville |
|---|---|
| County | Butte County |
| Listed | May 8, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07000405 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1912-1956 |
| Architect / builder | Weeks, William Henry; Frank Sullivan constructed it |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival - Late 19th and 20th Century Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant at the time of nomination; renovation was under way to meet ADA requirements, with public reopening expected in the near future. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 39.51261, -121.55891 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 07000405.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q85791270
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.