Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 - State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested _ Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register - Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National x Local government Register - University _ designated a National Historic Landmark Other - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # Name of repository: Wellesley Free Library, Town of Wellesley _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #. NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 1 OMB No.
1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA 8. Statement of Significance Architect/Builder (continued) Griffin, John F. Company Ludowici-Celadon Company California Stone Products Corporation Narrative Statement of Significance The Wellesley Hills Branch Library, 210 Washington Street, Wellesley Hills (1927-28, MHC #99, photos 1-14) is a well preserved, Colonial Revival-style municipal building associated with an era of civic improvements in Wellesley in the second quarter of the 20"* century. The library represents the Town of Wellesley's efforts to formalize a system of town- owned and operated neighborhood branches to supplement the services provided by the town's main library, continuing a history of village-based lending libraries and book exchanges that dates, at Wellesley Hills, to the late 1870s. Designed by local architect Hampton F.
Shirer, based on the sketches of another local architect, Ralph H. Hannaford, the Hills Branch Library is the only building in Wellesley's history constructed specifically for use as a branch library, and is an exceptionally well preserved example of library design from the late 1920s. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the Wellesley Hills Branch Library meets Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places at the local level. An affluent suburban community in the principal western corridor of metropolitan Boston, Wellesley is bordered by Weston on the north, Newton on the northeast, Needham on the southeast, Dover on the south, and Natick on the west and northwest. Wellesley is situated within the loop of the Charles River, which defines both the northeast and southern borders.
Wellesley is located in rocky highlands with prominent elevations in the central part of town, "rather rugged country for agriculture," except in the western section and along the river. Stony soil drains into the Charles River from several directions; the major system is the Morses Pond-Lake Waban drainage in the western part of town. [MHC Reconnaissance Survey Report, 1] Wellesley is one of 14 towns created from the Dedham Grant (1636); the town's northern border incorporates a segment of the 17*-century boundary between Dedham and Watertown. Part of Dedham's common lands in the 17" century, by the early 18" century the territory also included mill sites on Lake Waban in the southwest part of town, and on the Charles River in the northeast part of town (present village of Lower Falls).
Wellesley constituted the northwest section of Needham from the time of Needham's incorporation in 1711 to Wellesley's incorporation as a separate town in 1881. Upon its separation from Needham and incorporation as a town, Wellesley had a population of over 2,500 residents, more than one-half of Needham's original valuation of over $4 million, four-ninths of the original town's 15,000 acres, an average school enrollment of 500, and a tax rate of $9.50. Aside from milling activity, Wellesley's economy was based primarily on agriculture and grazing, plus some winter lumbering.
[MHC Reconnaissance Survey Report; Hinchliffe, 51; Wellesley Post Card Album; Wellesley Residential Properties Survey, Narrative History, 6-9] (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA Wellesley Hills, formerly North Needham, was known prior to separation as the village of Grantville, named for Moses Grant, a village property owner and civic activist. Encompassing the largely residential eastern end of town, Wellesley Hills developed a commercial and institutional focus at the intersection of two regional arteries, Washington Street (MA Route 16) and the Boston & Worcester Turnpike (1807-1810, now Worcester Street, MA Route 9).
The village had a stop onthe Boston & WorcesterRailroad(opened 1834). Both the Congregational and Unitarian societies established churches in the village. The area's attraction as a suburb of Boston became evident in the years prior to the Civil War, and its perceived salubrious climate drew convalescing consumption patients and summer visitors from the third quarter of the 19t century through the early 20" century. Accessibility to Boston and surrounding communities via the railroad, and to a lesser extent via the Worcester Turnpike, generated growth, principally in the form of land speculation, which began in earnest in the third quarter of the 19t century. By the late 19" century, the Wellesley Hills residential community encompassed estate and middle-class suburban development, principally on Washington Street and connecting roads.
[MHC Reconnaissance Survey Report; Wellesley Residential Properties Survey, Narrative History, 7- The growth of the residential community at Grantville (Wellesley Hills) led to the formation of a library for the village. On December 3, 1877, a group met at the Grantville Congregational Church to sign an agreement for establishing a library. The library opened on July 13, 1878, in the Grantville home of George D. Ware. Belle Townsend and Sarah Batchelder were the librarians. Previously, village libraries had been formed, beginning in the 1850s, at West Needham, in the areas later known as Wellesley Square and Wellesley Fells. [Fielden, 3-4] All of these village libraries were privately run endeavors, commonly known as library societies or subscription libraries, and supported by interested citizens.
