UPPER LAKE, Calif. – In 1916 Harriet Lee Hammond provided for Upper Lake what Andrew Carnegie provided for Lakeport and more than 2,500 other towns and cities – a library building.
That library still serves Upper Lake, making it one of the town’s oldest continuously-operating businesses.
The Lake County Library invites the public to the centennial celebration of the Harriet Lee Hammond Library on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 2 to 5 p.m. The historic library is located at the corner of Main and Second Streets in Upper Lake.
Linda Bushta has worked in the Hammond Library since 2006 and loves the quiet atmosphere of the library’s soaring ceilings and redwood-paneled interior.
“Upper Lake is a wonderful little community and by working in the library I feel I belong here,” she said. “Every week, the kindest and friendliest people come in the door, both residents of the Northshore and people passing through our little county on their way somewhere. I love the history of the old building and hearing the stories of the people a century ago who made it happen.”
Plans for the celebration include closing Second Street from Main Street to Washington Street to allow the party plenty of space.
Special displays will chronicle the history of the library and the Upper Lake Women’s Protective Club, or ULWPC.
Speakers will talk about the library history, musicians will entertain the crowd and refreshments will be served. Members of the Lake County Model A Club will show off their cars. Guests are encouraged to wear hats to reflect the fashions of 1916.
The Upper Lake High School band and local groups Almost Midnight and Eleanor Cook & Friends will perform old-fashioned tunes. The ULHS band will perform “America,” which was performed at the library dedication in 1916.
Among those scheduled to speak are Caroline Everts, a great niece of Harriet Lee Hammond, Martha Fargusson representing the ULWPC, Christopher Veach from the Lake County Library, Jan Cook on the history of the Hammond Library and Wanda Quitiquit, an Eastern Pomo, a volunteer with the Lake County Tribal Health Clinic and the Native American Advisory Committee for the Upper Lake Unified School District and a member of the ULWPC will read a poem.
Every party needs refreshments and the centennial celebration is no exception. The Blue Wing Saloon will bake Winnie Riffe’s old-fashioned chocolate cake that was served in Upper Lake a century ago and other tasty treats are on the menu.
The founding of the Hammond Library is tied into the political and social issues that were important in Lake County a century ago.
The Yolo Water and Power Co., or YW&PC, was condemning land around Clear Lake, buying it up to use the shore to increase the volume of water available to people in Yolo County.
In response to YW&PC’s actions, women in several Lake County towns formed “protective clubs,” “with the object of starting a county wide organization among women for the preservation and conservation of their homes. The movement [was] aimed against the Yolo Water and Power Company and kindred projects” and sought local control of the waters of Clear Lake.
While fighting the water battles, Lake County citizens also tackled other civic projects including starting libraries in their towns.
Upper Lake’s library history depends heavily on Charles and Harriet Hammond who settled in Upper Lake in the 1880s. Charles M. Hammond and his wife Harriet Paine Lee were born in Massachusetts, both members of prominent New England families. Mrs. Hammond’s sister Alice was Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife.
The Hammonds became involved in the civic, political and social life of Lake County where their wealth gave them the means to support community causes.
One of the things that the Hammonds wanted to accomplish was a permanent library for Upper Lake.
In 1914, Upper Lake took its first steps in that direction when the Upper Lake Women’s Protective Club set up a small library in merchant J.N. League’s store.
The club still hoped for a permanent library and meeting place and in 1915 events coincided to bring it about.
In September fire destroyed several businesses and homes at the corner of Main and Second streets. Amy Murdock and Lottie Mendenhall, both members of the ULWPC, bought the burned lot and donated it for a library building.
Harriet Lee Hammond donated about $6,000 to build the library in memory of her husband who had died in June.
She hired noted Boston architect Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow who designed the mission-styled gem with rooms for the ULWPC, for the book collection and a workroom for the librarian.
Construction began in June 1916 and the building opened in October. At the dedication on Oct. 19, 1916, the speakers were ULWPC president Lou K. Howe and H. H. Witherspoon, Mrs. Hammond’s representative.
Mrs. Hammond lived primarily in Massachusetts after Charles died but kept her ties to Upper Lake and continued to support the library until her death in 1936.
Between Mrs. Hammond’s financial support and many fundraising events, the ULWPC operated the library until 1940 when a tax-supported, county-run library district began to fund the library operations.
In 1975 the Hammond Library joined the newly-formed Lake County Library. Since 2001 the Lake County Library has shared a computerized catalog and circulation system with the libraries in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, giving local patrons access to more than one million items.
For more information call the library at 707-275-2049. The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.co.lake.ca.us and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .
Jan Cook works for the Lake County Library.