Richmond Free Library
by Fin
201 Bridge Street
If you've ever been in Richmond, Vermont than you most likely have been to the Richmond Free Library. The address is 201 Bridge Street and it is right next to the Municipal Building. It is a Gothic revival style building made of brick. Striking, with tall turrets and imposing windows, it positively exudes history. This building has lived out it's 100-something year life as home to Universalists, a school gym and cafeteria, and now as a public library.
1850-1900
Courtesy of Richmond Historical Society
1879
In 1878, the Universalists of Richmond decided to succeed from the Round Church. They were sharing the space with four other religions, the Baptists, Methodists, Christians, and Congregationalists. This was tiring, and as the biggest religious group, they had grown enough to move out. The founder and current leader of the Universalists Church set their sights on an empty lot. In 1879 construction started on the new church. They soon ran into some major problems. Construction was expensive, and they had to spend hundreds of hours raising money to be able to continue. If you came from a well-off family, and wanted to be recognized as a donor at church, you could pay upwards of 25 - 500 dollars just to sit in a pew farther forward. The more you paid the better pew you would get so some people did end up paying up to 500 dollars. Two years of hard work later, people stood in front of their new church, for the dedication of the building . The Universalists of Richmond, Vermont stared up the tall building on January 23, 1880, thanking everyone who paid and worked to make their dream a reality.
1900
Life of the Church
This lovely photo shows an organization of women called the King's Daughters. They are gathered in front of the Universalist church. The whole point of the King's Daughters was to help others. At one point, there were three separate King's Daughters groups at the Universalist Church.
(Photo: Courtesy Richmond Historical Society)
1950
Use by School
In 1955 the church trustees had to make the sad decision to sell the church. With more people of different religions in Richmond, the Universalists only had 20 members left. After a year of being up for sale, the wealthy Walter Griffith bought the church in 1956, and gifted it to the Chittenden East School District. At this point, the district desperately needed a gym and cafeteria. The municipal school building was practically bursting at it's seams with children, aged 6 to 18. By 1957 they had transformed the first floor of the church into a cafeteria and the second floor into a gymnasium with balconies. It was called the Griffith Memorial Gymnasium, and was used for many many years.
The school had both a boys and girls basketball team. The gymnasium was not big enough for an entire basketball court and bleachers so there were balconies installed above the court so that spectators could watch the game without interfering. Because of the balconies precarious position above the court, the player with the ball had to be careful to not hit the balcony when shooting from the side of the court. Some time around 1962 the girls basketball team challenged their mothers to a game. Families crowded in to watch the merry affair, and although it was a close game, the girls won. After the game, they playfully sang 'The Old Grey Mare Ain't What She Used To Be', an old folk song about aging.1
1990
Library
In 1988 the school stopped using the building because of the multiple new schools. The building was almost torn down to become the Town Center. It was offered to the voters as an option but they turned it down. Instead it got renovated into the Richmond Free Library, which had been in the basement of the Masonic Temple. At first the library only used the first floor, but soon they renovated the second floor to house the children's books.
Today
Today, 201 Bridge Street is the Richmond Free Library. The first floor is filled with adult books, movies, and audiobooks. The second floor is the designated children's area. The rooms on the third floor are used for music practice. There is also a community center inside. Right now the library staff include Rebecca Mueller, Wendy de Forest, L.J. Kopf, Joan Cleary, Douglas Barnes, and Jennifer Esser.
Drawing by Fin
Resources
Works Cited
1 Riggs, Harriet Wheatley. “Richmond's Gothic revival showpiece.” Burlington Free Press. October 17, 2014. Online.
Other Resources
“About/Policies.” Richmond Free Library. https://richmondfreelibraryvt.org/about/
McMaster, Mary. ”Chapter IX-Richmond Free Library (Jonas Barber Library)”. Richmond, Vermont; A History of More Than 200 Years. Richmond Historical Society, 2007. PP. 230-243
Riggs, Harriet. ”Chapter VIII-Churches in Richmond”. Richmond, Vermont; A History of More Than 200 Years. Richmond Historical Society, 2007. PP. 184-229
Richmond Historical Society. Archives. 2018.