Converse Memorial Library

Converse Memorial Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Converse Memorial Building
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Location	36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°25′39″N 71°3′59″W / 42.42750°N 71.06639°W / 42.42750; -71.06639
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1885
Architect	H. H. Richardson; Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge; Newhall & Blevins
Architectural style	Richardson Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	85002014
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 05, 1985[1]
Designated NHL	December 23, 1987[2]

The Converse Memorial Library – also known as Converse Memorial Building – is a historically significant building designed by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. From 1885 to 1996, it housed the Malden Public Library, which now occupies a modern building adjacent to it. The former library is located at 36 Salem Street, Malden, Massachusetts.

The building was a gift of Elisha S. and Mary D. Converse in memory of their murdered son, Frank Eugene Converse, who was the victim of the first bank robbery/murder in North America. It was constructed 1883-1885 in an overall L-shape, with a facade of brown Longmeadow sandstone, a tower rising from the L's inner corner, and a heavily arched entry porch set within the L's short arm. The main library room is 50 x 36 feet and finished in elaborately carved white oak with a high, vaulted ceiling. Its furniture was designed by Richardson and manufactured by the Boston firm of A. H. Davenport and Company.^[3]

In 1896 two additions were made to the building, designed by Richardson's successor firm, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. One gable-roofed wing extends the building to the rear, along Park Street, following the same general lines of the existing structure. The other addition was a flat-roofed rectangular stack area also attached to the rear. An octagonal gallery space further extended the rear in 1916, designed by Newhall & Blevins.^[3]

The Converse Memorial Building was the last of Richardson's library designs, and is generally considered among his finest works. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.^[2][3]

The interior of the library's historic wing provided the setting for a scene in the movie Ted 2, starring Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts

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  General view from street
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  End view
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  Facade decorations
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  Tower detail
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  Columns
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  Detail
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  Ornament
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  1885 illustrations of the library

• Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, 1985, page 314. ISBN 0-262-65015-0.
• American Library Association, Annual Conference Proceedings of the American Library Association, 1889, pages 78–79.
• National Historic Landmarks entry
• Digital Archive of American Architecture
• Filming ‘Ted 2’ at Malden Public Library