Vicinity of Early Public Library

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you might not think of Ward County, Texas as the kind of place where a daughter of one of America's great railroad fortunes would step off a train and change the cultural history of a region. But that's exactly what happened, more or less, out near a stone quarry four and a half miles east of where you're sitting right now.

Let's back up a little, because this story has roots. The Republic of Texas, back in 1839, set a cultural example for the whole territory by passing legislation for a state library. That's not nothing.

This was a young republic still figuring out its borders, and somebody in that government looked around and said: we need books. Then in 1874, cities were authorized to establish public libraries. The vision was there.

The law was there. But most of those early libraries? Privately financed.

The public part was more of an aspiration than a guarantee. So here we are, around 1890. Ward County hasn't even been organized yet.

That doesn't happen until 1892. But there are families out near that stone quarry, living and working in a place with no county government, no formal infrastructure, and no library. Enter Miss Anna Gould.

Daughter of Jay Gould, the railroad magnate. She was visiting the quarry, and something moved her. She established a library near here, a gift to the families living in that area.

And not just any library. The first library in Ward County. A county that didn't officially exist yet when those books were put on shelves.

Now think about that for a second. The first public library in Ward County was standing before Ward County was. The story doesn't end with Anna Gould, though.

Texas kept working at it. In 1919, a law was passed granting the privilege of free public libraries, and most Texas counties have them now because of it. One woman, one visit, one quarry road in the middle of nowhere.

Sometimes that's all it takes to get a whole county reading.

What the marker says

The Republic of Texas set a cultural example by legislation for a state library in 1839. In 1874 cities were authorized to establish public libraries, but most were privately financed. A library near here about 1890 was gift of Miss Anna Gould, a daughter of railroad magnate Jay Gould, when she was visiting the stone quarry 4.5 miles east. She established the library the first in Ward County, which was not organized until 1892 for families near the quarry. Most Texas counties now have free public libraries, since a 1919 law granted this privilege.