Wellesley's first public library opened in 1883, in the combined Town Hall and Public Library, 525 Washington Street (1883/1885, MHC #1, NRIND 1976). The library construction, its initial collection of five hundred volumes, and its endowment were funded entirely by Wellesley's principal benefactor, Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (1811-1902), an investment banker and railroad entrepreneur whose Washington Street estate (NRDIS 1988) supplied the name for the newly incorporated town. In 1887, Hunnewell transferred title to the Town Hall-Public Library building and surrounding acreage to the Town of Wellesley. Julia F. Jennings, the first librarian, was hired that year. Hunnewell continued to pay for "practically all library accessions and other expenses" until 1890, when the town voted to apply funds from the dog tax toward the purchase of books.
By 1899, management of the public library was transferred from the original Hunnewell-appointed trustees to the town, which assumed responsibility for any expenses exceeding the endowment of $21,000 (face value of securities). Robert G. Shaw, Marshall L. Perrin, and Gamaliel Bradford served as the town's first Library Trustees, filing their first town report in 1900. Subdivided on the interior to provide additional floor space in 1903 and again in 1937-1938, the public library in Hunnewell's Town Hall-Public Library building served as the headquarters of the Wellesley Free Library until 1959, when a new library building was dedicated directly across Washington Street. [Fielden, 1-4, 10-11] From its earliest days under town ownership, the Wellesley Free Library operated a system of book exchanges to repositories in Wellesley's villages.
Privately owned properties in Unionville (later known as Wellesley Fells), Wellesley Hills, and Lower Falls were designated as repositories that received weekly book deliveries in 1887. With (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 3 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA book purchases funded by the dog tax, additional small appropriations were made for book delivery by way of messengers. The Town Farm received payment for "carrying books" to the village repositories in at least one year in the late 19'h century.
[Fielden, 2] These "distributing stations" allowed for wider circulation of the town library's collection and provided reading areas that helped to relieve the strain on the Main Library, which suffered from chronic space shortages throughout the first half of the 20# century. In turn, the collections developed by the various private book exchanges were accessioned by the Wellesley Free Library when the branch library system was formalized in the 1920s. The book exchange system was the precursor to Wellesley's branch libraries. As Ruth Fielden, former assistant librarian in Wellesley, noted in her History of the Wellesley Free Library (1953, updated 1983), residents of the town's villages began to desire permanent quarters and more accessible services than could be provided by weekly deliveries.
[p.5] Beginning in the 1920s, the town operated three branch libraries in addition to the Main Library: at Cedar Street in the extreme eastern part of town, at Wellesley Fells in the northwestern part of town, and at Wellesley Hills. The Cedar Street Branch Library began as a book exchange in 1906 at Anderson's store on the corner of Worcester Street (Route 9) and Cedar Street. The following year, the exchange moved to a room in the first Fiske School (1893, demolished) on Cedar Street. The town assumed control of the Cedar Street library about 1921, acquiring with it the library's 1,000-volume collection, formerly belonging to the parish of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church at Lower Falls. In 1951, the branch library was closed, due to the School Department's need for additional classroom space and the lack of a suitable alternative location.
The same year, Town Meeting approved an appropriation for the Wellesley Free Library's first bookmobile, in part to lessen the impact of the branch closing. The Cedar Street Branch was typically open approximately 150 days per year and about fifteen hours per week. By contrast, the Main Library was open approximately 300 days per year, and about seventy-two hours per week, except during the summer months, when the schedule provided for almost sixty hours open each week. [Fielden, 5-7; Annual Town Reports; Wellesley Residential Properties Survey, Narrative History, 11] Like the Cedar Street Branch, the Wellesley Fells Branch Library grew out of a village-based library, operating out of the house of Osborn C. Harrington on Worcester Street. Periodic book purchases were funded by the members of a sewing circle that had organized in the village in the 1850s.
Harrington's residence was the designated book repository for Unionville (Wellesley Fells) when the new town public library made weekly book deliveries to the villages in the late 1880s. With the opening of the Hardy School on Weston Road in 1923, the former Unionville School, later known as the Fells School, 308 Weston Road (1858, MHC #72) across the street became available and was converted for library use. In 1926, the Fells library was turned over to the town's Library Trustees and further renovations were undertaken to establish the building as the Fells Branch Library. The Fells Branch was open about 150 days per year, for about eighteen hours per week. Long considered the heart of the Fells neighborhood, the Fells Branch Library was closed in 2006, (see page 7) and was most recently renovated in the late 1990s.
