Clapp Memorial Library
Massachusetts, United States
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
Find out more
The Clapp Memorial Library in Belchertown, Massachusetts, is a Richardsonian Romanesque public library constructed between 1884 and 1887. Designed by New York architect H.F. Kilburn, the building takes the form of a Latin cross and rises eighty feet at its central tower, featuring two large stained glass windows crafted from sand and silica sourced in Western Massachusetts. The library was funded by a bequest of $40,000 from John Francis Clapp, a wealthy Belchertown-born merchant, supplemented by donations from his brothers and other prominent townspeople, allowing the Bartlett Brothers of Whately to construct the building primarily from local materials—brownstone from Longmeadow and brick trim from Holyoke. Opened with Clapp's personal collection of 5,000 books, the library gained distinction by 1911 as having more books per capita than any other Massachusetts town. Now part of the Belchertown Center Historic District, the building remains independently maintained by the Library Trustees and continues to serve the community through cultural and educational programming.
Movement
- Type
- public library, main library
- Place
- Massachusetts, United States
This building on
Architecturally similar
Conant Public LibraryNew Hampshire, United States
Converse Memorial LibraryMalden, United States
Acton Memorial LibraryActon, United States
Parlin Memorial LibraryEverett, United States
Taylor Memorial LibraryConnecticut, United States
Thomas Crane Public LibraryQuincy, United States
Warren Public LibraryWarren, United States
Randall LibraryStow, United States
Location