Did you know Winston-Salem has a Carnegie Library? Here’s your high school history refresh: Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist who, through creating the steel empire eventually known as US Steel, became one of the richest Americans in history.
But Carnegie was also a philanthropist, and through his foundation, built 1,689 libraries in various ornate styles across the US, including Winston-Salem.
So we dug through the archives and found the Winston-Salem Carnegie Library — the first established library in the Twin City. Standing at the corner of Third and Cherry streets downtown, the library was built in 1905 and became a staple in the community. Carnegie librarians even traveled around with a bookmobile.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the library collected books for soldiers and hosted programs on food conservation during World War I.
As the city experienced a population growth, the library saw more foot traffic — it was time for a larger space. In 1953, community leaders joined forces to build a new library downtown, which is now located on West Fifth Street.
The small Carnegie library was purchased by a Catholic church and became Our Lady of Fatima Chapel in 1954, which still stands today at 411 N. Chery St. The church welcomed guests like Princess Grace of Monaco, Rose Kennedy, and Lou Holtz, who was till the football coach at Notre Dame.
Forsyth Central Public Library stands on over 106,000 sqft of space and holds more than 250,000 books. Need a refresher on how to navigate public libraries? Here’s what you need to know.
