Oregon Historic Sites Database

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Inventory Form
NR Nomination

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:606 John Adams St historic name:Oregon City Carnegie Library
Oregon City, Clackamas County current/other names:Oregon City Public Library
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:2S 2E 31
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:2 total inelig resources:2
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1911 second date: date indiv listed:05/15/2014
primary orig use: Library orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Late 19th/20th Period Revivals: Other prim style comments:
secondary style: Classical Revival: other sec style comments:
primary siding: Brick:Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding: Brick:Other/Undefined
plan type: architect:Elmer E. McClaran
builder:Robert Shelley
comments/notes:
2015: Library will be expanded with a 2 story addition behind and to the side of the historic building to continue as local library. Construction expected to be completed in late 2016.
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Oregon City McLoughlin District Re-Survey Survey & Inventory Project 2001
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 05/15/2014
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 04/06/2002
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Oregon City Carnegie Library is located on Oregon City’s second level atop a bluff that separates the eastern section of the city from the historic downtown to the west. In 1851, Dr. John McLoughlin donated four city blocks atop the bluff to residents for use as public parks. The Carnegie Library sits near the center of one of the four donated blocks, now known as “Library Park” or “Carnegie Center.” The Oregon City Carnegie Library is a rectangular, American Renaissance building with Georgian Revival ornament. Paired pilasters and a central pedimented portico divide the façade into a central block and wings. The library is a single-story, red and yellow brick masonry building atop a full basement. Its prominent public entrance is flanked by yellow brick columns and pilasters. The façade is symmetrical with bands of wood-framed windows north and south of the central entry. The building displays a full entablature with block modillions. The contributing park site is primarily covered in grass with concrete walkways and mature trees, many of which were planted at the time the Carnegie Library was built. South of the library sits modern play equipment, including a non-contributing concrete fountain known as the Carnegie Spraypark (1929), a slide, and swing set. The building is in excellent condition. A 2002 renovation removed a non-compatible addition on the primary façade dating from 1963. In 2010, the public library relocated from a larger space back to the Carnegie building, restoring the building’s original use. The building once again expresses integrity of design, materials, workmanship, site, location, feeling and association.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The locally significant Oregon City Public Library is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A: Education; Criterion A: Social History; and Criterion C: Architecture. The library is significant as an excellent example of a Carnegie Library, a public library constructed with funds provided by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and designed with guidance from Mr. Carnegie’s representative, James Bertam, to provide educational opportunities to the local public. The library is also an excellent example of a public building constructed in the American Renaissance style with Georgian details. The building’s Period of Significance is 1913, the date of construction, through 1962, the year prior to a renovation that added an unsympathetic addition. That addition has subsequently been removed and the building now retains the appearance it had through the first 50 years of its existence. Criterion A: Education Oregon City, as an early site of western settlement, was the location of both the first public lending library in Oregon and the earliest Oregon State Library. From the settlement era, Oregon City’s civic leaders tried, with variable success, to provide citizens with a free collection of educational materials available for their personal use. With the dedication of the 1913 Carnegie Library in Oregon City, the city realized a goal its residents had been pursuing since the 1850s: a free, public, lending library open to the entire populace of the city. Since 1913, the Oregon City Public Library has expanded its public education efforts, growing its collection and offering special educational events for children and adults. In approximately 1938, the Carnegie Library further expanded its mission, sharing its building with the county library system, which opened a branch in the Carnegie building’s basement. The Oregon City Public Library gains a portion of its significance from its 100-year history as a free and accessible public resource devoted to public education. Criterion A: Social History The Oregon City Carnegie Library is also eligible under Criterion A for its association