Library Stop: Cushman Library, Bernardston, MA

Cushman Library (Featured Image on chriswolak.com)

This year I’m excited to get back into one of my passions: libraries and library architecture. One of my blog goals for 2020 is to have at least one monthly library post.

I started writing library posts in 2010. My first post in the series was the public library in Atlanta, Illinois.

Library Post Lexicon

For those of you new to this series or as a reminder to long-time readers, I title a post a LIBRARY STOP when the library is closed and a LIBRARY VISIT when its open and I’m able to walk around inside. You can click here to see a full list of all the libraries that I’ve document visiting thus far.

Photos Taken in 2014

I came upon the Cushman Library in Bernardston, Massachusetts while driving home to Connecticut after attending Booktopia at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont way back in 2014. I recently did some file cleanup on my computer and came across these photos. Talk about time getting away! But it is such a handsome library that I couldn’t not post them now.

Approaching the library from the west. Bernardston is in north-west central Massachusetts. As of 2017 the population was 2,111.

I appreciate the curves of the arches on the facade and how they soften and contrast with the straight lines and sharp edges of the building’s frame. The green trim harmonizes nicely with the local landscape. Even the tree to the left is leaning in.

About the Cushman Library

From the 2009 Bernardston Reconnaissance Report:

The Cushman Library is located at 28 Church Street and is an Italianate brick structure built in 1862 by Pierre Belhumeur. The Library is a two-story brick structure with bracketed eaves, pilasters and roundhead windows set in brownstone surrounds. The second floor (which used to be called Sanderson Hall), has served as a public meeting hall and
space for community events and entertainment. The property is included in the Powers Institute National Register Historic District.
Source