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Photograph of Howland Cultural Center
Photograph by Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Howland Library

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. 14 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.

From the record

“The Howland Cultural Center, formerly known as Howland Library, is located on Main Street in Beacon, New York, United States. It is an ornate brick building designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the 1870s.”

Wikipedia article Howland Cultural Center, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 266 National Register listings published here for Dutchess County · listed in 1973 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 477 Main St., Beacon, 12508
  • When was it listed? May 1973
  • Category. building
  • Town. Fishkill town
  • Architect. Richard Morris Hunt
  • National Register reference number. 73001180 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1893 to 1993

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Howland Library, surveyed 1993
Topographic sheet covering Howland Library, surveyed 1893

Fires near this property

634 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 634 fires within 5 miles of Howland Library between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,135 acres in total. 49 started naturally. 73 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined365
Arson/incendiarism73
Smoking50
Natural49
Equipment and vehicle use28
Recreation and ceremony27
Debris and open burning24
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
6 September 2016Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
6 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
6 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
5 September 2016Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
5 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
5 September 2008Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Every fire recorded in Dutchess County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 46 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 46 workings within 5 miles of Howland Library: 37 past producers, 8 producers, 1 occurrence. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Iron, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hustis QuarryTitaniumOccurrence
Probably Serpentine Marble Rock Quarry No. Hk-022Stone, DimensionPast ProducerMarble
Graphite Mine No. Hk-019GraphitePast ProducerGraphite
Graphite Mine No. Hk-019GraphitePast Producer
Limestone Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Limestone Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Serpentine Marble QuarryMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Serpentine Marble QuarryMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Serpentine Marble QuarryMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Granitic Gneiss Rock QuarryStonePast Producer

Every working recorded in Dutchess County

Storms near this property

6 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Beacon, the town this property stands in, in 6 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2001HailBeacon$10,000no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindBeacon$5,000no account filed
December 2021Thunderstorm WindBeacon$2,000A large tree was downed on wires near the corner of High Street and Beekman Street in the City of Beacon, causing road closures.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindBeacon-Law enforcement personnel reported that trees were down throughout Beacon.
May 2002HailBeacon-no account filed
May 1998HailBeacon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dutchess County

Maps showing this location

14 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 73001180 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Dutchess CountyAll 266 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.