Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT

Significance: The Pequot Library was designed by New York architect Robert H. Robertson (1849-1919) in 1885-87, and erected during 1887-93. Robertson had been a partner of William Potter, who together designed Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical structures in New York City in the mid-1870s. During the late 1870s and early 80s, his church and domestic work showed the decisive influence of the period's leading architect, Henry Hobson Richardsonson. The Pequot Library, designed in the "Richardsonian Romanesque" manner, is characterized by a granite sandstone construction, an expansive roof area subordinating the hipped dormers, ribbon windows, and an arcaded entrance porch as the focal point of the front facade. The building was given to the Pequot Library Association in 1894 by Virginia Marquand Monroe as a memorial to her uncle Frederick Marquand, on whose property the structure was erected. Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Monroe also donated funds for the acquisition of a valuable manuscript collection in American history. Today the library is used for special lectures and gatherings as well as the depository for the town's literary collection.
Survey number: HABS CT-314
Building/structure dates: 1893 Initial Construction