GC2M24A Carnegie Library (Traditional Cache) in Indiana, United States created by cross_penny

This cache has been archived.

cross_penny_cacher: Think I will let this one go. Its been muggled twice and some no trespassing signs have showed up. Thanks to all who found it, it was fun while it lasted.

GC2M24A ▼

A cache by cross_penny_cacher Message this owner

Hidden : 1/4/2011

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

*** PLEASE RE-HIDE WELL SO CACHE DOESN'T GET MUGGLED***

The Carnegie library, dedicated 1 June 1904, was described by the newspapers as "A Marvel of Beauty". The oak circulation desk was flanked by the main reading room on one side, and the children's room on the other. A skylight and ornate plaster decorated the ceilings, and mosaic tile decorated the floor. Wooden arches, columns, and furniture added to the beauty of the rooms. A basement auditorium seated 300, a men's smoking room offered daily newspapers, and chess and checker games were available. The new library was impressive enough to be used as an example by the Library of Congress as a "nearly ideal" arrangement.

Andrew Carnegie
Born : November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Fife, United Kingdom
Died : August 11, 1919 in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States

He is often regarded as the second-richest man in history after John D. Rockefeller
by the time he died in 1919, he had given away $350,695,653 . At his death, the last $30,000,000 was likewise given away to foundations, charities and to pensioners.

Andrew Carnegie was convinced of and committed to the notion that education was life's key. He was convinced of the power of, what we term today, access to information. He learned that lesson profoundly in the libraries of Col. Anderson in Allegheny City. It was an experience he never forgot and which motivated his campaign of world-wide library-building. Over the doors of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, carved in stone, are his own words, "Free to the People."

When the last grant was made in 1919, there were 3,500 libraries in the United States, nearly half of them built with construction grants paid by Carnegie.

Carnegie believed in giving to the "industrious and ambitious; not those who need everything done for them, but those who, being most anxious and able to help themselves, deserve and will be benefited by help from others."Under segregation black people were generally denied access to public libraries in the Southern United States. Rather than insisting on his libraries being racially integrated, he funded separate libraries for African Americans. For example, at Houston he funded a separate Colored Carnegie Library.
Most of the library buildings were unique, constructed in a number of architectural styles, including Beaux-Arts, Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival, and Spanish Colonial. Scottish Baronial was one of the styles used in Carnegie's native Scotland. Each style was chosen by the community, although as the years went by James Bertram, Carnegie's secretary, became less tolerant of designs which were not to his taste.The architecture was typically simple and formal, welcoming patrons to enter through a prominent doorway, nearly always accessed via a staircase. The entry staircase symbolized a person's elevation by learning. Similarly, outside virtually every library was a lamppost or lantern, meant as a symbol of enlightenment.
In the early 20th century, a Carnegie library was often the most imposing structure in hundreds of small American communities. (visit link) (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

ab arrq gb yrnir gur przrag

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)