List of Carnegie libraries in Texas

The following list of Carnegie libraries in Texas provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in Texas, where 32 public libraries were built from 30 grants (totaling $649,500) awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1898 to 1915. In addition, an academic library was built at Wiley University in Marshall from a $15,000 grant awarded March 26, 1906.

Today 13 of these buildings survive, with 10 listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They were often designed by the leading Texas architects of the day. For example, the now-demolished main libraries in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio were works by James Riely Gordon, the master architect of county courthouses.

Key

  Building still operating as a library
  Building standing, but now serving another purpose
  Building no longer standing
  Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Public libraries

Library City or
town 		Image Date
granted[1] 		Grant
amount[1] 		Location Notes
1 Abilene Abilene Mar 9, 1907 $17,500 Building demolished in 1958
2 Ballinger Ballinger Feb 10, 1908 $17,500 204 N 8th St Still a public library
3 Belton Belton Feb 2, 1903 $10,000 201 N Main St Now the Bell County Museum
4 Brownwood Brownwood Mar 27, 1903 $15,000 Building demolished in 1965
5 Bryan Bryan Apr 11, 1902 $10,000 111 S Main St Now the Carnegie History Center
6 Clarksville Clarksville Sep 5, 1902 $10,000 Building destroyed by fire in 1980
7 Cleburne Cleburne Apr 13, 1903 $20,000 201 N Caddo St Now the Layland Museum
8 Corsicana Corsicana Mar 16, 1904 $25,000 Building demolished in 1967
9 Dallas Main Dallas Aug 23, 1899 $76,000 Commerce & Harwood Streets Building demolished in 1954
10 Dallas Branch Dallas Aug 23, 1899 — Building demolished
11 El Paso El Paso Jan 9, 1902 $37,500 Building demolished in 1968
12 Fort Worth Fort Worth Jun 30, 1899 $50,000 W 9th St and Throckmorton St Building demolished in 1937
13 Franklin Franklin Apr 2, 1913 $7,500 315 E Decherd Now the Robertson County Public Library
14 Gainesville Gainesville Apr 3, 1912 $15,000 201 S Denton St Now the Butterfield Stage
15 Greenville Greenville Apr 13, 1903 $15,000 Building demolished in 1953
16 Houston Main Houston Oct 28, 1899 $65,000 Building demolished
17 Houston Segregated Houston Oct 28, 1899 $15,000 Frederick St. and Robin St. (later replatted, the area is now Two Allen Center) Building demolished in 1970s
18 Jefferson Jefferson May 15, 1906 $10,000 301 W Lafayette Still the Jefferson Carnegie Library
19 Memphis Memphis Jan 27, 1912 $10,000 Building demolished in mid-1980s
20 Palestine Palestine Sep 27, 1912 $15,000 502 N Queen St After a 38-year hiatus, it will resume service as the Palestine Public Library in June 2023
21 Pecos Pecos Jun 25, 1911 $9,000 Building demolished in early 1960s
22 Pittsburg Pittsburg Apr 30, 1898 $5,000 The eighth library in the US to be commissioned by Carnegie and only the second outside of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Building destroyed by fire in 1939
23 San Antonio San Antonio Jan 6, 1900 $70,000 Building demolished
24 Sherman Sherman Apr 3, 1912 $20,000 301 S Walnut Now The Sherman Museum
25 Stamford Stamford Jun 29, 1908 $15,000 600 E McHarg St Still the Stamford Carnegie Library
26 Sulphur Springs Sulphur Springs Apr 10, 1909 $12,000 100 Jefferson St W Now Alliance Bank
27 Temple Temple Jan 22, 1902 $15,000 Building destroyed by fire in 1918
28 Terrell Terrell Feb 20, 1903 $10,000 207 N Frances St Now the Terrell Heritage Museum
29 Tyler Tyler Mar 20, 1903 $15,000 125 S College St Now the Smith County History Center
30 Vernon Vernon Apr 19, 1915 $12,500 Building demolished in late 1970s
31 Waco Waco Apr 28, 1902 $30,000 Building demolished
32 Winnsboro Winnsboro Apr 6, 1908 $10,000 Building demolished in 1967

Academic library

Institution Locality Image Date
granted 		Grant
amount 		Location Notes
1 Wiley University Marshall Mar 26, 1906 $15,000 711 Wiley Ave. Now the Willis J. King Administration Building

Notes

  1. ^ a b At various times, Bobinski and Jones disagree on these numbers. In these cases, Jones' numbers have been used due to both a more recent publication date and a more detailed gazetteer of branch libraries, which are often where the discrepancies occur.

References

  • Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC 1282382.
  • Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4.
  • Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
  • Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890-1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC 2603611.

Note: The above references, while all authoritative, are not entirely mutually consistent. Some details of this list may have been drawn from one of the references without support from the others. Reader discretion is advised.