Carnegie buildings: Bricks, stone and an enduring legacy

Andrew Carnegie wasn’t kidding.

Once the richest man in the world, the industrialist argued that the wealthy had a chance to aid their communities twice: First, by employing thousands as they built a fortune, and second, by giving that fortune away.

Carnegie was a man of his word. Locals can still see the signs of his largesse here, thanks to a loose-knit tour of Carnegie libraries that includes sites in Snohomish and Skagit counties.

The Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver, Wash., organized the driving tour by mapping out 20 sites. Locals can visit www.cchmuseum.org for information on Mr. Carnegie’s Grand Tour of Washington, before visiting the buildings on their own.

“Carnegie libraries are kind of these grand ladies that sit on major thoroughfares…,” said organizer Lisa Christopher of the Clark County Historical Museum. “They do share some common denominators. A lot of them employ classical elements.”

Carnegie might be glad to see his stately buildings still standing — he built them with brick and stone for a reason. He also might be intrigued by the do-it-yourself nature of the tour. He was a self-made millionaire, after all.

Born into poverty in Scotland, Carnegie made his fortune as a steel mogul in Pennsylvania. He then sold his company to J. Pierpont Morgan for $400 million in 1901 and launched into philanthropic efforts, according to the biography “Andrew Carnegie,” by David Nasaw.

He had a particular eye for funding libraries.

At that time, state and city governments resisted supporting libraries, so Carnegie built one after another with a simple condition: He would pay for construction, but the city had to support the library.

The plan worked. According to Nasaw, Carnegie gave 1,419 grants for the construction of 1,689 public libraries in the United States and its territories at a cost of $41 million — billions today — by the time of his death at age 83 in 1919.

Dozens of his buildings survive in Washington state. Three are located in Snohomish County and another two in Skagit County.

None, however, are libraries anymore.

In Everett, Edmonds and Anacortes, the buildings hold museums, while Snohomish’s Carnegie is a multipurpose city building that houses the Arts of Snohomish, among other things. In Burlington, the building is being used by the school district.

To varying degrees, then, the buildings continue to serve their benefactor’s original purpose, an intent symbolized by the dual lampposts that sit outside some of the structures: They still enlighten.

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.

Local Carnegie buildings

3001 Oakes Ave., Everett

105 Cedar Ave., Snohomish

118 Fifth Ave. N., Edmonds

1305 Eighth St., Anacortes

901 E. Fairhaven Ave., Burlington

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