with important trends in social history. The library was built with a $12,500 grant from philanthropist and steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie’s financial donations built libraries throughout the United States between 1886 and 1919. He provided grants for design and construction wherever a public entity could ensure that they met two basic requirements: they could provide ten percent of the grant every year for maintenance and staffing; and they could provide a city-owned site for the library building. Oregon City met these requirements and became one of the first libraries built to specifications outlined in a construction booklet released in 1911 by Carnegie’s secretary, James Bertram. The Oregon City Carnegie Library is important as the local representation of the nationwide movement for free public libraries in cities of all sizes spearheaded by Carnegie and Bertram. Criterion C: Architecture The Carnegie library in Oregon City is also eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C, as a regional example of American Renaissance style that relies heavily on the features of Georgian Revival architecture. The library’s peaceful park setting, its symmetrical façade, its prominent, pedimented entry, and its classical ornament make it unique among Oregon City public buildings. The building also compares favorably to other Oregon Carnegie libraries, few of which enjoy such a fine location. Though it was neither the largest, nor the most expensive, the Oregon City library was highly-ornamented, constructed with great attention to detail, and with high-quality materials. Clad in locally manufactured brick in two colors, the Oregon City Carnegie Library was designed by Portland architect Elmer E. McClaran to express the importance of its mission through refined classical ornament. The building’s interior spaces were designed to be airy, open and inviting. The Oregon City library is one of the first to be designed to the 1911 specifications provided by Carnegie and his representative, James Bertram, for the efficient and pleasing design of library spaces. It responds to guidelines perfected by Bertram while he worked with communities throughout the United States to refine the best ideas about how a library’s interior should be designed. Though each Carnegie library is unique, Carnegie’s philanthropy helped a codified design emerge amongst libraries in small and medium-sized cities across the U.S. The Oregon City Carnegie Library is significant as a local expression of this nationwide trend.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library:Oregon City Public Library University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
Books: Bobinski, George S. Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association, 1969. Clark, Rosalind. Architecture Oregon Style. Portland, OR: Professional Book Center, Inc. 1983. Gray, William Henry. A History of Oregon 1792-1849 Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information. Portland, OR: Harris and Holman, 1870. Lynch, Vera Martin. Free Land for Free Men: A Story of Clackamas County. Portland, OR: Artline Printing, Inc., 1973. Morey, Karin. Oregon City Public Library, unpublished. Van Slyck, Abigail A. Free to All: Carnegie Libraries & American Culture 1890-1920. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Workers of the Writers’ Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Oregon. A History of Clackamas County Libraries. Clackamas County Libraries Association, 1941. Newspapers and Magazines: Carnegie, Andrew. “The Best Fields for Philanthropy,” The North American Review, Vol. 149, No 397, Dec. 1889. Oregon City Enterprise, various editions, as cited in text. Pacific Coast Architect, Vol. 4, No. 1, October 1912. Portland Morning Oregonian, various editions, as cited in text. Scheppke, Jim. “Origins of the Oregon State Library, written on the occasion of the celebration of the State Library Centennial, January 27, 2005.” www.oregon.gov/OSL/Pages/OriginsByJim.aspx [Accessed May 20, 2013]. Public Documents: Altier, Jane. Historic Resource Inventory Form for the Oregon City Public Library, Oregon City, Oregon, May 1982. http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/ [Accessed 4/17/2013.] Kelly, LouEllyn W. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Valley Hospital of Klamath Falls, Klammath Falls, Oregon, March 15, 1988. http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/ [Accessed 4/17/2013.] Minutes, Oregon City Library Board, 1916 – 1955, held by the City of Oregon City, Oregon. Nielson, Rebecca. Oregon City Historic Resources Survey Form for the Oregon City Public Library, Oregon City, Oregon, April 6, 2002.http://www.orcity.org/sites/default/files/606_JohnAdams.pdf [Accessed4/17/2013.] Nisbet Jr., Robert A. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form for the Julian Hotel, Corvallis, Oregon, September 8, 1983. http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/ [Accessed 4/17/2013]. Weber, Mary. Oregon Inventory of Historic Properties Historic Resources Survey Form for the First Presbyterian Church of Corvallis, Corvallis, Oregon, April 27, 1984. http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/ [Accessed 4/17/2013].