[Fielden, 4; Hinchliffe, "History of the Fells Branch Library;" Annual Town Reports] The Wellesley Hills Branch Library has its roots in a book exchange opened in 1912 by the Wellesley Women's Club. Wellesley Hills resident Isaac Sprague provided the Beck House on Washington Street, which he owned, to house the book exchange. Sprague was a prominent Wellesley and Boston banker and a local real estate developer, who played an active role in village improvements at Wellesley Hills in the early 20 century. Period and contemporary accounts of the (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB No.
1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA Section number 8 Page 4 branch library's construction note that the Beck House was moved from the site instead of being demolished, but do not indicate to where the Beck House was moved. It does not appear to have been moved to a nearby location. The Women's assumed all responsibility for the library at Wellesley Hills. Even before the town undertook construction of the present library building in 1927, the Hills Branch Library was an important component of the town's library system. The Hills branch was open the same number of days per year (approximately 300) as the Main Library, and, at thirty-six hours per week, was open more hours than the Cedar Street and Fells branches combined.
[Fielden, 5-6; Wellesley inventory; Annual Town Reports] By the autumn of 1926, plans were underway for a new Wellesley Hills Branch Library, the only building in Wellesley's history to be constructed specifically for use as a branch library. Isaac Sprague, owner of the Beck House property, was chairman of the "Special Committee on Library Accommodations at Wellesley Hills." He donated the building site to the town, and the Beck House was removed prior to construction of the branch library. [Historical exhibit at Wellesley Hills Branch Library; Young] Wellesley architect Hampton F. Shirer is listed on the 1927 building permit as the architect of the Hills Branch Library, though the plans indicate the design was based on sketches made by a fellow Wellesley architect, Ralph H. Hannaford. Hannaford was a newly elected member of the Wellesley Planning Board at the time of his death in 1926.
In its annual report that year, the Planning Board paid tribute to Hannaford's accomplishments: Mr. Hannaford was a young architect of wide experience, both theoretical and practical. He was a designer of great ability and gave promise of a brilliant future. His inspiration led in no small measure to the development of Boston College at College Heights, a monument of architecture which will be more admired as the completion of the comprehensive development is reached. In collaboration with Paul Norton, Hannaford also was architect of the Isaac Sprague School, Oak Street (1923), and designed the Herbert C.. Bancroft House, 5 Belair Road (1924, MHC #1344). No other buildings by Hannaford or Shirer have been identified in the statewide historic properties inventory.
Photographs and plans of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library were published in 1928 in the trade periodical, American Architect. [Wellesley building permits; Historical exhibit at Wellesley Hills Branch Library; "Report of the Planning Board," Annual Town Report, 1926; Wellesley inventory; MHC MACRIS database] The architectural design of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library received an honorable mention in the competition for the J. Harleston Parker Medal in 1930. The medal, established in 1921 and intended to be an annual award, was presented by the mayor of the City of Boston to the architect who, in the opinion of the Boston Society of Architects, had completed the erection of the "most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument, or structure within the limits of the City of Boston or of the Metropolitan Parks District," generally known as Greater Boston.
A report of this achievement in the local newspaper, The Townsman, included the observation that the Hills Branch Library was (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 5 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA the first of the buildings constructed of all local stone within the town, and has since been followed by several other stone structures, both municipal and private, so that the town as a result has acquired quite a reputation for the beauty of these stone buildings.
Isaac Sprague is credited with initiating this "era of stone construction," having donated the fieldstone for the branch library, which matches the stone he donated to the town for construction of the Isaac Sprague School, Oak Street (1923, see above; the Central Fire Station, Central Street (1928, MHC #144); and the Elm Park Clock Tower (1928, MHC #919). [Stein; "Wellesley Hills library one of most beautiful;" MHC MACRIS database] Construction of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library made use of two building products that gained widespread popularity in American architecture in the 1920s. The building's clay tile roof was known as the "Imperial" model of closed shingled tile, manufactured by Ludowici-Celadon Company and distributed locally through the E. Stanley Wires Company, Inc. of Boston. Wires was a tile manufacturer and resided at 18 Whiting Road in Wellesley.
