List of Carnegie libraries in Texas

The following list of Carnegie libraries in Texas provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in Texas, where 32 public libraries were built from 30 grants (totaling $649,500) awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1898 to 1915. In addition, an academic library was built at Wiley University in Marshall from a $15,000 grant awarded March 26, 1906.

Today 13 of these buildings survive, with 10 listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They were often designed by the leading Texas architects of the day. For example, the now-demolished main libraries in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio were works by James Riely Gordon, the master architect of county courthouses.

Key

  Building still operating as a library
  Building standing, but now serving another purpose
  Building no longer standing
  Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Public libraries

	Library	City or town	Image	Date granted[1]	Grant amount[1]	Location	Notes
1	Abilene	Abilene		Mar 9, 1907	$17,500		Building demolished in 1958
2	Ballinger	Ballinger		Feb 10, 1908	$17,500	204 N 8th St	Still a public library
3	Belton	Belton		Feb 2, 1903	$10,000	201 N Main St	Now the Bell County Museum
4	Brownwood	Brownwood		Mar 27, 1903	$15,000		Building demolished in 1965
5	Bryan	Bryan		Apr 11, 1902	$10,000	111 S Main St	Now the Carnegie History Center
6	Clarksville	Clarksville		Sep 5, 1902	$10,000		Building destroyed by fire in 1980
7	Cleburne	Cleburne		Apr 13, 1903	$20,000	201 N Caddo St	Now the Layland Museum
8	Corsicana	Corsicana		Mar 16, 1904	$25,000		Building demolished in 1967
9	Dallas Main	Dallas		Aug 23, 1899	$76,000	Commerce & Harwood Streets	Building demolished in 1954
10	Dallas Branch	Dallas		Aug 23, 1899	—		Building demolished
11	El Paso	El Paso		Jan 9, 1902	$37,500		Building demolished in 1968
12	Fort Worth	Fort Worth		Jun 30, 1899	$50,000	W 9th St and Throckmorton St	Building demolished in 1937
13	Franklin	Franklin		Apr 2, 1913	$7,500	315 E Decherd	Now the Robertson County Public Library
14	Gainesville	Gainesville		Apr 3, 1912	$15,000	201 S Denton St	Now the Butterfield Stage
15	Greenville	Greenville		Apr 13, 1903	$15,000		Building demolished in 1953
16	Houston Main	Houston		Oct 28, 1899	$65,000		Building demolished
17	Houston Segregated	Houston		Oct 28, 1899	$15,000	Frederick St. and Robin St. (later replatted, the area is now Two Allen Center)	Building demolished in 1970s
18	Jefferson	Jefferson		May 15, 1906	$10,000	301 W Lafayette	Still the Jefferson Carnegie Library
19	Memphis	Memphis		Jan 27, 1912	$10,000		Building demolished in mid-1980s
20	Palestine	Palestine		Sep 27, 1912	$15,000	502 N Queen St	After a 38-year hiatus, it will resume service as the Palestine Public Library in June 2023
21	Pecos	Pecos		Jun 25, 1911	$9,000		Building demolished in early 1960s
22	Pittsburg	Pittsburg		Apr 30, 1898	$5,000		The eighth library in the US to be commissioned by Carnegie and only the second outside of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Building destroyed by fire in 1939
23	San Antonio	San Antonio		Jan 6, 1900	$70,000		Building demolished
24	Sherman	Sherman		Apr 3, 1912	$20,000	301 S Walnut	Now The Sherman Museum
25	Stamford	Stamford		Jun 29, 1908	$15,000	600 E McHarg St	Still the Stamford Carnegie Library
26	Sulphur Springs	Sulphur Springs		Apr 10, 1909	$12,000	100 Jefferson St W	Now Alliance Bank
27	Temple	Temple		Jan 22, 1902	$15,000		Building destroyed by fire in 1918
28	Terrell	Terrell		Feb 20, 1903	$10,000	207 N Frances St	Now the Terrell Heritage Museum
29	Tyler	Tyler		Mar 20, 1903	$15,000	125 S College St	Now the Smith County History Center
30	Vernon	Vernon		Apr 19, 1915	$12,500		Building demolished in late 1970s
31	Waco	Waco		Apr 28, 1902	$30,000		Building demolished
32	Winnsboro	Winnsboro		Apr 6, 1908	$10,000		Building demolished in 1967

Academic library

	Institution	Locality	Image	Date granted	Grant amount	Location	Notes
1	Wiley University	Marshall		Mar 26, 1906	$15,000	711 Wiley Ave.	Now the Willis J. King Administration Building

Notes

1. At various times, Bobinski and Jones disagree on these numbers. In these cases, Jones' numbers have been used due to both a more recent publication date and a more detailed gazetteer of branch libraries, which are often where the discrepancies occur.

References

• Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC 1282382.
• Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4.
• Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
• Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890-1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC 2603611.

Note: The above references, while all authoritative, are not entirely mutually consistent. Some details of this list may have been drawn from one of the references without support from the others. Reader discretion is advised.