Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 17 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1892.
From the record
“The Lynn Public Library building is a historic library at Five North Common Street in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although library services were offered in Lynn as early 1815, it was not until a bequest in 1896 that the city began planning a permanent home for the growing collection.”
Wikipedia article Lynn Public Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 480 National Register listings published here for Essex County · listed in 1979 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.79000334- 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
1892 to 1997
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
105 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
This is Lynn. And probably no place upon the New England coast can present more attractive features and such varied scenery. It is one of the oldest settlements of Massachusetts, as distinguished from Plymouth, and has always maintained a steady, though not rapid, growth, till, at the present time, it has reached a population of very near 50,000. It is on the northern shore of the great bay which is entered from the Atlantic through the gateway formed by Cape Ann, so named by Prince Charles in filial respect for his mother, and Cape Cod, so named by the notable English navigator, Bartholomew Gosnold, from the circumstance of finding multitudes of codfish sporting about there. It was the central one of the three important settlements commenced at nearly the same time, - namely, Salem, Lynn and Boston ; is five miles southwest of the former, and ten miles northeast of the latter. It is not now very extensive, territorially, but as regards population is the largest city in the United States, east of Boston.
With the Ingalls brothers appear to have come three others, namely, William Dixey, John Wood and William Wood, the two latter supposed to be father and son. The father, John, seems to have been a good, common-sense, plodding settler, industrious, but with little ambition. William, the son,was evidently an active, aspiring young man, something of a rover, a keen observer and one desirous of making a mark. And he did make a mark, which remains conspicuous at this day. He may well be called the first historian of Lynn, or indeed of New England. He was the author of " New England's Prospect," which was printed in London in 1634. It was a work evidently inspired by a love for his new home, and gives graphic accounts of the different settlements, their condition, advantages and prospects, with shrewd suggestions and honest deductions, but withal tinged by crude conceptions, more or less attributable to the peculiar views and circumstances of the settlers, and the conceits of the time. His quaint descriptions will continue to be quoted so long as our early history continues to interest. He also, in 1635, published a map of New England, engraved on wood.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Lynn Public Library
between 2003 and 2020, burning about 256 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 7 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
Recreation and ceremony
27
Smoking
16
Debris and open burning
9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
8
Arson/incendiarism
7
Misuse of fire by a minor
5
Equipment and vehicle use
4
Fireworks
3
Natural
1
Railroad operations and maintenance
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 10,728 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Lynn Public Library between 1800 and 1975: 5,230 Plantae, 2,952 Animalia, 1,006 Chromista, 840 Fungi, 397 Unrecorded, 290 Bacteria, 13 Protozoa.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A B. Proper, A. A. Eaton, A. B. Hervey 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
12 workings within 5 miles of Lynn Public Library: 4 producers, 3 past producers, 2 unknowns, 2 plants.
6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Gold. 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
Lynn, the town this property stands in, in 37 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 16 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 5 flood, 5 flash flood.
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.
Numerous trees and wires were downed throughout Lynn, closing thirty to forty streets. An amateur radio operator recorded a wind gust of 60 mph on their home weather station on Centre Street.
At 9:16 AM EST, cars on Monroe Street in Lynn were floating in the street. At 9:18 AM EST, water was rising in a building on Monroe Street, causing people to stand on chairs. At 9:31 AM cars were trapped in flood waters on Chatham Street under a bridge; the road was impassable. At 10:03 AM the basement door to a building on Union Street had collapsed due to the flooding, and water was pouring in. At 10:18 AM, large sections of Boston Street in Lynn were flooded and impassable, and several cars were trapped in the floodwaters. At 10:32 AM state route 107 on the Lynn/Salem border was closed due to flooding. At 10:59 AM EST, manhole covers were reported coming off the road on Seymour Avenue. A car was trapped in three feet of water on Wilfred Street; the road was impassable. At 11:42 AM EST, street flooding on Erie Street reached several feet.
Lightning struck a three family home on Washington Street, setting fire to the house. Damage was to the front roof in the third floor unit. Residents in the third floor unit were unable to return to their unit due to water damage. Other units were not damaged.
