Gale memorial library1

18: Gale Memorial Library

At the 1878 Laconia town meeting, voters raised $1,500 to establish a public library.  Opened in 1879, the library was first located in a rented room in the Folsom Opera House Block.  It moved to the Laconia National Bank building and then to the vestry of the Unitarian Church.

Napoleon Bonaparte Gale, a local banker, made provisions in his will for a public library where books, historical treasures and works of art would be kept and shared. Funds were also provided for the creation of a community park. In addition, John C. Moulton had willed a portion of his land on North Main Street, between Church Street and the railroad tracks, to the city of Laconia. This site was to be used for a public library or other public building. The city bought the remainder of the property as additional space for the library and its grounds.

Construction of the library began in 1901 and was completed in 1903, with the dedication in June of that year. In 1957 an addition to the library building was completed which included a children’s room, the Martha Prescott Auditorium, and a staff workspace area.

In 2005, the 1957 addition was removed, and a new addition built.

Laconia City Walk
  1. 1: Belknap Mill
  2. 2: Busiel Mill
  3. 3: Avery Dam
  4. 4: Guild-Northland Mills
  5. 5: Sunrise Towers
  6. 6: Stewart Park
  7. 7: Main Street and Urban Renewal
  8. 8: Allen-Rogers Buildings
  9. 9: Laconia Car Company
  10. 10: Pitman's Freight Room
  11. 11: Laconia Passenger Station
  12. 12: Bank Square
  13. 13: Rotary Park
  14. 14: McIntyre Building
  15. 15: Moulton Opera House
  16. 16: Pleasant Street Homes
  17. 17: Federal Building
  18. 18: Gale Memorial Library
  19. 19: Veterans Square
  20. 20: Evangelical Baptist Church
  21. 21: Congregational Church
  22. 22: Bank of New Hampshire
  23. 23: Woolworth Building
  24. 24: Cook Building
  25. 25: Pemaco Block
  26. 26: Colonial Theatre
  27. 27: Piscopo Block
  28. 28: Masonic Temple
  29. 29: Stafford House/Tavern
  30. 30: U.S. Post Office
  31. 31: John W Busiel House
  32. 32: St. Joseph Church
  33. 33: Perley Canal