Redwood Library and Athenaeum
The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a subscription library, museum, rare book repository and research center founded in 1747, and located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The building, designed by Peter Harrison and completed in March 1750, was the first purposely built library in the United States, and the oldest neo-Classical building in the country. It has been in continuous use since its opening.[5][6]
The building is part of the Kay Street–Catherine Street–Old Beach Road Historic District, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
History[edit]
18th century[edit]
The Company of the Redwood Library was established in 1747, in Newport, Rhode Island, by Abraham Redwood and 45 colonists with the goal of making written knowledge more widely available to the Newport community.[7]
The original section of the building was constructed between 1748 and 1750 by architect Peter Harrison. Only the Library Company of Philadelphia is older, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin. The Redwood Library and Athenaeum predates the Charleston Library Society (founded in 1748), New York Society Library (founded in 1754), and the Boston Athenaeum (founded in 1807).
Reference room, 1937
The building's interior in 2004
The side (main) entrance at 50 Bellevue Avenue (2021)
