In the late 1880s, Cañon City was still in the uphill climb of becoming a successful town after the 1863 mass exodus because of the Civil War.
New businesses were popping up everywhere as the men in Cañon City focused on building a thriving sustainable economy. However, it would be the women who built from the ground up one of Cañon City’s most valuable assets that still remains today.
A group of women, Mrs. M.M. Sheetz, Mrs. T.M. Harding, Mrs. J.F. Campbell, and Mrs. Reynolds, along with others, spearheaded the effort that became known as the Cañon City Ladies Library Association in 1886. Their dream of a library for their community did not come without a lot of hard work. Teas were hosted, bazaars planned and door-to-door fundraising efforts were held to launch their project.
Records in the files at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center state that Mrs. J.F. Campbell would go door to door with a baby buggy, collecting book donations for the library. Soon the ladies were able to raise several hundred dollars and buy a small building at 505 Main St. and the first official Cañon City Free Library and Reading Room were started. Library cards were sold at 25 cents apiece and a budget of $250 a year was set to buy new books and periodicals.
Berta Pattee was named the first librarian in 1886, according to a report by the Cañon City Library.
Outfitted with new paint wallpaper and carpet the room was very comfortable and pleasant, according to a non-sourced newspaper article, and perfect for housing their 600 volumes. Mrs. C.E. Waldo, Mrs. J.F. Campbell, Mrs. B.F. Rockafellow, Mrs. Julian L. Mack, and Mrs. W.E. Fort served as officers for the library in various roles; and some records indicate that Miss Alberta Patteo might have also served as a librarian during this time.
In 1901, the library found itself quickly outgrowing its location and discussions began on building a larger library. According to the Cañon City Record article on April 11, 1901, the library had an increase of 3,739 books checked out from the previous year with an average month being 1,360 volumes. Not only were the citizens enjoying their library but so did visitors when they visited the town.
“Strangers who visit the library say it is the best in the state for a town the size of Cañon, and they think the people of Cañon are a refined and enterprising class,” an article stated.
With only $700 in the new building fund, alternative ways were discussed in the annual meeting, including writing to Andrew Carnegie, Mrs. J.M. Ragsdale arose to this challenge and started a correspondence with Mr. Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie had become a millionaire by his investments in the steel industry and had committed to using his wealth for philanthropy, and a large amount of that was dedicated to building libraries. From the period of 1883 to 1929, 2,509 libraries were erected that bore his name. A grant-like process was submitted to obtain funding and according to a newspaper article reporting on the annual meeting of 1901, the ladies stated that they were waiting on a response from Carnegie.
If a town was to obtain a Carnegie Library, it must commit to what was known as the Carnegie Formula, the steps were fairly simple. One must demonstrate the need for a public library, and then provide the building site, they must annually provide 10% of the building’s construction cost to maintain the building and to provide free service for all.
To free up funds to purchase land to build the new library, the Ladies Library Association decided to sell their current location on Main Street to Lyman Robinson for $7,000. An agreement was made that they could remain at the site until the new Library was built paying $50 a month in rent. After the library moved, Mr. Robinson demolished the building to make room for his new business block.
In January 1902, a group of ladies gathered to vote on the location of the library, which was no easy task. The ladies proposed purchasing the lots that the old Presbyterian Church sat on in the 500 block of Macon for several reasons.
First, it was only a block from the Courthouse and Postoffice, and at the time, there were no plans to move either from its present site. It was also a short walking distance from almost all the business in Cañon City, as well as the Strathmore Hotel and the St. Cloud Hotel. It also was ideally located in conjunction with the public schools in town, as well as most of the churches. While the location was not ideal for all, the heart of downtown seemed to be the most convenient as a whole and the lots were purchased for $3,500.
By March, plans for the library had been drafted and approved with $10,000 for building costs supplied by Carnegie, as well as additional funds from taxation. Architect Charles C. Rittenhouse would oversee the build and make sure the plans followed the guidelines provided by Andrew Carnegie. Included in the plans were a large reading room, a reference room, a children’s reading room, and a room for the librarian and trustees. Stacks would be used to house 6,000 volumes, following the Carnegie model, allowing people to self browse where the tradition had been in libraries that the librarian would retrieve the desired book for you.
As construction on the building progressed, it became aware that the funds were not sufficient, so Andrew Carnegie gifted an additional $3,000 to the project.
On July 4, 1902, the cornerstone was laid as more than 1,000 people gathered for the event. Mrs. J.F. Campbell, who played an invaluable role in the foundation of the library, came from Ohio to serve as the opening speaker. Mayor J.H. Peabody closed the event with a marvelous speech that runs almost six columns long in the Cañon City Times newspaper dated July 10, 1902.
An excerpt from his speech states, “We have come here my friend with one common purpose, to aid in establishing upon this foundation stone, a building, which shall be dedicated to but one purpose, that of improving the time and minds of our people and prove a benison to all future generations.” He ends his speech with a tribute to the women who fought so tirelessly for the Library; “This cornerstone symbolizes the untiring and unwearied efforts of patient and willing souls for years. The strength of mortar that surrounds and holds them in place is there by reason of strawberries and cream, baked beans and pickles, mince pie and doughnuts, the brush and needle, and the persistent tread of tired feet…Tired bodies we have had many times but never weary in heart, never discouraged.”
A sealed box containing a picture of Andrew Carnegie, the library’s catalog of books, and copies of all the city’s papers was placed in the receptacle into the cornerstone serving as a time capsule. In December 2014, a crowd of once again gathered at the cornerstone of the Library. There the gathering, quite smaller than then the one in 1902, watched as the box was gently removed from its resting spot of 112 years by Mountain Masonry. The copper-plated metal box was fairly easy to remove from the limestone mortar, according to a Cañon City Daily Record article and the contents donated to the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center.
In April 1903, Mrs. Alvira M. Ragsdale submitted an article to the Cañon City Daily Record during Ladies Week in regards to the Ladies Library Association.
“With the completion of our new building, we turn it over to the city government, who, with an advisory board of ladies will manage it,” Ragsdale wrote. “We have labored long and patiently encountering many discouragements, but we are gratified for what has been accomplished; for when we look at our new modern building so commodious, so neat, so well lighted and ventilated, and in fact so complete and appropriate in every respect, and one not only admired for its beauty but appreciated and so well patronized by home and transient people who go there to read and obtain various information from our splendid assortment of books, as well as the great number of books taken out, we are gratified.”
The library at that time boasted 4,500 volumes in its collection and had lent out 2,546 books in February.
The library continued to grow both in visitors and in the volumes that it housed. In 1905 an unsourced newspaper article reported monthly visitors at the library to be 1,565 with over 5000 books in its collection. By 1925 the library was reporting it had 22,356 volumes in circulation throughout the year.
Throughout the years, the shape of the building has shifted as additions were made to make room for Cañon City’s growing book and resident population. But the heart and mission of the library have remained true to its foundation as seen in their mission statement: “The Cañon City Library enriches lives through encouraging learning, sharing, and creativity.”
Today, the Cañon City Library is one of 35 Carnegie Libraries built in Colorado and one of 18 that still utilizes the building for its original purpose.
