Carnegie Library Building
Terrell, Kaufman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Completed in 1904, this library building is located on land owned in the 1890s by local publisher O. B. Colquitt, who later became the governor of Texas. It was designed by the Waco firm of Messer and Smith and features classical detailing. Through the efforts of the women's clubs of Terrell, the Andrew Carnegie Foundation provided funds for the building, and the city of Terrell contributed money for the library operations. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy was seeding public libraries across America, the women's clubs of Terrell secured a grant to bring one to their North Texas town, opening this classically detailed building in 1904. It rose on land once owned by local publisher O. B. Colquitt, who would go on to serve as governor of Texas, and was designed by the Waco firm of Messer and Smith. The city funded operations while Carnegie money paid for the building itself.
Why it matters
It embodies the Carnegie library movement that democratized reading in small-town America, and the organized women's clubs whose civic energy so often made those libraries happen.
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Related people
- · O. B. Colquitt
- · Andrew Carnegie
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Carnegie Public Library
Terrell, TX
Opened in 1904 through the determined efforts of local women's clubs and a building grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, this was the only library in Kaufman County. It became a hub of community life, hosting early civic functions and serving as an information center for students from five area colleges. Its shelves grew to hold more than 14,000 volumes.
First Baptist Church of Josephine
Josephine, TX
In 1888, Sam and Mrs. Tarrant gathered local families at the Reed's Chapel schoolhouse to organize a Baptist congregation under first pastor W.M. Wolfe, and a summer brush-arbor revival quickly added 27 members. The church grew from a wooden sanctuary around 1890 to a three-story brick building in 1911 and a modern sanctuary in 1964, its dirt-floor tabernacle hosting two-week revivals with organist Ella Smith serving for more than seventy years. When the town school was rebuilt in 1936–37, the church even sheltered its high school classes.
Church of the Good Shepherd
Terrell, TX
Founded as an Episcopal mission on Trinity Sunday 1877 by the Rev. John Portmess, this Terrell congregation first met in the vicar's own Terrell Academy and built its first church the following year. The Victorian Gothic building completed in 1907 still holds an elaborately carved oak altar and a rare Gratian organ, and was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1967.
First Baptist Church of Terrell
Terrell, TX
The Rev. J. B. Daniel organized First Baptist Church of Terrell in 1876 with just 13 members, who met monthly for worship, and served as its first pastor. A small frame building went up on this block in 1879, the same year the enduring Women's Missionary Society was founded. A brick sanctuary followed in 1905, and its stained glass was carried into the present building completed in 1956, by which time membership had grown to about 850.