Hanford, Kings County

San Joaquin Valley/South area, Central Valley region

Hanford Carnegie Museum
109 East Eighth Street
Hanford, CA 93230

opened 1906
Public library from 1906-1971
currently a museum

grant amount: $12,500
architectural style: Romanesque
architect: McDougall Bros.

An eleven block area of downtown Hanford, roughly between Sixth and Ninth, Redington and Harris streets, contains a remarkable collection of well preserved historic buildings representing a variety of periods and both public and private use. These include the Old Phone Building, Hanford Theater, Kings County Courthouse, Sheriff's Office and Jail, Taoist Temple, and the Hanford Carnegie Museum, one of California's few Richardson Romanesque Carnegies, a style more typical of early East Coast Carnegies. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

An 1892 reading room provided the foundation for later libraries in Hanford, including those of the Ladies' Association and the WCTU. The city received a Carnegie grant for $12,500 in 1903. David Gamble built the library, which was designed by McDougall Bros. When no longer used as a library, it reopened as a museum in 1974.