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Overview

Two architects active in Northern CA competed to design this Carnegie Library, William Mooser, Jr., and William H. Weeks (1864-1936). Mooser, whose father was a well-known San Francisco architect, won the prize. He had a budget of about $15,000 for this building, obtained in a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Mooser worked with the building contractors Welch Brothers and Hannemann, who completed the building in 1916.

Building Notes

Mooser designed a simple, bi-laterally symmetrical design with some Classical detailing. The brick building had a colonnade of white pilasters, giving the library a templar look. The Classical vocabulary was seen as erudite and appropriate for a building promoting learning.

The Building and Engineering News reported in its issue of 03/23/1916: "“Library, 1 story and base, brick and concrete, $13,695. Architect, William Mooser, Nevada Bank Building, S.F. Owners, Town of Grass Valley. Contractors, Welch Bros. & Hahnemann, Grass Valley and Oakland. Contract price, $13, 695.” (See “Libraries: Contracts Awarded,” Building and Engineering News, vol. 16, no. 1, 03/29/1916, p. 7.)