Library – Blue Hill ME

Description

Built to replace the former library that shared an 1895 building with the town hall.

“By the early 1930s, the Town Hall location was too small. Even though these were the years of the Depression, plans began for a new library. Adelaide Pearson, who had moved to Blue Hill in 1928, took on the formidable task. She was described as “a small woman who got things done” and had a vision for a library that was an integral part of the community, serving more than as a place to store and retrieve books.

To fulfill that dream, she organized a fundraising campaign to buy a vacant lot on the corner of Main Street and Parker Point Road. Local pledges came in ranging from 20 dollars to 25 cents to “one dollar or a day’s work.” With the help of librarian Anne Hinckley, Adelaide Pearson petitioned the federal government for funds from the Public Works Administration.

During 1938 and 1939, the whole project almost fell through until Anne Hinckley traveled to New York and Washington to secure the PWA grant in person. At last, in March of 1940, the handsome new brick building designed by Bunker and Savage Architects of Augusta opened its doors.”