Latter Memorial Library
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Marker Inscription
Latter Memorial Library has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. October 21, 1976.
Erected by National Register of Historic Places
The Story
This stately mansion on New Orleans' St. Charles Avenue was recognized on October 21, 1976, when the Department of the Interior placed the Latter Memorial Library on the National Register of Historic Places. Serving the public as a branch library, the building preserves the grandeur of the avenue's early twentieth-century residential architecture. The bronze plaque records its formal listing among the nation's protected historic places.
Why it matters
It shows how a grand private home was preserved for public good, reflecting the mid-1970s surge in American historic-preservation efforts.
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Related events
- Β· Listing on the National Register of Historic Places, 1976
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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