Green River’s Historic 117-Year-Old Carnegie Library Won’t Be Torn Down — Yet

The weary Carnegie Library building in Green River, Wyoming, turns the pages of history back to the turn of the 20th century in 1900 when the American steel philanthropist wanted to spread culture across the land.

Beautiful buildings filled with books once lifted communities — and many still do — along with inspiring generations of learners and readers.

But now there are the rumblings on local social media and around the Green River community about what to do with its historic structure that was born through a $20,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation and became a local resource that first opened its doors July 4, 1907.

The building served the community until 1980, when the library was moved into its current location two blocks east of its original site at 177 N. Center St. For a time, the structure housed the Green River Circuit Court.

Now there are fears the 117-year-old Green River Carnegie Library is slated for demolition.

No Demolition Plans

Not going to happen, Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Keaton West told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. However, the building is in poor shape and some hard decisions about it will have to be made at some point.

Keaton wants it clear that there are no current plans to take the building down despite it being brought up in a Coffee with the Commissioners meeting. West said the question about what to do with the old library was brought up from a member of the media in context with a discussion on county services and consolidating facilities and vacating or selling other structures.

“This gentleman from the media said, ‘Well, what about the old Carnegie building?’ Which we weren’t even discussing,” West said. “A couple of us just said, ‘Well, yeah, there’s that too, that’s been sitting over there for many years vacant and it’s an issue we probably should address one way or the other.’ A couple of us spoke up on our personal opinions about it, but as a governing body we have not had those conversations.”

During a tour of the building in the past year or so, West said commissioners found a load-bearing wall in the library had been removed and there were stabilization jacks with 8-by-8-foot beams holding up the roof.

Additionally, West said when the building closed, the heating and ventilation functions were stopped and the walls and windows have started to bow out and become warped. There are cracks in the masonry as well.

Costly Fixes

A pre-pandemic assessment for basic fixes to keep the old Carnegie Library structurally standing was about $350,000, Keaton said.

Commissioner Island Richards said after his tour of the building and discussions with the county’s Public Works director, he believes the building “is not salvageable for a reasonable amount of money.”

“It’s going to take a couple of million dollars just to keep it from falling down,” he said. “It’s in pretty bad shape and some decisions were made a couple of decades ago to do remodels that compromised it’s structural integrity.”

Richards said the landscaping around the building allows water to flow into its sandstone foundation and he believes the “foundation itself is compromised.”

Both commissioners believe that it is important for the current board to develop a solution for the building one way or the other and not pass on an issue they inherited.

“We said that it is something that we shouldn’t just allow to sit and rot away or do nothing about, especially if there are safety concerns,” West said. “It’s something we need to think about and probably get some updated assessments on, figure out what the different costs are and the structural issues.

“And then look at that in comparison with the other needs in the county and try and make an educated decision on what is best from there.”

Concerned History Buff

Local historian Emilio Sanchez said he is concerned that the structure will just be torn down, which has been the fate of six of Wyoming’s 16 Carnegie Libraries.

His research into the Green River building goes back to the efforts of a Robert C. Morris who worked to see the library become reality.

The Green River Star’s July 5, 1907, edition extolled the library’s opening as “one of the most brilliant social events in the history of the city.”

“The reception which lasted from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. was attended by over 500 of the citizens of the county including several hundred visitors from Rock Spring,” the paper reported. “The building, one of the most artistic library structures in the West, called forth unbounded admiration.”

Sanchez said the library was a great resource for the community in its day, and he believes it has stained glass inside. He said the last time he saw the building in use was in 2012 or 2014.

“For me personally, it doesn’t surprise me if they do tear it down,” he said. “Green River has a history of demolishing its buildings and gutting them out, leaving them there to rot. That’s how the Union Pacific Depot is right now.”

The Alliance for an Historic Wyoming plans to highlight endangered places during May as part of its historic preservation month, said the group’s executive director, Megan Stanfill. She said the Green River Carnegie Library would likely be one of the places featured.

An article on the alliance’s website about Carnegie libraries states that to get the buildings, communities had to supply a building site and fund 10% of the total grant for general maintenance of the structure.

Sanchez said it’s “sad” to him that someone who was not born in Green River “has more heart and emotions for these historical buildings” than others willing to see past glory destroyed.

“The opening of the library back then was the most important event in the history of the town, even the Green River Star (reported) the ‘library marks an epoch in the growth and future of Green River,’” Sanchez said. “Unfortunately, those words died 116 years ago.”

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.