In Swampscott, a car was stuck in flood waters at the Santander Bank parking lot. Crowinshield Street was flooded in Peabody. A car was stuck in flood waters on Endicott Street. Leather City Common was flooded with six to twelve inches of water.
In Peabody, a car was stuck in two feet of water on America Drive. A car was stuck in flood waters on the ramp for the Northshore Mall from Route 114 to Route 128. In Lynn, four to six inches covered all three eastbound lanes of the Lynnway. Other streets in Lynn were flooded with three feet of water and the fire department responded to two calls of people stuck in their cars. In Beverly, Federal Street between MacPherson Drive and Rantoul and Lothrop Street at Route 127 were closed due to flooding. The fire department reported several streets flooded with at least 3 feet of water. They responded to about a half dozen calls of people stuck in their cars. In Salem, Highland Avenue was flooded out.
In Lynn, large branches and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds. In Marblehead, trees and wires on Green Street and Kenneth Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. One of the trees on Kenneth Road landed on a house.
A tree and wires were downed onto a fence on Warwick Street in Lynn. Also, an eight inch diameter tree branch was downed and blew into a house, the house sustained minor damage. Several other tree limbs were downed on Lynnfield Street and Savory Street.
In Swampscott, several cars were stuck in street flooding on Paradise Road (Route 1A). |Also, a car was stuck at the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Norfolk Avenue.
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.
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
The Lynn Public Library is a two and one-half story Renaissance Revival style building located at the northwest corner of North Common and Franklin Streets. Rectangular in plan, the building has a facade (south) and reax wall (north) of nine bays' length each; end walls (east & west) are of seven bays' length each. Centered on the south, east and west walls are slightly projecting pavilions, each of three bays' width. The structure rests upon a plinth of dressed granite above which rises a rusticated basement, faced with limestone. Upper floors are faced with dressed limestone.
Elements of the building's design which are identical on all elevations are: paired Corinthian pilasters at each corner (first and second stories only), a continuous entablature, modillioned cornice and solid parapet. The building is enclosed by a nearly flat roof which is pierced by skylights at various points over the reading rooms. FACADE (SOUTH): The facade is approached from a flight of granite stairs which cascades out in three directions from its center entrance. Centered on the facade is a two-story Corinthian portico, supported by four columns, which stands in front of the central pavilion. Behind the portico, the pavilion is framed into threebaysby four Corinthian pilasters. The center bay contains the library's major entry set one-half story.. below the first floor level.
This entry con- tains aluminum and glass doors (ca. 1970) and is set in a moulded surround sur- mounted by a decorated frieze. Above the entry, at the second story, is an arched window with an unmoulded surround. Sash of this and all other second story windows on the facade consists of oversized 2/2 sash surmounted by a two- pane semi-circular light.
/ARCHITECT George A. Moore STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Lynn Public Library retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and association and is the city's most elaborate example of Renaissance Revival architecture, one which occupies a prominent site and serves as an important local landmark. Major features of the building include a monumental Corinthian portico, Corinthian pilasters, entablature, modillioned cornice and solid parapet. Excepting the replacement of its front doors, the Library's exterior is unaltered. The building's interior has, at its center, a twelve-sided court which rises from a limestone arcade at the first story to a colonnade of Corinthian columns which support a coffered dome at the second story.
Opening onto this court at the structure's southeast corner is the main reading room, a two-story room with a marble mosaic floor, carved woodwork and coffered ceiling--details which are found throughout the Library's public rooms. The north wall of the reading room contains a mural entitled "The Awakening of Ignorance", painted for this room by F. Luis Mora in 1898. Lynn's first library was named the Social Library and was organized in 1815. In 1850, the Social Library passed out of existence, merging its collection with that of the Lynn Natural History Society, which, in 1855, turned both collections over to the Lynn Library Association. In 1862, the Library Association gave its collection to the city to provide the nucleus for a free public library.
Having occupied rented quarters since 1862, the Public Library moved into rooms designed for it in the new city hall of 1867-1868 (demolished), where it remained until the opening of the present building in 1900. to it in 1868.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 79000334, 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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