Ossian Wilbur Goss Reading Room facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ossian Wilbur Goss Reading Room
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 Location in New Hampshire
Location in the United States
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| Location | 188 Elm St., Laconia, New Hampshire |
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| Area | 0.4 acres (0.16 ha) |
| Built | 1905 |
| Architect | Adden, Willard P. |
| NRHP reference No. | 86002165 |
| Added to NRHP | September 4, 1986 |
The Ossian Wilbur Goss Reading Room is a special old library building. You can find it at 188 Elm Street in the Lakeport part of Laconia, New Hampshire. This unique brick building was designed by an architect named Willard P. Adden. It was built in 1905-1906. The money for the building came from Ossian Wilbur Goss. He was a local doctor who wanted to help his community. The building became a branch of the Laconia library system in 1909. It is still used as a library today! This historic building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Discover the Goss Reading Room
This section will tell you about the building's look and feel.
The Building's Design
The Goss Reading Room is in Laconia's Lakeport village. It stands at the corner of Franklin and Elm streets. It is a single-story building made of brick. The building has an L-shape. It is covered by a roof with two sloping sides, called a gabled roof. The ends of the roof are raised higher than the slate roof itself.
The front of the building is very interesting. It has a large gable on the right side. This gable has a big window with six parts. These windows are set in arched openings. The windows are arranged with narrow ones on the outside and a wider one in the middle. They have sashes that open, topped by fixed transom windows. The main entrance is in the center. It has a small roof and brick pillars at the corners. The entrance is flanked by wide side windows.
A Library for Lakeport
Lakeport used to be a village of Gilford. It became part of Laconia in 1893. Lakeport had its own small library. But it did not have a permanent home. When Laconia's Gale Memorial Library was built in 1897, Lakeport's books were moved there. The old village library then closed.
A way for people to borrow books was set up at a local store. However, people in the village felt this was not enough. Ossian Wilbur Goss was a doctor who lived in Lakeport. His house was one of many buildings destroyed by a big fire in 1903. Dr. Goss wanted to provide a permanent library branch for his village. He planned to rebuild his home with this idea in mind.
Dr. Goss's wife and children had passed away before him. So, he left money in his will. He asked trustees to either change his house or build a new one. This new building would be for the library. He died in 1903, just three weeks after signing his will. He had not rebuilt his house yet.
His chosen trustees oversaw the building of this library. It was built on the land where his house used to be. Willard P. Adden, an architect from Boston, designed it. The building was finished in 1907. The city officially accepted it as a branch library in 1909. The land and building are still owned by the Goss trustees. However, the library is managed as part of the city's library system.
