# Handley Library

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{{Use American English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Handley Library
| nrhp_type                      = cp
| nocat                          = yes
| designated_other1              = Virginia Landmarks Register
| designated_other1_date         = September 9, 1969<ref name=register>{{cite web|title=Virginia Landmarks Register|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|accessdate=March 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053819/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number       = 138-0028
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image                          = Handley Library exterior.jpg
| caption                        = Handley Library, September 2011
| location                       = 100 West Piccadilly Street [Winchester](/source/Winchester%2C_Virginia), [Virginia](/source/Virginia)
| coordinates                    = {{coord|39|11|12|N|78|10|0|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                       = Virginia#USA
| built                          = {{Start date|1913}}
| architect                      = [John Stewart Barney](/source/John_Stewart_Barney)<br>[Henry Otis Chapman](/source/Henry_Otis_Chapman)
| architecture                   = [Beaux Arts](/source/Beaux-Arts_architecture)
| added                          = November 12, 1969
| area                           = less than one acre
| refnum                         = 69000364<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}
'''Handley Library''' is a historic [library](/source/library) building located at 100 West Piccadilly Street in [Winchester](/source/Winchester%2C_Virginia), [Virginia](/source/Virginia), [United States](/source/United_States).  Completed in 1913, construction of the [Beaux-Arts](/source/Beaux-Arts_architecture) style building was funded by a wealthy [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania) businessman.  The building serves as the main branch for Winchester's library system, the Handley Regional Library System.  It was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) (NRHP) and [Virginia Landmarks Register](/source/Virginia_Landmarks_Register) (VLR) in 1969.

==History==
Judge John Handley (1835&ndash;1895), an Irish-American coal magnate and lawyer from [Scranton, Pennsylvania](/source/Scranton%2C_Pennsylvania), visited Winchester several times and admired the city for its Scotch-Irish heritage. In his will, he left $250,000 for the city to erect a library "for the free use of the people of the city of Winchester" and schools for the poor.  Construction of the library, designed by New York architects [Barney and Chapman](/source/Barney_and_Chapman), was not begun until 1908.<ref name=school>{{cite web | url=https://www.wps.k12.va.us/jhhs/Judge/Judge.html | title=Judge John Handley | publisher=Winchester Public Schools | accessdate=December 31, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231082822/https://www.wps.k12.va.us/jhhs/Judge/Judge.html | archive-date=December 31, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=nom>{{cite web | url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Winchester/138-0028_Handley,_Library_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf | title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form | publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources | date=July 28, 1969 | accessdate=December 31, 2014 | author=Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924050805/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Winchester/138-0028_Handley,_Library_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref>  The [cornerstone](/source/cornerstone) ceremony on May 26 was preceded by a large parade.<ref name=parker>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEsW8ZYOPkkC&q=library&pg=PA49 | title=Images of America: Winchester | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | author=Parker, Kathryn | year=2006 | location=Charleston | pages=49–52 | isbn=9780738543154 | access-date=2014-12-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418151756/https://books.google.com/books?id=oEsW8ZYOPkkC&lpg=PA1&dq=%22Kathryn%20Parker%22&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q=library&f=false | archive-date=2016-04-18 | url-status=live }}</ref>  The building's fireproof construction and facilities were considered advanced at the time of completion.<ref name=nom/>  The total cost of construction and furnishings was $233,230.  The library opened on August 21, 1913, and originally featured a 300-seat lecture hall, study rooms and conference areas.  C. Vernon Eddy was Handley's first librarian, serving in that position until 1960.  Originally only white patrons were allowed to visit the library; in December 1953 city officials began allowing all residents to use the facility, regardless of race.<ref name=parker/>

The library was listed on the VLR on September 9, 1969, and the NRHP on November 12, 1969.  It is also designated a [contributing property](/source/contributing_property) to the [Winchester Historic District](/source/Winchester_Historic_District_(Winchester%2C_Virginia)), listed on the NRHP in 1980.<ref name=vlr>{{cite book | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title=The Virginia Landmarks Register | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJa_64aH1iMC&q=Handley+Library&pg=PA550 | location=Charlottesville | publisher=University of Virginia Press | page=179 | date=1999 | isbn=9780813918624 | accessdate=December 31, 2014 }}</ref>  Architectural firm Smithey and Boynton of [Roanoke](/source/Roanoke%2C_Virginia) designed an addition that was completed in 1979.  Their work resulted in a first honor award from the [American Institute of Architects](/source/American_Institute_of_Architects).<ref name=parker/>  Dennis Kowal Architects of [Somerville, New Jersey](/source/Somerville%2C_New_Jersey) prepared a full [historic preservation](/source/historic_preservation) plan in 1997 and oversaw the comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation in 1999. In 2001, Dennis Kowal was awarded the Lucille Lozier Award by Preservation of Historic Winchester, Inc. for the "outstanding restoration" of the Handley Regional Library.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Handley Regional Library, the first one hundred years|last = Ritchie|first = Patricia|publisher = Handley Regional Library|year = 2012|isbn = 978-0-615-63645-0|location = Winchester, Virginia|pages = 138;167}}</ref>

==Architecture==
The Handley Library is "perhaps Virginia's purest expression of the regal and florid Beaux-Arts classicism."<ref name=nps>{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/vamainstreet/han.htm | title=Handley Library | publisher=National Park Service | access-date=December 31, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116075729/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/vamainstreet/han.htm | archive-date=January 16, 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref>  It was designed to resemble an open book, with the [dome](/source/dome) representing the spine and the wings representing the covers.<ref name=parker/>  The [limestone](/source/limestone) building consists of an octagonal base and a central dome.  A three-arched entrance faces the intersection of Braddock and Piccadilly Streets.  Two wings flank the dome and feature single-pitched roofs with [dormer](/source/dormer) lights, [balustrades](/source/Baluster) and [Ionic](/source/Ionic_order) [colonnade](/source/colonnade)s.  Heavy stone [relief](/source/relief)s of figures and fruit flank several windows and doors.<ref name=nom/>

==See also==
* [National Register of Historic Places listings in Winchester, Virginia](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Winchester%2C_Virginia)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Handley Library}}
* {{Official website|https://www.handleyregional.org/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070914110659/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/VAmainstreet/han.htm Handley Library] // The National Park Service

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}

Category:Beaux-Arts architecture in Virginia
Category:Buildings and structures in Winchester, Virginia
Category:Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia
Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Category:Library buildings completed in 1913
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Winchester, Virginia
Category:Limestone buildings in the United States
Category:1913 establishments in Virginia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Handley Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Library) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Library?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.