Local History Display For Building Anniversary

The Crawfordsville District Public Library recently celebrated the 20th Anniversary of our current building. This library building opened in September 2005, marking a new era for Crawfordsville in regard to expanding library services and materials. We invite you to visit our celebratory Local History display on the second floor, which now showcases detailed renditions of the building draft designs, opening ceremony letters, dedications, promotional items, donor recognition, construction photos, and internal structure images. Original Carnegie Library items and historical era photos also remain on display.

When the original Carnegie Library opened its doors in 1902, it held around 4,500 volumes. By the end of the century, the collection had grown to over 100,000 volumes, and a much larger space was needed. Our current building, however, contains details that honor the history of the Carnegie building and the people of our community. The architect & design firm for the current building (H. L. Mohler & Associates of Lafayette, IN) remained true to the original building material, limestone, which was quarried in southern Indiana. Several Montgomery County local authors are recognized on the exterior of the building, and the popular stained glass window at the front of the building is the work of Crawfordsville resident and International artist Margie Colgan. Many other local artists also have artwork represented at CDPL. You can view more information about the local authors and other building details from informational binders and photos in our display.

Special areas in the building are also named in honor of community members. Our Local History Collection is named after Marian Morrison in recognition of her achievements as president of the Crawfordsville District Public Library Board of Trustees, the Montgomery County Historical Society, and founding board member of Montgomery County Community Foundation, to name a few. Our Art Gallery is named after Mary Bishop, one of our previous Library Directors who valued the arts and prioritized starting a gallery in the late 1970s inside the addition to the original Carnegie building.

The anniversary display will be available to view into December. Please stop by and discover the history of your library. We also encouraged you to visit the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County, which previously housed the library and was rededicated as the CMMC in 2007. The museum offers many activities for families and children and continues to support the efforts to grow the community through education. The Museum is located at 222 South Washington Street, across the street from the library.

To discover more about the history of the library and Montgomery County,  explore our Library History page and our Local History Resources page. You can also find some great information in our latest Genealogy Club video, which includes library history and statistics presented by Jodie Steelman Wilson, Assistant Director of the Library. If you would like consultation on your own local history research projects, call us at 765-362-2242, ext. 3 to make an appointment with our local history specialist.