WILLOW CREEK — The Willow Creek Free Public Library, built with an $8,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie, was dedicated on Tuesday at the corner of Main and Elm Streets. State Librarian Harriet P. Eaton spoke at the ceremony, praising the town’s commitment to learning.
The library, a handsome red-brick building with a granite foundation and copper-roofed portico, contains two thousand volumes, including a complete set of the Gazette’s first thirteen years, bound and donated by Harold Finch.
The construction materials and the books, purchased from publishers in Boston and New York, were all delivered by rail on the Bangor & Aroostook line.
“The railroad has brought civilization to Willow Creek,” said Miss Eaton. “First it brought commerce. Then it brought industry. Now it brings books.”
The library’s permanent collection includes a bound volume of shipyard records from Thorne & Sons Shipworks, donated by Ezra Thorne II. The volume, handwritten on ledger paper, documents every vessel launched between 1803 and 1882.
“It belongs here,” Thorne said. “The yard is gone. The launching slip is under water. But the record survives. That is something.”