Ludowici- Celadon Company represented the 1906 merger of the Celadon Roofing Tile Company, formerly the Celadon Terra Cotta Company, organized in 1883 in upstate New York, and the Ludowici Roof Tile Company, organized in 1893 in Chicago. Ludowici's first plant in Chicago was among the largest plants producing clay roof tile in the nation. The company produced roof tiles for the World's Columbian Exhibition (1893) in Chicago. By the early 20" century, Ludowici- Celadon's principal manufacturing plant was located in New Lexington, Ohio. The entire interior of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library is California Stucco, which was distributed locally through California Products of New England, Inc., based in Cambridge.
Established in 1927 as the California Stone Products Corporation in New Jersey, the company was considered "revolutionary for its time as the first stucco/plaster to contain colored pigment in its pre-packaged factory mix." The decorative bands of stucco relief at the Hills Branch Library are executed with pigmented stucco/plaster. [The Architectural Exhibitor (May 1929), p. 7; Ludowici web site; NPS Preservation Briefs #22] The Wellesley Hills Branch Library opened to the public on March 20, 1928. Oak furniture, installed in the Children's Reading Room later in 1928, was a gift of the Wellesley Hills Women's Club, and a bronze tablet recording the contribution was mounted at the entrance to the wing in 1929.In their annual report of 1928, Library Trustees Chester C. Spring, Edith Dudley Cole, and T.
Raymond Pierce observed: This new building with its spaciousness, convenient arrangement, splendid equipment and general beauty, is an eloquent evidence of the advantages of modern library architecture and up-to-date facilities. In addition to comfortable reading rooms and book retrieval services, the branch library provided display cases for exhibits, and the quality of its revolving exhibits became a hallmark of the Hills Branch Library from the 1930s onward. Coordinated principally by Mrs. Charles Gorely of Wellesley Hills, the displays drew from the private collections of the branch library's patrons, and reflected such diverse subjects as lithographs and maps of the Civil War, Victorian valentines, a collection of vintage board games, and a collection of foreign dolls in native costume.
An exhibit was mounted in connection with the Bronte Centenary Meeting, including a lecture on the Brontes and their times, hosted by (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 6 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA the Hills Branch Library in 1946. The branch library's guest book showed that 500 visitors from Massachusetts and beyond had visited the Hills Branch Library to view the exhibit. ["Report of the Library Trustees" and "Report of the Librarian," Annual Town Reports, 1928-1955] The mission of the town's libraries broadened to embrace other community interests beyond library-specific functions.
The Library Trustees granted the use of the basement at the Hills Branch Library to the Wellesley Society of Artists for its classes and exhibitions, "feeling that this cultural opportunity will be of great benefit to the town." [Annual Town Report, 1939] The Wellesley League of Women Voters held meetings in the basement beginning in 1943. After a fire in early 1949 seriously damaged a building owned by the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church across the street, the basement of the Hills Branch Library was used temporarily for church school classes. By 1950, a proposed Great Books Discussion Group, to be held in the basement of the Hills Branch Library, had to be moved to the Fells Branch instead, as the Hills Branch basement was being used by the town's new Civil Defense agency, which required spaces for offices, radio equipment, and meetings.
The demand for community gathering spaces continued, as the town librarian noted in her 1951 report to the trustees that the library is "constantly [being] asked for space in our buildings for meetings of various kinds." ["Report of the Library Trustees" and "Report of the Librarian," Annual Town Reports, 1939-1955] The growth of the branch libraries, as an integral part of the public library system in Wellesley, occurred through the joint efforts of the town's Library Trustees and Kathleen A. Kennedy, Librarian of the Town of Wellesley from 1921 to 1950. During that time, the collection of the Wellesley Free Library increased from 23,000 volumes to 54,000 volumes, and the annual circulation grew from 61,000 volumes per year to 144,000 volumes per year.
In the late 1930s and 1940s, the system consisted of the Main Library and three branch libraries, supplemented by book loans to schools (for use in classrooms), fire stations, and even the Cushing General Hospital in Framingham. Kennedy's successor, Margaret Arnold, supervised the library's daily operations from 1950 to 1981, an era that included the construction of a new Main Library in the late 1950s. Circulation increased dramatically by 1955, when 260,891 volumes circulated, an increase of 75.9% since 1950. This increase can be attributed to the post-World War II population boom, as well as the acquisition of the town's first bookmobile in 1951. During the period of significance, the Wellesley Hills Branch Library consistently accounted for 25-28% of the total volumes circulated in the town's library system per year.
