Rushmore Memorial Library
Encyclopedia
The Rushmore Memorial Library, also known as the Rushmore Memorial Building, is located at the junction of NY 32
and Weygant Hill Road in Highland Mills
, New York, United States. It is a small Arts and Crafts-style
stone building constructed in the 1920s with a donation from Charles E. Rushmore
, a local resident for whom Mount Rushmore
is also named.
It served as the Town of Woodbury
public library
until the mid 1980s, when a larger modern library was built. Today it is the headquarters of the town historical society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2008, after two previous efforts in the 1980s failed.
structure faced in locally-quarried uncoursed
puddingstone
and topped with a Mission-style
ceramic-tiled hipped roof
that overhangs the building on all sides and covers the front steps as well. A stone chimney, similar to the wall, rises from the west side. A wheelchair ramp
leads into a rear entrance; a short set of stairs to the front.
Inside, there is one single room with a large stone chimney breast
and fireplace
and mahogany
bookshelves. Other original wooden trim and furnishing remains. There is a bronze memorial plaque
with a poem by Jane Rushmore Patterson, Rushmore's daughter. The basement is fully excavated.
as a small collection of books kept first on a shelf at the local drugstore and later moved to a grocery store and the telephone company office as it got larger. Jane Patterson encouraged her parents to help build a permanent home for the library, and they bought the land and put up the money to build it. The deed
stipulated that the building and property remain in use as a library or some related function, or it would revert to the Rushmore family.
Howard Gregory, a young local war veteran and architect whose father's firm had built the Rushmore home in 1906, designed the library and oversaw its construction throughout 1924. One of his early renderings
is displayed in the building today. His use of uncut stone was in keeping with both the principles of the American Arts and Crafts movement and other nearby rustic stone architecture, such as the gatehouse
at the F.F. Proctor estate a few miles away and the structures built for Harriman and Bear Mountain
state parks and the new gated community
of Tuxedo Park
.
Charles Rushmore died in 1931, and eight years later the library would be formally renamed in his memory. At the same time it was deeded to what was then the Highland Mills Common School District. In 1951, that district was one of several merged into the new Monroe-Woodbury Central School District
. The library remained under the new district's control for five years, until in 1956 the school district transferred it back to the town. It became Rushmore Memorial Public Library, the Highland Mills branch of the town library, in 1958. It was a charter member of the regional Ramapo-Catskill Library System when that was established the next year.
In 1966, all volunteer services at the library were ended. The wheelchair ramp was added in 1970, with a window converted to a door in the process. Fifteen years later, in 1985, the town built a newer, larger library facility, and it briefly considered whether to keep the original building or not. It was decided that the historical society would keep collections related to local history there.
At that time, the historical society had tried twice to get the library listed on the National Register, but both applications failed. In 2008, with help from New York's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
, they were successful.
New York State Route 32
New York State Route 32 is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany,...
and Weygant Hill Road in Highland Mills
Highland Mills, New York
Highland Mills is a hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,468 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a census-designated place...
, New York, United States. It is a small Arts and Crafts-style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
stone building constructed in the 1920s with a donation from Charles E. Rushmore
Charles E. Rushmore
Charles E. Rushmore was an American businessman and attorney for whom Mount Rushmore is named. Born in New York City, he was the son of Edward Carmen Rushmore and Mary Eliza Rushmore, of Tuxedo Park, NY. He was married to the former Jeanette E...
, a local resident for whom Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
is also named.
It served as the Town of Woodbury
Woodbury, Orange County, New York
Woodbury is a town and village in Orange County, New York, United States. The town population was 9,460 at the 2000 census. The village was incorporated in 2006 and comprises all of the town that is not part of the village of Harriman. The region was once called Woodbury Clove...
public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
until the mid 1980s, when a larger modern library was built. Today it is the headquarters of the town historical society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2008, after two previous efforts in the 1980s failed.
Building
The library is a one-story three-by-three-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
structure faced in locally-quarried uncoursed
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
puddingstone
Puddingstone (rock)
Puddingstone, also known as either Pudding stone or Plum-pudding stone, is a popular name applied to a conglomerate that consists of distinctly rounded pebbles whose colors contrast sharply with the color of the finer-grained, often sandy, matrix or cement surrounding them...
and topped with a Mission-style
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
ceramic-tiled hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
that overhangs the building on all sides and covers the front steps as well. A stone chimney, similar to the wall, rises from the west side. A wheelchair ramp
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
leads into a rear entrance; a short set of stairs to the front.
Inside, there is one single room with a large stone chimney breast
Chimney breast
A chimney breast is a portion of a wall which projects forward over a fireplace. Chimney jambs similarly project from the wall, but they do so on either side of the fireplace and serve to support the chimney breast. The interior of a chimney breast is commonly filled with brickwork or concrete....
and fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
and mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
bookshelves. Other original wooden trim and furnishing remains. There is a bronze memorial plaque
Memorial Plaque
The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war....
with a poem by Jane Rushmore Patterson, Rushmore's daughter. The basement is fully excavated.
History
Woodbury's public library began in the years following World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as a small collection of books kept first on a shelf at the local drugstore and later moved to a grocery store and the telephone company office as it got larger. Jane Patterson encouraged her parents to help build a permanent home for the library, and they bought the land and put up the money to build it. The deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
stipulated that the building and property remain in use as a library or some related function, or it would revert to the Rushmore family.
Howard Gregory, a young local war veteran and architect whose father's firm had built the Rushmore home in 1906, designed the library and oversaw its construction throughout 1924. One of his early renderings
Artistic rendering
Rendering in visual art and technical drawing means the process of creating, shading, and texturing of an image, especially a photorealistic one. It can also be used to describe the quality of execution of that process...
is displayed in the building today. His use of uncut stone was in keeping with both the principles of the American Arts and Crafts movement and other nearby rustic stone architecture, such as the gatehouse
Gatehouse
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance.-History:...
at the F.F. Proctor estate a few miles away and the structures built for Harriman and Bear Mountain
Bear Mountain State Park
Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange and Rockland counties of New York. The park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming, cross-country skiing, cross-country running, sledding and ice skating...
state parks and the new gated community
Gated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
of Tuxedo Park
Tuxedo Park, New York
Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 731 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...
.
Charles Rushmore died in 1931, and eight years later the library would be formally renamed in his memory. At the same time it was deeded to what was then the Highland Mills Common School District. In 1951, that district was one of several merged into the new Monroe-Woodbury Central School District
Monroe-Woodbury Central School District
The Monroe-Woodbury Central School District is a school district in Orange County, New York. Most students in the school district live in the towns of Monroe or Woodbury, hence the name. However, there are some students in the district that live in either Chester, Blooming Grove, or Tuxedo. The...
. The library remained under the new district's control for five years, until in 1956 the school district transferred it back to the town. It became Rushmore Memorial Public Library, the Highland Mills branch of the town library, in 1958. It was a charter member of the regional Ramapo-Catskill Library System when that was established the next year.
In 1966, all volunteer services at the library were ended. The wheelchair ramp was added in 1970, with a window converted to a door in the process. Fifteen years later, in 1985, the town built a newer, larger library facility, and it briefly considered whether to keep the original building or not. It was decided that the historical society would keep collections related to local history there.
At that time, the historical society had tried twice to get the library listed on the National Register, but both applications failed. In 2008, with help from New York's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates :*168 state parks*35 state historic sites*76 developed beaches*53 water recreational facilities*27 golf courses*39 full service cottages*818 cabins...
, they were successful.