13. The Chadron Public Library - 507        Bordeaux Street
On the southwest corner of Fourth and Bordeaux you will see the Chadron Public Library. The town of Chadron had been talking about the need for a public library long before it was ever possible.

Finally on March 4, 1910, Mayor Finnegan wrote to Andrew Carnegie for financial assistance. Mr. Carnegie granted the Mayor’s request; however, there were two requirements that the town must meet. First, they must raise five hundred dollars annually to support the new library, and secondly, they must provide a suitable site for the new library. The site caused great controversy and a decision was not made until the following year.

It was finally decided that the Rickman lot on Fourth and Bordeaux would be the new site for the library. The library was designed by the firm of George Berlinghoff of Lincoln, who was conveniently in town designing the Normal College Building.

Chadron’s Public Library is two storied, square, free from ornamentation, constructed with a simple white, pressed brick, and resembles similar Carnegie buildings all over the Midwest. On February 13, 1912, the library opened its doors with Mrs. Elizabeth O’Linn Smith as the librarian.

14. Victorian Revival Residenses - 511        Main Street
Although more Victorian in its overall statement, the house at 511 Main is, however, strongly influenced by the
popular bungalow style. The porch underneath the sloping angle of the roof (side gable porch) is bungalow-like.

The almost two-story steeply-pitched roof, with its flared gable dormer, complete with a keystoned oval window in its triangle, is crossed with a pentroof on top of a small balcony which is recessed into the angle of the roof. This, together with the west shed roof dormer, all suggest nice touches of Victorian.