| Redwood Library | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The building's façade | |
| Location | Newport, Rhode Island |
| Type | Subscription library |
| Established | 1747 |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 15,204 (2018)[1] |
| Other information | |
| Director | Benedict Leca, Ph.D. FRSA[2] |
| Website | www |
Redwood Library | |
  | |
| Location | 50 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island |
| Coordinates | 41°29′12″N 71°18′30″W / 41.486544°N 71.308296°W |
| Built | 1748-1750 |
| Architect | Peter Harrison |
| Architectural style | Georgian-Palladian |
| Part of | Newport Historic District (ID68000001) |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000015 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[3] |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960[4] |
| Designated NHLDCP | November 24, 1968 |
The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a subscription library, museum, rare book repository and research center founded in 1747, and located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The building, designed by Peter Harrison and completed in March 1750, was the first purposely built library in the United States, and the oldest neo-Classical building in the country. It has been in continuous use since its opening.[5][6]
The building is part of the Kay Street–Catherine Street–Old Beach Road Historic District, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
- ^ "Redwood Library and Athenaeum Annual Report 2017-2018 Annual Report". Redwood Library and Athenaeum. 2018. p. 6. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ^ "Redwood Library and Athenaeum Annual Report 2017-2018 Annual Report". Redwood Library and Athenaeum. 2018. p. 16. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "Redwood Library". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
- ^ Interpretive sign on site
- ^ Davis, Paul (March 12, 2006). "Unrighteous Traffick-Rhode Island and the Slave Trade-First of Six Parts-Abraham Redwood, Antigua and the West Indies Trade". Providence Journal. p. A.11.