Blackstone Public Library, 4904 S Lake Park Ave
1902, Solon S. Beman. (for Beman see Turner house above)Beman modeled this building after his own Merchant Tailors Building that faced the lagoon at the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo, which was in turned modeled on the Erechtheion, a temple on the Athenian Acropolis.This was the first dedicated branch in the Chicago Branch Library System. It’s named after Timothy Beach Blackstone, President of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864-1899. He was also the founding president of the Union Stock Yards. He owned this property, and donated it for the purposes of a library upon his death. Artwork by Chicago artist Oliver Dennett Grover, located in the rotunda, features the themes of literature, science, labor and art. Other notable architectural details include an upper-level glass floor, stained-glass ceilings, carved marble, mosaic tile floors and mahogany wainscoting. The children’s room, a WPA project, opened in 1939.
Blackstone Public Library, 4904 S Lake Park Ave
1902, Solon S. Beman. (for Beman see Turner house above)Beman modeled this building after his own Merchant Tailors Building that faced the lagoon at the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo, which was in turned modeled on the Erechtheion, a temple on the Athenian Acropolis.This was the first dedicated branch in the Chicago Branch Library System. It’s named after Timothy Beach Blackstone, President of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864-1899. He was also the founding president of the Union Stock Yards. He owned this property, and donated it for the purposes of a library upon his death. Artwork by Chicago artist Oliver Dennett Grover, located in the rotunda, features the themes of literature, science, labor and art. Other notable architectural details include an upper-level glass floor, stained-glass ceilings, carved marble, mosaic tile floors and mahogany wainscoting. The children’s room, a WPA project, opened in 1939.