Billings Library, University of Vermont [now Billings Student Center]--page 1 of two pages

This library, now the student center at the a University of Vermont, was named for Frederick Billings, an alumnus of the university and later a lawyer in Northern California credited with saving the Northern Pacific Railroad from bankruptcy; Billings Montana was named for him. Billings donated a valuable collection of books to the University of Vermont and sponsored the building of the library.
		Like the Crane Library in Quincy Massachusetts, designed a few years earlier, this library is Romanesque in style. Unlike some of Richardson's works, however, this is reddish brown sandstone, without contrasting trim.
The entrance The library has an asymmetrical entrance with two turrets of different heights, a "Syrian arch," and Romanesque arches in the top gable and tallest tower turret. Carved stone ornament continues the medieval theme.

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Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan