Converse Memorial Library

Converse Memorial Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Converse Memorial Building
Location	36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1885
Architect	H.H. Richardson; Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge
Architectural style	Richardson Romanesque
NRHP Reference #	85002014
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 05, 1985
Designated NHL	December 23, 1987

The Converse Memorial Library – also known as Converse Memorial Building – is a historically significant building designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. From 1885 to 1996, it housed the Malden Public Library, which now occupies a modern building adjacent to it. The former library is located at 36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts.

The building was a gift of Elisha S. and Mary D. Converse in memory of their murdered son, Frank Eugene Converse, who was the victim of the first bank robbery/murder in North America. It was constructed 1883-1885 in an overall L-shape, with a facade of brown Longmeadow sandstone, a tower rising from the L's inner corner, and a heavily arched entry porch set within the L's short arm. The main library room is 50 x 36 feet and finished in elaborately carved white oak with a high, vaulted ceiling. Its furniture was designed by Richardson and manufactured by the Boston firm of A. H. Davenport and Company.

In 1896 two additions were made to the building, designed by Richardson's successor firm, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. One gable-roofed wing extends the building to the rear, along Park Street, following the same general lines of the existing structure. The other addition was a flat-roofed rectangular stack area also attached to the rear. An octagonal gallery space further extended the rear in 1916, designed by Newhall and Blevins.

The Converse Memorial Building was the last of Richardson's library designs, and is generally considered among his finest works. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts

References

• Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, 1985, page 314. ISBN 0-262-65015-0.
• American Library Association, Annual Conference Proceedings of the American Library Association, 1889, pages 78–79.
• National Historic Landmarks entry
• Digital Archive of American Architecture

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - street view.JPG

  General view from street

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - end view.JPG

  End view

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - decorated facade.JPG

  Facade decorations

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - tower.JPG

  Tower detail

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - columns.JPG

  Columns

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - detail.JPG

  Detail

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - ornament.JPG

  Ornament

• Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA) - American Architect & Building News.JPG

  1885 illustrations of the library