L. D. Fargo Public Library

The L. D. Fargo Public Library is a historic public library at 120 E. Madison Street in Lake Mills, Wisconsin.

L. D. Fargo Public Library
L. D. Fargo Public Library
Location120 E. Madison St., Lake Mills, Wisconsin
Coordinates43°04′51″N 88°54′38″W / 43.08083°N 88.91056°W / 43.08083; -88.91056 (Fargo, L. D., Public Library)
Arealess than one acre
Built1899-1902
ArchitectFerry & Clas/L.A. Giles
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival/Storybook
NRHP reference No.82000675[1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 18, 1982

History

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Businessman Lorenzo Dow Fargo donated funds for the library to Lake Mills in 1899; the building was completed in 1902. Prolific Milwaukee architects George Ferry and Alfred Clas, who also designed several other Wisconsin libraries, designed the library; Ferry went on to serve on the library's board. The library's design incorporates elements of Gothic Revival and Tudor Revival architecture. The two-story building has a rough fieldstone exterior, a projecting entrance block with a bargeboard roof above the entrance, four steep dormers with matching bargeboard on the front facade, and a steeple atop the gable roof. When it opened, the library became a local community center as well, and both the local women's club and the city's branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union used it as their headquarters.[2]

The library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.[3] It is still in use as the city's public library.

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ Garfield, Leonard T. (November 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Fargo, L. D., Public Library". National Archives Catalog. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  3. ^ "120 E. Madison St". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
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