Macon Library
361 Lewis Avenue | also 365 Lewis Avenue | Bedford-Stuyvesant | built 1907
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1907
Macon Library, Brooklyn's eleventh Carnegie branch, opens before a crowd of 2,000
The Macon branch opened on July 15, 1907, at the corner of Macon Street and Lewis Avenue, and 2,000 visitors attended. It held 10,000 books, with room to grow to 25,000. The building and site together cost $93,481, and Daniel Ryan of Manhattan carried out the construction.
“The branch's opening on July 15, 1907, was attended by 2,000 visitors. Upon its opening, Macon held 10,000 books with the space to expand to 25,000.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1907
Richard Walker designs a two-story Classical Revival library in red brick and limestone
Richard A. Walker of Walker & Morris designed Macon in the Classical Revival style, in red brick with Indiana limestone trim and a slate roof, under a dentillated cornice. Inside, the main desk sits at the center front with the stacks at the back, and small alcoves hold wooden benches and fireplaces. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle singled it out in 1907 as one of the borough's best-lighted libraries.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1973
A four-year overhaul adds an auditorium to Macon Library
Between 1973 and 1977 the library went through a modernization of its interior, including an HVAC upgrade, fluorescent lighting and the construction of an auditorium. It had earlier closed for repainting, new windows and a new heater in 1948 and 1949, when partitions in the reading areas were removed.
“Efforts to modernize the library's interior space took place from 1973 to 1977 including an HVAC upgrade, the construction of an auditorium…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1989
John Steptoe, who wrote his first book at Macon Library, dies at 38
The children's book author and illustrator John Steptoe grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Macon was his branch. At 16 he wrote his first book, Stevie, at the library; it was published when he was 19. He died of AIDS in 1989, having illustrated 16 books, nine of them his own, and two earned Caldecott honors.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 2008
Sen Architects renovate Macon Library and add the African American Heritage Center
Between 2006 and 2008 the library was renovated by Sen Architects. The aim was to bring it closer to its original look by making the HVAC systems less visible and swapping the hanging fluorescent lights for lamps like those it had at opening. The work also added the African American Heritage Center.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
Macon Library becomes part of the Stuyvesant Heights Expansion historic district
In 2013 the library was landmarked as part of the Stuyvesant Heights Expansion historic district. The branch had served the neighborhood through decades of demographic and economic change, even as its resources dwindled and the building deteriorated.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 2018
Halloween show "Midnight at the Library" moves into Macon Library
After Clinton Hill's Halloween 313 ended following 24 years, an offshoot of the Friends of Macon Library launched Masquerade on Macon. Its new 15-minute show, directed by group president Nailah Manns, centers on a boy who dozes off in the library on Halloween night and wakes to find Rumpelstiltskin has brought the villains out of the books. Performances were scheduled for 6, 6:45 and 7:30 p.m. on October 31, 2018.
Source: brownstoner.com
Further reading
- Macon LibraryWikipedia
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