Branford's Greek Heritage: James Blacktone Memorial Library

Clearly, I am not trying hard enough to find obscure photos. I thought that the construction photo from last week would pose a challenge, but right away , , and had the answer: the James Blackstone Memorial Library. Robert's grandfather actually worked on the building when he immigrated from Denmark! And Pete is right that the circular foundation helps give it away.

The architectural history of the library is available on the Blackstone's web site in detail, so I'll be brief here: the building was given to Branford by Timothy Beach Blackstone in honor of his father, James. Construction began in 1893 and was completed in three years, at a cost of $300,000. Timothy Blackstone had settled in Chicago, and he brought architect Solon S. Beman back with him to design the building; the details, including the columns, the portico, and the egg and dart molding, are based on the Erechtheion, a temple in the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. When I traveled to Greece several years ago, I made a point of taking as many pictures of the Erectheion as I could in order to make the comparison. Do you see the similarities?

Timothy Blackstone was so pleased with JBML that when he returned home to Chicago, he had Beman build another library, named the Blackstone Library (after Timothy this time). If they were standing next to each other, it would be hard to tell them apart!

Edit: I've just been corrected on a detail in that last paragraph; the Chicago Blackstone was commissioned by Timothy's widow, not Timothy himself. It was built in 1904, four years after his death.