Do You Know This Building?
Answers: 1.c) Julesburg; 2.c) 1937; 3.d) a library This building with its smooth, stuccoed cinderblock walls and flat roof sits across the street from the Sedgwick County Courthouse in Julesburg. The Modernistic style is typical of many Depression era Works Progress Administration construction projects. The building represents the successful culmination of efforts by the Julesburg Woman’s Club (JWC) to establish a permanent library and community meeting facility. The seeds of a permanent library were sown in 1913 at a Women’s Christian Temperance Union meeting, when arrangements were made to establish a reading room in downtown Julesburg "with the hopes that in time it might become a public library." When the JWC was officially organized the following year, the members assumed the responsibility of going forward with plans for a permanent structure and for raising the necessary money. The Club purchased lots and deeded the property to the town with the stipulation it was to be held in trust as a library site. The JWC members organized and sponsored a variety of fund-raisers that included dramatic productions, sandwich stands at the county fair, the sale of Christmas and Easter flowers, election day food sales, concerts, art exhibits, and a community cook book. In 1935, the JWC engaged Denver architect Stanley Morse to draw up plans which were heartily endorsed and publicly displayed. Realizing that additional assistance was critical, the JWC announced it would apply for a grant from the Works Progress Administration. At the groundbreaking ceremonies held in February the following year, as each past president of the JWC was introduced, they removed a shovel full of earth from the foundation site. Many towns people had their first interior glimpse of the building in November. The front page of the local paper described the 92 by 43 foot building as “a spacious structure. In fact numerous people have remarked that the library is too much for Julesburg. To this remark a Julesburg businessman said recently: ‘Let’s build Julesburg up to equal the library’.” The article went on to describe the artistic rock fireplace in the club room. Two JWC members were assigned to obtain stones from the Big Thompson Canyon area. A large WPA truck and the two women in an automobile drove to the canyon. The women selected stones which the men loaded into the truck. The women designed the fireplace directing a local mason on the placement of each rock. At the dedication ceremonies in October 1937, speaker State Senator Ed Johnson noted that during Roosevelt’s visit to Julesburg the previous summer, the President had remarked that it gave him satisfaction knowing that the WPA money was spent to such a good advantage. The building still houses the library and provides a permanent meeting room for the JWC who continue to manage the library. Rooms in the building are used for various civic and social activities, including political meetings, alumni reunions, church services, and private parties for anniversaries, weddings, and birthdays. The Julesburg Public Library is listed in the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties. |
