The Way I See It: History of libraries in the area has many chapters
Trending
Today we have almost an unlimited amount of information available to us. Much of it at our fingertips and much of it for free.
Libraries are important today as the keepers of volumes of information and services that are provided to citizens at no cost. The early versions of libraries in our area operated with a subscription model to get books in the hands of patrons.
The first library in Washington County, and therefore Ohio, was in Belpre.
Colonel Israel Putnam had brought volumes of books that had belonged to his father Gen. Israel Putnam with him when he moved here from the east. In 1796, the Belpre Farmers Library was established with shares of the library being sold for $10.
One of the shareholders, Amos Dunham wrote "The long winter evenings were rather tedious and in order to make them pass more smoothly, by great exertion I purchased a share in the Belpre library, 6 miles distant. From this I promised myself much entertainment, but another obstacle presented itself -- I had no candles; however, the woods afforded plenty of pine knots -- with these I made torches by which I could read, though I nearly spoiled my eyes. Many a night have I passed in this manner til 12 or 1 o'clock reading to my wife while she was hatchelling, carding or spinning."
The library was, in effect, the Netflix of 1800.
In 1829 Marietta finally got a library when a group of community leaders established the Marietta Library Association. Shares were sold for $5 and the newly established library soon had a new home in a two-story building that sat on Front Street where the Masonic Temple sits today.
By the middle of the century interest in the library decreased as cheaper options for reading material became available. It closed in 1883.
In 1891, residents of Parkersburg got together and created a library that operated out of a Market Street bookstore. Membership was $5.
Around the turn of the century, the libraries in Parkersburg and Marietta would begin to take similar paths. In 1901 a new library was established in the superintendent of public school's office in the St. Clairs Building on Putnam Street and moved to the "new" high school when it was constructed on Scammel Street. With both new books, and the books from the original Marietta library, the facility had a strong collection.
In Parkersburg, the library was made part of Parkersburg High School in 1899 when it was at Seventh and Green streets. In 1905 the library got its own space when the Carnegie Public Library was constructed next to the high school. The high school moved to Dudley Avenue in 1917, but the library remained at the location until 1976 when it moved to the current location at Emerson Avenue.
Meanwhile in Marietta, things were getting kind of crowded at the high school, and the library was told they needed to find a new location. In 1912, they purchased land at Fourth and Putnam streets. A year later the 1913 flood put eight feet of water on the plot of land and it was decided that a higher location might make a better location for a library.
A plot of land near Fifth and Washington streets had been set aside by the Ohio Company in 1796 to be used for "public walks or public buildings." An ancient civilization 1,000 years before had constructed a mound at the location, and it was on that mound that a $30,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie was used to construct the building's main branch still in use today.
Today both the Marietta and Parkersburg libraries serve as hubs for library services for Washington and Wood counties.
The Washington County Library system operates branches in Barlow, Belpre, Beverly, New Matamoras, and at the Lafayette Shopping Center on Pike Street.
The Parkersburg and Wood County Library operate additional branches in South Parkersburg and Williamstown.
Both libraries operate book mobiles and offer a wide range of services that include digital downloads.
From a humble collection of books shared by farmers in Belpre, area libraries have continued to evolve to satisfy the public's need for information.
Art Smith is online manager of The Marietta Times and The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, He can be reached at asmith@newsandsentinel.com.