["Report of the Library Trustees" and "Report of the Librarian," Annual Town Reports, 1928-1955] In 1932 and 1933, the re-routing of Worcester Street (Route 9) to bypass the commercial district at Wellesley Hills Square adversely affected the operations of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library immediately abutting the highway construction. Grantland Road, which had crossed Worcester Street prior to the construction, was truncated, and the one- block-long segment north of Worcester Street and adjacent to the branch library became known as Grantland Road Extension. In 1949, at the suggestion of a joint committee of the town's Park Commission and the Wellesley Hills Garden Club, unhealthy trees were removed from the library parcel, and the plantings were rearranged at the main entrance. The work was performed by employees of the Park Commission under the supervision of the Garden Club.
["Report of the Library Trustees," Annual Town Report, 1932, 1933, 1949] On April 13, 1959, the Town of Wellesley opened a new Main Library, located at 530 Washington Street, directly across the street from the Town Hall-Public Library building that Horatio Hollis Hunnewell had built for the town in 1883. Designed in 1956 by Carl Koch and built in 1957-1958 by Kirkland Construction, the modern facility was nationally (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 7 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA recognized with several awards in the early 1960s for outstanding library design. By 1967, however, Frederick B.
Dailey, then chairman of the Library Trustees, predicted the building would be adequate for the library's needs for only five more years. The Library Trustees asked the Wellesley Historical Society, which had occupied two rooms in the basement of the Koch building, to vacate that space; the Historical Society was relocated to the basement of the Hills Branch Library. A 15,000-square foot library addition, designed by architects Robert C. Abrahamson and Albert Anderson and built from late 1978 to 1980 by Vappi and Company, was dedicated on November 16, 1980. [Fielden, 10-11, 15, 23] The Wellesley Free Library undertook a major redevelopment of the Main Library site at the turn of the twenty-first century, when the Koch building and its addition were demolished and replaced with a new building. Best Joslin of Windsor, Connecticut designed the present Main Library, which opened in 2003.
As the Town of Wellesley evaluated the services, space requirements, and budget of the Wellesley Free Library from the late 1950s to the present, there were periodic attempts to close the Hills Branch Library and the Fells Branch Library. Most of the proposals to close the branch libraries have come during a period of evaluating library needs in anticipation of expanding the Main Library facility, or in the years immediately following such construction. In 1962, with strong support from branch patrons, the Town Meeting defeated a proposal to close the branch libraries. A consultant report on library needs, issued in February 1970, recommended closing the branches as soon as possible. An August 1970 announcement that the branches would close later in the year was met with vigorous opposition, and the decision was reversed two months later.
The Friends of the Branch Libraries was organized that year to advocate for keeping the branch libraries, and in 1973 joined with the Friends of the Library (established 1954) to form the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries. In 1980, a Town Meeting resolution to examine the feasibility of closing one or more of the branch libraries was defeated. [Fielden, 12, 17-18, 23] In 1991, residents voted in favor of a Proposition 2½ override specifically intended for the branch libraries, due in part to the active efforts of the Committee to Save the Branches. A narrowly defeated Proposition 2½ override in 2005, which would have funded the operation of the branch libraries as well as other items of the townwide budget, threatened to close both branch libraries on June 30, 2005, the end date of the fiscal year.
The Committee to Save the Branch Libraries raised over $60,000 in private donations to fund the branch libraries for one year, while long-term funding options were explored. In July 2006 both branch libraries were closed due to a lack of funding. The Wellesley Hills branch is presently closed, although it is not vacant. Its future as a library facility is uncertain. The Wellesley Hills Branch Library is under the jurisdiction of the Trustees of the Wellesley Free Public Library. The National Register nomination for the Wellesley Hills Branch Library is funded by a Community Preservation Act grant obtained by the Wellesley Historical Commission, with the cooperation of the Trustees of the Wellesley Free Library.
