Carnegie Public Library (Tyler, Texas)
The Smith County Historical Society, housed in the Carnegie Library, is located at 125 S. College Street in the city of Tyler, Smith County, Texas, U.S. It was built in 1904 as the Carnegie Public Library, and added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Smith County, Texas in 1979. When Tyler built a new public library, the Carnegie building was leased to the Smith County Historical Society and continues to operate as a museum and archives.
Carnegie library
In 1903, Tyler was the recipient of an $15,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Library Fund. The grant was part of $645,000 the Fund distributed to thirty-four areas in Texas for the establishments of individual libraries between 1898 and 1917. Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie encouraged the establishment of libraries in geographical areas by requiring annual matching local funds equal to at least ten percent of the grant itself. Andrew Carnegie's agreement with Tyler was that it would raise $1,500 annually to maintain and operate the library.The initial matching fund in Tyler was for essentials such as purchase of the land and interior furnishings. Tyler's populace rose to the occasion in support of its proposed library. Portraits of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were donated by the Mollie Moore Davis Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Contributions to buy a $2,000 lot from Annie Regina McMahon on which to locate the library came from 172 local citizens. Limestone and brick was used in 1904 for the construction of the library, which was topped with a red tile roof. The area media gave due attention to the fund raising, and generosity of the citizens resulted in everything from botanical gifts for landscaping, to wall hangings, books and publications to fill its shelves, construction materials and services, and a piano for its auditorium. The building was doubled in size in 1936 by a $25,000 expansion project that upgraded the interior lighting. In 1965, a children's literature department was sectioned off from the upstairs auditorium. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Smith County, Texas, in 1979.