Akin Free Library

Akin Free Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Library building in March 2007
Location	378 Old Quaker Hill Rd., Pawling, New York
Coordinates	41°33′32″N 73°32′57″W / 41.55889°N 73.54917°WCoordinates: 41°33′32″N 73°32′57″W / 41.55889°N 73.54917°W
Area	1.7 acres (0.69 ha)
Built	1908
Architect	John A. Wood
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP Reference #	91001726[1]
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1991

The Akin Free Library on Quaker Hill is a historic eclectic late Victorian stone building in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, town of Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, USA, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic place of local significance since 1991.

The Akin Free Library was a gift from the Quaker Albert J. Akin (1803–1903), founder of the Bank of Pawling and the Mizzentop Hotel on Quaker Hill. The building was designed by the architect John A. Wood and constructed between 1898 and 1908. It is a 2 1/2-story, "T"-plan, stone building on a raised basement with an engaged three-story central clock tower and rear annex. The building features an entrance portico, bracketed sheet copper cornice, and standing seam copper roof. Its design is Victorian eclectic.^{[2]:2, 5}

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.^[1]

The library itself is located on the first floor of the building. Among others, its holdings of several thousand books contain books of local interest and by local authors, a children's section, and newspaper collections.

Museums

The Historical Society Museum occupies the second floor of the building. Its collections include objects pertaining to the local history such as period and Quaker clothing, tools and artwork, bowling pins from the Mizzentop Hotel, and the service window from the old Quaker Hill Post Office.

The lower floor of the building houses the Olive Gunnison Natural History Museum, which displays about 200 mounted birds, rocks and minerals, as well as a shrunken human head.

Location

The address of the library is 378 Old Quaker Hill Road, Pawling, NY 12564.

External links

• online article by the Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling
• travel article in the New York Times
• online travel article on Pawling
• web page on the bird collection of the Gunnison Natural History Museum

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)" (Searchable database). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2015-12-01. Note: This includes Robert D. Kuhn (October 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Akin Free Library" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-12-01. and Accompanying photographs