Carnegie’s $25,000 investment in Webb City

This is another of my favorite photos. It is of the Webb City Library taken about 1957 by W. Vance Langley.

I am so impressed with the architecture of the buildings of Webb City, especially the library, which was designed by Grant C. Miller of Chicago. Mr. Grant at this time had supervised the building of more than 50 libraries. The Webb City Library architecture style is considered a combination of gothic and modern. As much as possible, native materials were used in the building of the library. They used limestone boulders, gravel and sand from the local mines for the foundation and the walls. They also used Carthage stone for the exterior trim.

The Civic Improvement Association, a group of Webb City ladies, showed determination that resulted in Webb City’s dream of a library coming true. Many correspondences between the ladies and the Carnegie Corporation of New York secured a promise of $25,000 in which to build a library on the condition that the people of Webb City purchase the site and vote for a maintenance tax on the library.

By an overwhelming majority, a mill tax was approved on the sixth day of April, 1913. Thanks to many donations from citizens, the corner of Liberty and First streets was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Andrew McCorkle.

Special attention was given to the inside of this magnificent building from floor to ceiling. The floors were covered with a “ear-ever,” noiseless, battleship linoleum that gave the impression of walking on air. The arched walls and ceilings were painted in an exquisite manner. The tables, chairs, and shelves were made of oak. The building contained excellent systems of lighting, heating and ventilation. The cost of the building came to $23,944.20. Once the architecture fees were added, the building of the library plus the furniture used a little bit over the $25,000 donated by the Carnegie Corporation.

Webb City had its library, a building that was the pride of the community. To continue the use of natural, local material, the west exterior wall, on the north end, near the door was placed a large chunk of zinc taken from a local mine. Lead and zinc were added to the exterior on each side of the front door. An arched canopy was added over the front door in 1957.

The Webb City Carnegie Library outgrew the building, as did most of the libraries built with Carnegie funds. But instead of moving to a new location as most other libraries chose to do, Webb City took on the challenge of preserving history. In April of 2004, the 91-year-old building underwent treatment for expansion. It was an amazing building project that looks as if the new addition was part of the original building. The Webb City Library is still an architectural beauty.