Built in 1815 in the Greek Revival architecture. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1973. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“The Lenox Library is a municipal public library in Lenox, Massachusetts. It was managed by the non-profit Lenox Library Association, founded in 1856, until it became a department of the Town of Lenox in 2018.”
Wikipedia article Lenox Library (Massachusetts), CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 94 National Register listings in Berkshire County · listed in 1973 · category: Building · built in 1815, Greek Revival architecture · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Berkshire County.
National Register reference number.73000291- 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.
Fires near this property
50 since 2002
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Lenox Library between
2002 and 2020, burning about 34 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was 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
Debris and open burning
20
Recreation and ceremony
11
Equipment and vehicle use
7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
3
Natural
3
Railroad operations and maintenance
2
Smoking
2
Other causes
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 1,835 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Lenox Library between 1833 and
1975: 852 Animalia, 655 Plantae, 321 Fungi, 3 Unrecorded, 2 Chromista, 2 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A W Evans, A. Brown, A. E. Treat and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
40 workings within 5 miles of Lenox Library: 22 past producers, 13 producers, 4 occurrences, 1 unknown.
13 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Lenox, the town this property stands in, in 51 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 35 thunderstorm wind, 8 flash flood, 7 hail, 1 lightning.
The reports record 5 injuries. 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.
A roof was partially ripped off a horse barn and several trees were reported down due to strong thunderstorm winds at the Aspinwall Equestrian Center off Route 7A, Main Street, in Lenox. ||A large tree and power lines were downed on Route 7 and 20, Pittsfield Road, just north of the entrance to the Aspinwell Shops due to strong thunderstorm winds. A vehicle was hit with debris resulting in minor injuries to a person. ||Along East Dugway Road, 10 trees and 8 utility poles were reported downed due to strong thunderstorm winds. Two cars were struck by downed trees and 2 people were treated for minor injuries. ||Trees were reported down near the Eastover Resort on East Road in Lenox due to strong thunderstorm winds.
In Lenox, numerous trees were reported down due to strong thunderstorm winds|along East Street between New Lenox Road and Housatonic Street, on Kemble Street at the Shakespeare and Company Campus and on Walker Street at the Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum.
An estimated one thousand or more trees and branches were snapped or uprooted around the Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, north of of the Town of Lenox. Damage was also observed along the trails as well as a window breaking in the office. Preliminary damage estimates were up to $500,000.
A NWS Storm Survey confirmed straight line wind damage in the Town of Lenox. Damage was sporadic and ranged from broken tree limbs to large diameter trees snapped and uprooted. Damage was most concentrated downwind of large open spaces or lakes. Downed trees blocked many roads and caused numerous power outages. Trees also fell onto homes and cars. Some festival tents were also blown away. The maximum estimated winds were 85 mph with a path length of 1.7 miles and width of 0.8 of a mile.
A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed a severe thunderstorm produced a microburst along Cliffwood Street just northwest of downtown Lenox. Hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted. Some homes were damaged from the fallen trees. Winds were estimated between 80 and 90 mph with a path length of one-half mile and a path width of 50 yards.
The National Weather Service storm survey confirmed a severe thunderstorm produced a microburst along Housatonic Street before ending at Kimball Farms in the Town of Lenox. Hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted along its path. One home along Housatonic Street suffered wind damage to its siding. Some homes were damaged by fallen trees. Winds were estimated at 80 to 90 mph with a path length of one-half mile and a path width of 100 yards.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused flash flooding in both Lenox and Lenoxdale. The intersection of East and Walker streets was closed due to flooding and repairs were needed to the roadway. In addition, washouts also occurred on Housatonic Street and Crystal Street.
A tall pine tree on Old Stockbridge Road, Route 7, was reported down by strong thunderstorm winds near Lenox Town Hall. A car crashed into the tree and the driver was reported hospitalized with lacerations.
Several tree limbs were reported down approximately 4 miles south of Pittsfield due to strong thunderstorm winds. In addition, penny size hail was also reported during this thunderstorm.
Penny size hail was reported approximately 4 miles south of Pittsfield during a thunderstorm. In addition, several tree limbs were reported down due to strong thunderstorm winds.
Straight line winds from a thunderstorm downed hundreds of trees over a 1.5 mile path length, at a width of around 1 mile, near Lenox. Estimated maximum winds were between 80 and 85 MPH.
Dime-size hail fell in Lenox while urban street flooding occurred in Stockbridge and Lenoxdale. Rainfall of 2.70 inches was observed in one hour and 15 minutes.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
From the nomination file
1,863 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
Ine original portion oi this building is rectangular in form (48' x 62') with the long axis perpendicular to the street. It is a two-story brick structure with a low pitched hip roof SUr- rounded by a parapet composed of alternate lattice and paneled segments. An open cupola supported by eight slender columns surmounts the front. A 1787 bell hangs on a sawbuck frame in this cupola. The street facade is three bays wide with a slightly pro- jecting portico which is supported by two pairs of engaged Ionic columns. These are two stories high. The frieze and architrave stop a few inches short of the corner of the buila- ing and are supported by Ionic pilasters set in somewhat from the edge of the facade. (See photo). The cornice is ornamen- ted with dentils.
This facade is symmetrical with the entrance centered. The doorway has narrow side lights and a semi-ellip- tical fanlight above. First floor windows are set in slightly recessed arch-topped panels. All windows, front and side are double-hung six-over-six sash. Those on the south facade facing an adjacent building have been equipped with protective roll-down iron fire shutters. All windows have wooden shutters, louvered on the second floor, solid on the ground floor. The foundation above the ground is sawn marble. There are eight original brick chimneys, four on each side. In 1889 an addition considerably larger than the original court house was constructed. Ihis two-story brick structure has a hip roof and Ibuvered cupola.
This section contains Sedgwick Hall, an auditorium which has a separate entrance with classical portico, engaged Ionic columns and fanlight somewhat similar to the original front but reduced in vertical propor- tions. TIOI LITII 112 RECENED IIITI2IL OCT 3 0 1972 NATIONAL REGISTER 91 -
At one time a front room in the original building was rented to the lenox National Bank. Several offices on the second floor were rented. Among early tenants were Senator Post and the sole village physician, Dr. E. P. Hale. In 1895 Benjamin Rogers established the first telephone exchange in Lenox in a rear office. In short, this building has been, since its erection, a focal point of Berkshire County and Lenox activities. continues to serve as outstanding library, summer art gallery and concert and lecture facility. ill 101 91 RECEIVED OCT 3 0 1972 NATIONAL REGISTER (EU) To 0.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 73000291, 12 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
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.
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.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
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.
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