MassachusettsThe Chase Library on Main Street in the village of West Harwich is a diminutive early twentieth-century village library built in 1911, a one-and-a-half-story wood-frame, shingle-clad bungalow. A modest example of the Craftsman style, it also displays elements of the contemporaneous Shingle Style, with character-defining features including a large projecting front-gabled dormer, a broad window, and open eaves with exposed rafter ends; its original Shingle Style front porch has been lost. The interior retains original detail and features a portrait of library benefactor Salome Chase above the fireplace. Significant in the areas of Architecture and Social History with a period of significance from 1911 to 1964, the library blends with the historic houses and public buildings of Cape Cod.
Chase Library
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Chase Library is a landmark in Harwich, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 41.6687, -70.1214 near Harwich. The nearest cataloged historic site is Berry, Capt. James House (landmark), about 0.1 miles away. Others within a short drive include Chase, Judah E. - Stempson, Frank - Wright House, Baker, Ezra H. School, and Baker House.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The Chase Library serves West Harwich from a small Colonial Revival building constructed in 1911. Efforts to establish a library began around 1901 and advanced in 1906 when Colonel Caleb Chase, a Harwich native and successful businessman, donated his nearby home for the purpose, with Dr. John Nickerson giving a corner of his land as the site. The wood-frame, hip-roofed building retains historic features including a tin ceiling and antique fixtures, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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