Photograph Album and History of
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh,
Allegheny Regional Branch
(formerly Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny)
America's First Publicly-Funded Carnegie Library

The following are photographs of the first tax-supported Carnegie Library in the Americas (second in the world--first in the world was Victoria Library in Grangemouth, Scotland), dedicated by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison on 1890 February 20. Originally known as the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny, it is now the Allegheny Regional Branch of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh located at 5 Allegheny Square in the Allegheny Center section of Pittsburgh's Lower North Side. This section of the North Side is where Andrew Carnegie spent much of his youth, and it is where he met his mentor, Col. James Anderson, who built the city's first public library. In 1904, Andrew Carnegie had a memorial to Col. Anderson constructed (by architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French, who had collaborated on the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall) adjacent to the Library building, at the corner of Federal Street and East Ohio Street (today, this memorial sits near Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science building, directly across the way from the Allegheny Regional Branch Library entrance). The Library building (including the adjoining Carnegie Hall) was designed and built by Smithmeyer and Pelz, the architects of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

With construction of the Library, Andrew Carnegie also constructed the world's first Carnegie Hall (built one year before the public opening of Carnegie Hall in New York City), adjoining the Library building just east of the Library section of the building (located at 6 Allegheny Square). Carnegie Hall was completely renovated in the 1970s and the interior performance space was dedicated as the Theodore Hazlett Theatre on 1980 December 15. From 1974-1999 it was the home of the Pittsburgh Public Theater; after twenty-four years, on 1999 December 11, the Pittsburgh Public Theater began a new era of performances (with the world premiere of August Wilson's "King Hedley II") in the O'Reilly Theater (named for the former Chief Executive Officer of the Heinz Corporation), on Penn Avenue, across from Heinz Hall, in the Downtown Cultural District. After a year-long, $2 million rehabilitation, the performance space inside Carnegie Hall was re-dedicated, during the weekend of 2006 September 15, 16, and 17, as the New Hazlett Theater, to be used by several small and mid-size community, performing arts groups.

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Links from Carnegie Library Official Web Site:

Web Site of Allegheny Regional Branch *** More Library History

Construction Blueprints for Renovations to the
Allegheny Regional Branch, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
1972 March 17:

The following are photographs of the stone facade of the Allegheny Regional Branch of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Photograph 1 shows the Library entrance to the Allegheny Regional Branch. Photograph 2 shows the name "Carnegie Free Library" engraved in the stone. Photographs 3 and 4 show "Carnegie Hall," the Music Hall entrance to the building, which now includes the New Hazlett Theater; a Lecture Hall is located on the Library's third floor. Photographs 5, 6, and 7 show the Library's Clocktower; in the foreground of photograph 7 is Sidney Waugh's sculpture, "The Earth," on the front of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science[located across the pedestrian mall(formerly Federal Street) from the Library].

Photo 1 (1)***Photo 2 (1)***Photo 3 (1)***Photo 4 (1)

Photo 5 (1)***Photo 6 (1) ***Photo 7 (1)

Photographs of the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny from 1937

Colonel James Anderson Memorial and Book Collection

As a young boy, in 1848, Andrew Carnegie immigrated with his family from Dunfermline, Scotland to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, located just across the Allegheny River from Downtown Pittsburgh. At this time, Pittsburgh and Allegheny City had no public libraries; Andrew and his family were too poor to purchase books. One day, Andrew read, in the local newspaper, that an Allegheny City businessman and iron manufacturer, Colonel James Anderson, was starting to open his 400-volume private library to the public each Saturday afternoon; Colonel Anderson served as the librarian. Andrew was overjoyed and read most books in this library. Colonel Anderson was so gratified by the public response to the opening of his private library to the public, he donated money to begin a public library in Allegheny City. Andrew Carnegie never forgot Colonel Anderson's generosity; when Andrew became wealthy, he decided that he would also donate money to open public libraries.

Photographs 1 through 4 show views of the Memorial to honor Colonel James Anderson, officially titled "Labor," which Andrew Carnegie had constructed close to the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny(now the Allegheny Regional Branch of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh), at the corner of Federal and East Ohio Streets in 1904. This Memorial was dismantled in the 1960s, to allow for the conversion of Federal Street and East Ohio Street to pedestrian malls as part of the Allegheny Center urban renewal project. A community effort led to the reconstruction of this Memorial across the Federal Street pedestrian mall from the Allegheny Regional Branch, next to The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science; the memorial was rededicated May 15, 1988. Photograph 3 shows the bust, of Colonel Anderson, while photograph 4 shows "The Reading Blacksmith," both part of the Memorial.

Photographs 5 through 8 show some of the original books from Colonel Anderson's library; these books are now kept in a special collection in the Allegheny Regional Branch.

Photograph 9 shows the former home of Colonel James Anderson, which is now a personal care home for senior citizens known as "Anderson Manor." Colonel Anderson's private library was opened to the public each Saturday afternoon; Colonel Anderson served as the librarian. Andrew Carnegie was one of the working boys of Allegheny City, who regularly visited this library.

Photo 1 (1)***Photo 2 (1)***Photo 3 (1)***Photo 4 (1) ***Photo 5 (1)

Photo 6 (1)***Photo 7 (1) ***Photo 8 (1) ***Photo 9 (1)

Photographs of the Colonel James Anderson Memorial
in its original location at the corner of Federal and East Ohio Streets, in 1937

Photographs of the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny
and the Colonel James Anderson Memorial in 1937

All seven images show the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny and Colonel James Anderson Memorial on April 23, 1937. The first five images show the Library and Memorial; the last two images are close-up views of the Anderson Memorial. These images show the Colonel James Anderson Memorial in its original location, at the corner of Federal and East Ohio Streets next to the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny. These images are from photographs taken by S.J. Link of Pittsburgh's Beaudry Studio; the photographs were taken to document the former Allegheny City Hall(prior to its demolition) and the construction of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science(across Federal Street from the Library). Click here to see images of the Library with the former Allegheny City Hall and the construction of the Buhl Planetarium building.

Image 1 (4)***Image 2 (4) ***Image 3 (4)***Image 4 (4) ***Image 5 (4)

Image 6 (4) ***Image 7 (4)

More History of the
Allegheny Regional Branch,
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh -

History of the Lower North Side of Pittsburgh

Allegheny Regional Branch Library Web Site

Web Site of the Allegheny City Society
Preserving, promoting, and interpreting the history of Allegheny City and Pittsburgh's North Side

Neighboring Institutional Building:
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science

* 2006 July 13 - Port Authority Board of Directors approves "North Shore Connector" rapid transit extension project, to serve Pittsburgh's Lower North Side.
*** Pittsburgh's Lower North Side, originally Allegheny City, is home to America's first publicly-funded Carnegie Library and the world's first Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science (which merged with Carnegie Institute in 1987), and it is the neighborhood where Andrew Carnegie grew-up.

* Historic Carnegie Library Clock Tower Struck by Lightning 2006 April 7 !