Redwood Library and Athenaeum

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Redwood Library

Redwood Library and Athenaeum - Newport, RI (51487895396).jpg

The building's façade

Type Subscription library

Established 1747

Location Newport, Rhode Island

Access and use

Circulation 15,204 (2018)[1]

Other information

Director Benedict Leca, Ph.D. FRSA[2]

Website www.redwoodlibrary.org

Redwood Library

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. National Historic Landmark

U.S. National Historic Landmark District

Contributing Property

Redwood Library and Athenaeum is located in Rhode IslandRedwood Library and Athenaeum

Location 50 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island

Coordinates 41.486544°N 71.308296°WCoordinates: 41.486544°N 71.308296°W

Built 1748-1750

Architect Peter Harrison

Architectural style Georgian-Palladian

Part of Newport Historic District (ID68000001)

NRHP reference No. 66000015

Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[3]

Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960[4]

Designated NHLDCP November 24, 1968

The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a subscription library, museum, rare book repository and
research center founded in 1747, and located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The
building, designed by Peter Harrison and completed in March 1750, was the first purposely built library
in the United States, and the oldest neo-Classical building in the country. It has been in continuous use
since its opening.[5][6]

The building is part of the Kay Street–Catherine Street–Old Beach Road Historic District, and was
designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Contents

1 History

1.1 18th century

1.2 19th century

1.3 20th century

2 Gallery

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

History

18th century

The Company of the Redwood Library was established in 1747, in Newport, Rhode Island, by Abraham
Redwood and 45 colonists with the goal of making written knowledge more widely available to the
Newport community.[7]

The original section of the building was constructed built between 1748 and 1750 by architect Peter
Harrison. Only the Library Company of Philadelphia is older, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin. The
Redwood Library and Athenaeum predates the Charleston Library Society (founded in 1748), New York
Society Library (founded in 1754), and the Boston Athenaeum (founded in 1807).
Early Redwood librarian, the Rev. Ezra Stiles, co-founder of Brown University and President of Yale
University, painted in 1770–1771, by Samuel King

It was the first classical public building built in America, designed in the manner of Italian Renaissance
Architect Andrea Palladio, in the Georgian-Palladian style. The main facade facing Bellevue avenue is
based upon a plate in Edward Hoppus' Andrea Palladio's Architecture published in 1735.[8] The oldest
section, today called the Harrison Room, still houses the majority of the original books that were
purchased as a collection in London. Occupying British troops allegedly looted numerous books (many of
which were later returned) prior to the Battle of Rhode Island during the American Revolution.[9]

Ezra Stiles was one of the most prominent librarians at the Library, the influential founder of Brown
University and later president of Yale University.

19th century

In 1833 the Library furthered its abilities as an institution, and re established itself as The Company of
the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. By 1858, membership and collection had grown so much as that
an expansion was needed. This expansion, which became known as the Roderick Terry Reading Room
was produced by George Snell of Boston.

Within 10 years of the Reading Room being completed, architect Richard Morris Hunt was contacted to
furnish another expansion for the library. His plans ultimately called for "an entirely new and enlarged
structure of stone and marble shall (that) take the place of the existing wooden erections." Ultimately,
Hunt's plans were rejected, although it is unclear whether that was due to monetary restriction on the
part of the Redwood Library, or their disapproval of what could be construed as Hunt's irreverence for
Peter Harrison's architecture.

In 1875, plans did go forward to develop another expansion to the Library. The Rovensky Delivery Room
was designed by famed architect George Champlin Mason. At the time, the collections were in closed
stacks, and when a book was requested, the librarian would retrieve it and bring it to the member in the
delivery room.

20th century

In 1915, historian and architect Norman Isham restored the eighteenth century Harrison room to what
he concluded was its original appearance. The Library's modern collection now includes more than
200,000 volumes as well as a museum collection of art and artifacts. The building was designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1966.[10]

Gallery

Drawing of Redwood Library in 1768 by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere

Reference room, 1937

The building's interior in 2004

The side (main) entrance at 50 Bellevue Avenue (2021)

See also

flag Rhode Island portal

icon Architecture portal

List of libraries in Rhode Island

List of National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island

National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island

References

"Redwood Library and Athenaeum Annual Report 2017-2018 Annual Report". Redwood Library and
Athenaeum. 2018. p. 6. Retrieved June 25, 2020.

"Redwood Library and Athenaeum Annual Report 2017-2018 Annual Report". Redwood Library and
Athenaeum. 2018. p. 16. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
January 23, 2007.

"Redwood Library". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from
the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2008.

Interpretive sign on site

Davis, Paul (March 12, 2006). "Unrighteous Traffick-Rhode Island and the Slave Trade-First of Six Parts-
Abraham Redwood, Antigua and the West Indies Trade". Providence Journal. p. A.11.

"History". Redwood Library & Athenæum. Retrieved September 14, 2021.

The Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc., "Building America."

Haley, John Williams (1929). "The Old Stone Bank" History of Rhode Island. Providence, R.I.: Providence
Institution for Savings. p. 91. LCCN 30013826.

NHL listing summary, accessed June 20, 2008 Archived October 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine