Goodrich Memorial Library, Newport

Telephone: 802-334-7902
Fax: 802-334-3890
Email: newport@dol.state.vt.us

Newport’s impressive Goodrich Memorial Library, located on Main Street (US Route 5) and over-looking Lake Memphremagog, was the gift of Converse Goodhue Goodrich and his wife Almira. Architect William Storey designed the Renaissance Revival/Queen Anne building that was dedicated in 1899. It somewhat resembles Derby Line’s Haskell Free Library and Opera House completed five years later.

In 1862, John M. Currier started the first circulating library in town. Membership cost $2 per share, but books could be donated in place of money. In 1884, the Newport Library Association was organized and 12 years later the Newport Town Library was established under the law of 1894. The two collections merged and were located in C.F. Ranney’s store until the move to the present library.

Goodrich, born in New Hampshire in 1820, moved to Vermont when he was 11 years old. Educated in Wolcott and Albany, he was a teacher and farmer before settling in Newport. For 45 years until his death, he was a prominent merchant and civil servant. He and his wife made plans in 1896 to leave a piece of property worth $6,000 and to bequeath $61,000 to found and maintain a free public library.

In the spring of 1898, contractor Onesime Sabourin began work on the Goodrich building, a two-story structure of brick with stone trim. The design included Queen Anne features such as the tower and two-story bay windows, as well as a Romanesque arch. The total cost for the building, books, furnishing, and the services of Mary L. Titcomb of Rutland—secretary of the Vermont State Library Commission who classified the collection—was about $33,000.

The inside is a showpiece with fireplaces of colored brick, oak furniture, Swanton marble, and woodwork of red birch, cypress, spruce, and Georgia pine. Stack space, reading rooms, and the librarian’s office are on the main floor, while the second floor has several rooms opening onto a large hallway featuring the D.W. Hildreth museum collection of birds and animals. There are art and trustees’ rooms, an assembly hall, and the Conversation Room whose name on the door has turn-of-the-century overtones.

It was unfortunate that the Goodrich’s died before the library was dedicated on September 1, 1899. During the depression, misfortune struck two more times: the first, when the stock market crash wiped out the money Goodrich had invested; the second, in 1933 when a burglar stole most of the gold in a coin collection given to the library by Riley Wright.

Last updated: 2008



		Goodrich Memorial Library 202 Main Street, Newport, VT 05855
		Telephone: 802-334-7902 Fax: 802-334-3890 Email: newport@dol.state.vt.us Newport’s impressive Goodrich Memorial Library, located on Main Street (US Route 5) and over-looking Lake Memphremagog, was the gift of Converse Goodhue Goodrich and his wife Almira. Architect William Storey designed the Renaissance Revival/Queen Anne building that was dedicated in 1899. It somewhat resembles Derby Line’s Haskell Free Library and Opera House completed five years later. In 1862, John M. Currier started the first circulating library in town. Membership cost $2 per share, but books could be donated in place of money. In 1884, the Newport Library Association was organized and 12 years later the Newport Town Library was established under the law of 1894. The two collections merged and were located in C.F. Ranney’s store until the move to the present library. Goodrich, born in New Hampshire in 1820, moved to Vermont when he was 11 years old. Educated in Wolcott and Albany, he was a teacher and farmer before settling in Newport. For 45 years until his death, he was a prominent merchant and civil servant. He and his wife made plans in 1896 to leave a piece of property worth $6,000 and to bequeath $61,000 to found and maintain a free public library. In the spring of 1898, contractor Onesime Sabourin began work on the Goodrich building, a two-story structure of brick with stone trim. The design included Queen Anne features such as the tower and two-story bay windows, as well as a Romanesque arch. The total cost for the building, books, furnishing, and the services of Mary L. Titcomb of Rutland—secretary of the Vermont State Library Commission who classified the collection—was about $33,000. The inside is a showpiece with fireplaces of colored brick, oak furniture, Swanton marble, and woodwork of red birch, cypress, spruce, and Georgia pine. Stack space, reading rooms, and the librarian’s office are on the main floor, while the second floor has several rooms opening onto a large hallway featuring the D.W. Hildreth museum collection of birds and animals. There are art and trustees’ rooms, an assembly hall, and the Conversation Room whose name on the door has turn-of-the-century overtones. It was unfortunate that the Goodrich’s died before the library was dedicated on September 1, 1899. During the depression, misfortune struck two more times: the first, when the stock market crash wiped out the money Goodrich had invested; the second, in 1933 when a burglar stole most of the gold in a coin collection given to the library by Riley Wright. Last updated: 2008		Contact Person: Carol Nicholson, Library Director Hours and Admission: Monday-Friday: 10 AM to 6 PM Saturday: 10 AM to 3 PM Free and handicapped accessible. Type of Museum: Art Civil War Genealogy History Industrial History National Register of Historic Places Natural History