Built in 1890 (Romanesque Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
From the record
“The Williams Free Library is a public building in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It was the first public library in the United States to have open stacks.”
Wikipedia article Williams Free Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 36 National Register listings published here for Dodge County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1890, Romanesque Revival architecture.
National Register reference number.74000079- 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.
Upon the eastern shore of a placid lake, nestling beneath the brow and along the crest of a semicircular hill of such gradual elevation and gentle slope that the housetops in the dimpled valleys on either side are scarcely hidden one from the other ; shaded by the branches of lovely m;iples, elms and oaks, clustered here and there together in veritable Eden bowers; wrapped in an atmosphere whose balmy, life-prolonging breath fans you in the face at every step and meets you round the corner like a perfumed zephyr escaped from Paradise, lies the city of Beaver Dam - the Garden City of Dodge County - noted for its palatial residences, and enterprising citizens, and famed for its beautiful women and chivalric men.
Such is the picture. What the place has been, who the individuals that built it, what their privations and tribulations, we leave to abler pens, to whiter heads, to those who bore a part in the grand undertakings and achievements that have resulted in the phenomenal growth of Beaver Dam, and made its founders illustrious.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Williams Free Library
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 160 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 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/undetermined
6
Arson/incendiarism
4
Debris and open burning
3
Natural
1
Equipment and vehicle use
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. The federal mineral resources record lists
4 workings within 5 miles of Williams Free Library: 3 past producers, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Beaver Dam, the town this property stands in, in 77 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 38 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 4 funnel cloud, 2 flood.
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.
Wind gusts up to 40 mph (35 knots) accompanied a gust front through Southeast Wisconsin. The gusty winds snapped the tether holding a hot-air balloon causing it to roll along the ground. A passenger on the balloon suffered minor injuries, while 4 spectators on the ground were also injured.
Severe thunderstorms deposited hail up to the size of golf balls over parts of Dodge County. About 100 vehicles received hail damage in Beaver Dam, nearly 50 of them on one auto dealer's lot.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in scattered flash flood conditions in the Beaver Dam to Horicon area. Fast-flowing water depths of 1 to 2 feet were reported, as well as basement flood damage in about 20 homes. Sandbagging occurred in Beaver Dam. There were reports of soil erosion and some crop damage.
A house was damaged in the 500 block of west Burnett Street in Beaver Dam by lightning that struck a nearby tree and traveled through the ground into the house. The resulting fire caused $50,000 in damage to the structure. Two firefighters were injured (indirectly-related) when a portion of the ceiling collapsed in the home.
Heavy rains measured at 3.80 inches within 1 hour and 50 minutes resulted in flash flooding in and near the city of Beaver Dam. Several cars stalled in water over roads, and one driver had to be rescued by first reponders. Some of the vechiles sustained water damage. Water depths on some streets reached 2 to 4 feet.
Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled many large trees in a wide path of about 10 miles, and broken tree branches brought down some power-lines. One vehicle in Beaver Dam was damaged by tree debris.
Brief tornado started south of Beaver Dam and went through a garage near Shaw Hill Rd, west of the Shaw Marsh Wildlife Area. Other wind damage was noted on the southern side of the tornado path, attributed to downburst winds.
A shower of 3/4 inch hail produced icy roads that caused a two-vehicle accident on State Highway 151 north of State Highway 33, north of Beaver Dam. A 26-year-old Green Bay woman was killed, and the male drivers of the two vehicles were injured.
Brief tornado that occurred in a corn field north of Beaver Dam west of Buckhorn Road. Reports from emergency management and storm chasers in the area was that the tornado lasted about 20 seconds. Satellite imagery confirmed the tornado path cutting across two corn fields while hitting one tree.
Large tree branches were reported blown down from thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 61 mph (52 knots) that blocked a road and also blew down other large branches across Beaver Dam.
Hail ranging from 0.75 to 1.75 inches in diameter was reported just north of Beaver Dam. There were no damage reports, although there could have been, considering the size of the hail stones.
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.
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.
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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