McMinnville, Oregon

  photo courtesy of Yamhill County Historical Society.

Designed by German-American architect Ernst Kroner and built at 225 NW Adams Street in 1912 with a $10,000 grant by Andrew Carnegie.  I visited July 27, 2010.  The library underwent major remodeling in the 1980’s. 

From the front there is very little evidence that this Carnegie Library dates back 100 years.

When I walked around to the back there it was--the 1912 library! Quite a contrast from the rather plain front entrance to the rear where the library still has original brick and windows.

Original windows and brickwork.

I’m wondering if the present-day rear door may have originally been the front door.

Original stained glass windows over both the front and rear doors. I got a much more clear photo from inside the library than the one I took outside.  Wish I’d done that on the front door!

It’s possible that the front door of the new addition was designed around this old window.

After I took pictures outside I went in to see what remained of the old library and didn’t find much. The librarian told me that this original upstairs fireplace upstairs had been hidden and discovered when they removed drywall during a recent renovation.

If you ever travel to McMinnville, Oregon to visit the old Carnegie, you may also wish to take in another “little” attraction:  Howard Hughes’ HUGE Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The museum was built to house the Spruce Goose but includes everything from a Wright Brothers replica to a spacecraft.