| Public Libraries of Massachusetts | |
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| Date: | 1915 |
| Author: | George Hartnell Bartlett |
| Dwnld: | Full Size (15mb) |
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| See our Prints Page for more details | |
This charming map was made by Arlington, Massachusetts native George H. Bartlett and engraved by the Suffolk Engraving & Electrotyping Co. in 1904.
What a labor of love this must've been for Mr. Bartlett. It's well done and quite fascinating; I've not seen anything all similar to this work.
An odd and interesting paragraph from the lower right: ”The State has 35 cities and 319 towns. All, except one town, have free public libraries”. So what's the town, and what's the story behind this?
It's a bit of a shame how this was transferred, and the wavy background gradation could absolutely be taken out. One of these days, I'll get around to this, but it seems like a bit of a headache to do it right. If any enterprising soul would like the TIF file to have his/her go at it, I'd be more than happy to give it to you.
According to the 1914 Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts, Newbury was the only town/city without a free public library. Residents did have privileges at the Newburyport Public Library, however.
Looks wonderful, and I love that I can zoom in–delighted to see my hometown library here (South Weymouth, MA–Fogg library is still there today; there’s even a photo on Wikipedia).