Archaeological Significance Since little documentation is currently available for the Beck House, the potential significance of the house to the nomination is not completely known. Additional documentary research combined with archaeological testing might identify the construction date for the house and the location of potential barns, stables, carriage houses, outbuildings and occupational-related features that were potentially associated with the house. The archaeological resources described above may contribute important evidence related to Wellesley's settlement in the 1gth century or earlier and information related to the lives of the house's inhabitants during the same period. Archaeological research may also identify architectural details related to the structures identified above.
(end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA 9. Major Bibliographical References Town of Wellesley records (filed at Wellesley Free Library unless otherwise noted) Building permits. Building Inspector's office, Wellesley Town Hall. Fielden, Ruth S. History of the Wellesley Free Library. [Part I (1883-1953) and Part II (1953-1983)]. By the town: 1983. "Gifts to the Town." Annual Report of the Town Officers of Wellesley, Massachusetts. By the town, 1956. Historical exhibit on the Wellesley Hills Branch Library (displayed at the Wellesley Hills Branch Library).
Reproductions of architectural and site plans and information on the building's architects, building committee, materials, and Parker Medal honorable mention, including: "Proposed Location for Branch Library at Wellesley Hills, Mass." (October 15, 1926). Site plan drawn by A. Stewart Cassidy, landscape engineer. From the Report of the Special Committee on Library Accommodation at Wellesley Hills. The American Architect. v. 134 (November 20, 1928), pp. 693-696. The Architectural Exhibitor. (May 1929), p. 7. "Wellesley Hills library one of most beautiful." The (Wellesley) Townsman (Friday, April 4, 1930). Newspaper report on the Parker Medal honorable mention. "Report of the Library Trustees" and "Report of the Librarian." Annual Report of the Town Officers of Wellesley, Massachusetts. By the town: 1926-1955.
"Report of the Planning Board." Annual Report of the Town Officers of Wellesley, Massachusetts. By the town: 1926. Wellesley Historical Commission. Wellesley historic properties inventory. Unpublished inventory forms, 1975 to the present (includes Wellesley Residential Properties Survey, 3 vols., June 1990). Other research sources Hinchliffe, Elizabeth M. Five Pounds Currency, Three Pounds of Corn. Wellesley's Centennial Story. Town of Wellesley, 1981. "Ludowici Roof Tile. A Historical Perspective." Via www.ludowicirooftile.com/literaturepdf/HISTORY. 2005. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA Massachusetts Historical Commission.
"Reconnaissance survey report: Wellesley." Unpublished manuscript. January 1980. Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS). Buildings designed by Ralph Hannaford and/or Hampton F. Shirer. 2005. National Park Service. Technical Preservation Services. Preservation Briefs #22. The Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco (October 1990). Via www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/briefs22. 2005. Stein, Jeffrey, AIA. "The most beautiful building. J. Harleston Parker and his medal." ArchitectureBoston (Spring 2000), pp. 28-31. Wellesley Free Library. "History of the Hills Branch Library" and "History of the Fells Branch Library." Edited and updated from original 1990s histories by Elizabeth Hinchliffe. Via www.wellesleyfreelibrary.org. Wellesley Historical Society. The Wellesley Post Card Album. Wellesley: The Wellesley Historical Society, 1999. Young, George.
"It's happy 50" birthday to Hills branch library."The Wellesley Townsman. Aug. 18, 1977. (end) Wellesley Hills Branch Library Name of Property Norfolk, Massachusetts County and State 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property less than one acre UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1 19 Zone 312810 Easting 4687000 Northing Zone Easting 3. Zone 4. Easting Northing Northing Zone Easting - See continuation sheet Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11.
Form Prepared By name/title_ Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC organization_ Massachusetts Historical Commission - date_April 2007 street & number 220 Morrissey Boulevard - telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town. Boston _ state MA zip code 02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additionalitems) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Town of Wellesley/Wellesley Free Library street & number _525 Washington Street _ telephone (781) 431-1019 city or town Wellesley state MA _ zip code 02482 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.NPS Form 10-900 OMB No.1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA 10.
Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying Town of Wellesley assessors' maps. Boundary Justification The boundary encompasses the parcel continuously associated with the Wellesley Hills Branch Library since its construction in 1927. (end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number photos Page 1 OMB No.
