James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, Connecticut:
At a cost of $300,000, Chicago-based architect Solon Spencer Beman directed the construction of Branford’s Blackstone Memorial Library in the Neoclassical Revival style. The library, located at 758 Main Street, took nearly three years to complete and was dedicated on June 17, 1896. The exterior of the building, including the dome, is entirely crafted of Tennessee pink marble. Many components of the design emulate the Erechtheum of the Athenian Acropolis in Greece. Beneath the central portico are bronze doors at the main entrance.
The library was gifted to the Town of Branford by Timothy B. Blackstone in memory of his father, Captain James Blackstone. Born in Branford, Timothy Blackstone was president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad during the Gilded Age period. His father James passed away in 1886 at the age of 93. The Blackstone’s were descendants of William Blackstone, an Anglican priest credited with founding the first European settlement on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1625 – which later became Boston, Massachusetts.
Read more about the interior painting on the dome of Blackstone Memorial Library by Oliver Dennett Grover: https://www.blackstonelibrary.org/jbmlfacts125/
Visit the Branford Historical Society Website
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