Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Freeport, Maine. . . an Abercrombie & Fitch Store!

55 Main Street

Est. 1905

$6,500 grant

My Visit: June 1, 2011

Original concrete engraved sign remains over the front entrance.

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Freeport, Maine is well known as being a town of Outlet Stores The Carnegie Library now houses an Abercrombie & Fitch outlet store.

On-line I found a 2006 photo in which Abercrombie & Fitch had awnings over the windows. These have been removed, giving it a more original appearance. It has an addition also which isn’t apparent from the front view.DSCN5228

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A Brief History of the BuildingDSCN5225

1905: A $6,500 grant from Andrew Carnegie was accepted.

1905-06: The library was built. It was named for benefactor Barnabas Henry Bartol (1816-1888), a Freeport native and accomplished engineer.

1967: Additional renovations took place.

1997: A new library was built further along Main Street, away from the downtown outlets.

I am so happy to see towns which re-purpose their Carnegie Libraries rather than demolish them when they outgrow their use as a library.  Freeport, Maine is one of the few examples of one which has been converted for commercial use but, yahoo, it has been preserved!

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