1024-0018 Wellesley Hills Branch Library Wellesley (Norfolk Co.), MA Additional Documentation - Photographs Historic Name: Wellesley Hills Branch Library Location: 210 Washington Street, Wellesley Hills (Wellesley), MA Photographer: Kathleen Kelly Broomer Date: June 2005 Location of Negatives: Wellesley Historical Commission, Town of Wellesley Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10 Photo 11 Photo 12 Photo 13 Photo 14 View southeast, showing main block, Washington Street elevation. View southeast, showing sweeping roof detail of Washington Street façade. Interior view to northeast, showing Adults' Reading Room as viewed from mezzanine. Interior view to southeast, showing Children's Reading Room. Interior view to southwest, showing book delivery desk and mezzanine above. Detail view of fireplace nook (story alcove) in Children's Reading Room.
View south, detail of front entrance on Washington Street façade. View north, detail of west elevation and cupola. View northwest, rear elevation from Worcester Street/Route 9 exit ramp. View west, detail of patio on rear elevation. Interior view of entry hall. Interior view to southeast, showing Children's Reading Room and book delivery desk from entry area. Interior view of furniture in Children's Reading Room. Interior view of scalloped aprons on built-in benches, Adults' Reading Room.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME: Wellesley Hills Branch Library MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Norfolk DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 5/04/07 6/05/07 ATE OF 45TH DAY REFERENCE NUMBER: 07000546 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER : PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N VACCEPT _REJECT 6:12.07 DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS : Entered in the Vestonar Bortates RECOM./CRITERIA - REVIEWER - DISCIPLINE TELEPHONE DATE - DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, the nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.
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Detail, entuyhall Plotoll sununer 2005 200: II/1 PE Wellsly Hills Branch librany 210 voashingtonstreet wewestey (weueslly Hills), wass. Mhildrenis ReadingRoom fromn Deliver Deskleutry area ViOWSE 2005 CAK JUNE 2005 CAK summer 2005 PUstO12 Il6 JUNE 2005 READ The Ca inthe Bla Wellesley Hills Branch library 210 washington Street weuestey (welcsey Hill) Clildrenis Reading Room summer 2005 JUNE 2005 CAK Puoto 13 II(10 JUNE 2005 CAK wellesley Hlls Branchlibreng 2i0 washüington street welishey (wellesey Hills), MA Detailing of built-in sears, Aduit reading room summer 2005 JUNE 2005 CAK PhotO14 I/18 JUNE 2005 CAK RECEIVED 2280 MAY - 4 2007 The Commonwealth of Massachuse LT REGISTER OF HISTORIC PERCESS William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth NATIONAL PARK SERVIC! Massachusetts Historical Commission May 3, 2007 Mr. J.
Paul Loether, Chief National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW, 8'' floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Mr. Loether: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Wellesley Hills Branch Library, Wellesley (Norfolk), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30 to 45 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. One letter of support has been received. Sincerely, Beloy Fuedkery Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure Cc: Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant Linda Buffum, Wellesley Historical Commission Katherine L.
Babson, Jr., Chair, Board of Selectmen Rick Brown, Planning Director 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc 37 TOWNOF WELLESLEY NELESLAY C1881B N& ple BI w.Hilh Branchlib MASSACHUSETTS SP1 BOARD OF SELECTMEN TOWN HALL - 525 WASHINGTON STREET - WELLESLEY, MA 02482-5992 ...ST. CONM KATHERINE L. BABSON JR., CHAIRMAN OWEN H. DUGAN, VICE CHAIRMAN HARRIET S. WARSHAW, SecreTAry DAVID J. HIMMELBERGER VINCENT JULIANI, JR. FACSIMILE: (781) 239-1043 TELEPHONE: (781) 431-1019 x201 WWW.WELLESLEYMA.GOV HANS LARSEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GENERAL GOVERNMENT September 8, 2006 Massachusetts Historical Commission 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA.
02125 Dear Commission Members, The Wellesley Board of Selectmen would like to inform your Commission that despite the recent closing of the Wellesley Hills Branch Library due to budget issues, we fully support the nomination of this building to the National Register of Historic Places. This lovely little building, designed in 1927, is a treasure in our town and this distinction is one we would be proud to have bestowed upon it. This building was the first building constructed to be used as a branch library in our community. At your request, we are also, for the record, fully in support of the Clock Tower/Elm Park nomination jointly submitted by the Wellesley Historical Commission and the Wellesley Natural Resources. Commission. We look forward to the spring of 2007 when we understand these nominations should be on the State agenda for review. Very truly yours, tatheine I. Babson, Te.
Katherine L. Babson, Jr., Chairman KLB:adh
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