Augusta, Maine

This feature for Augusta will be completed in several parts. It begins in one of the most brilliant places in the entire state of Maine—the reading room of the Lithgow Library. Every Mainer should visit this sparkling space at least once in their lifetime. It is located less than a mile from the Maine State House so it’s not one of our hidden away gems.

The namesake of the library was Llewellyn William Lithgow. He was born in the nearby town of Dresden, Maine on Christmas Day 1796 (he is mentioned in the Dresden town feature). After spending a little more than four decades there, he moved to Augusta where he lived until his death a little more than four decades later in 1881.

In his will, Mr. Lithgow gave the city of Augusta $20,000 for a trust fund that would be used to establish and maintain a public library. Throughout the years of preparation to realize this dream, many individuals donated other funds. Their contributions ranged from $5 to $9,000—the latter a gift from Mr. Andrew Carnegie, a great lover of libraries.

As I began researching the history of the library, I read about the day the cornerstone was laid. June 14, 1894 was one of great fanfare with a long and formal ceremony. As with all such 19th century events, there were speeches upon speeches. I particularly enjoyed reading the one given by the president of the trustees, an Honorable Mr. James W. Bradbury. A short excerpt is included below:

A good public library in a town like this is an educational institution of inestimable value. It inspires a taste for reading. It increases the general intelligence, raises its standard of intellectual character and adds to its influence and power. It will contain the best thoughts of great minds of all countries, in all ages of the world known to history, and offer them to us for our instruction, in our own language.

By their works we make our acquaintance with the authors, and they become our intellectual companions, and like a companion, make an impression of their character upon us. The more we study them, the longer the companionship, and the deeper the impression. The young should be as careful in the selection of their books as of their companions.

This speech, along with every other detail from that day, was written in a book (The Lithgow Library and Reading Room) a short three years (1897) after this momentous occasion. As I dug deeper into the old volume, I found a fascinating detail buried in it. Though there are numerous mentions of this special dedication day (the Museum in the Streets plaque being one), I haven’t seen this one particular aspect written elsewhere, and so I share the following discovery with you.

The Freemasons played a major role in the formal cornerstone ceremony. These lines in the 1897 book caught my attention: “Within the Corner-Stone was deposited a sealed copper box containing records and documents and other tokens that will perchance interest those who may look upon them in the far distant future when the building shall have become a wasted ruin.”

My brain started spinning, and I set the book down to think. What could possibly be in the box?! “Records and documents and other tokens” does not provide enough detail. Who might know?

Sometimes one should just keep reading. Sixteen pages later, I found a list of its contents. Technically, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen pages later. Clearly I had underestimated the size of the box! Here are the details…

Not all questions are answered here. In fact, some new ones are raised. For one, the line about “box containing ancient coins” creates all kinds of musings. It seems unlikely we will know in our lifetimes as the building is far from “wasted ruin.” Not that we want it to get there anytime soon…!

Leslie C. Cornish, the secretary of the trustees, had some comments about this buried treasure:

There is, indeed, a tinge of sadness with it all. The box which is to be deposited in the corner-stone treasures within itself a record of to-day. When it is opened in some far off, distant time, the hands that have tenderly placed it here will long since have been folded for their final rest, and the names of those who take part in these ceremonies would, but for the record it preserves, have been long since forgotten. It is fitting therefore, if we are building for the future, that we build well.

From the looks of Lithgow, they achieved that goal. Do go and see this stunning room for yourself, if you get the opportunity.

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