Site of First Carnegie Library in Texas
Pittsburg, Camp County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At 1898 request of firm mining coal in Pittsburg, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave $5,000.00 to match local pledges and build the first Carnegie Library (of 31) in Texas on this site. The masonry building was also the opera house and city hall. Library had 3,000 books. It became a social center, with meeting rooms for clubs and groups such as ladies sewing for World War I hospitals. The opera house staged professional drama and lectures and was used for graduations and recitals until modern school was built in 1926. The library burned in 1939. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1898, at the request of a local coal-mining firm, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie put up $5,000 to match community pledges and build the first of 31 Carnegie libraries in Texas here in Pittsburg. The masonry building did triple duty as library, opera house, and city hall, holding 3,000 books and hosting professional drama, lectures, graduations, and clubs — including women stitching supplies for World War I hospitals. It anchored the town's cultural life until a modern school opened in 1926, and the library itself burned in 1939.
Why it matters
Carnegie's library-building philanthropy seeded free public reading rooms across small-town America, and this was the very first to reach Texas.
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Related people
- · Andrew Carnegie
Related events
- · World War I
Themes & tags
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