The History of Baxter Memorial Library

The Library by James Phinney Baxter Though tombs the dust of Men of Genius claim, They still survive immortalized by Fame, Here with them Thou mayst hold communion still, And of Their Wisdom freely drink Thy fill. But what is learned that must Thou wisely do If Thou wouldst reap, for this is ever true, Who learns and learns but does not what He knows, Is One who plows and plows but never sows.
Photo Courtesy of Dr. Houghton White and Mary White

The Baxter Memorial Library was built in 1908. The gift of James Phinney Baxter, the library building is constructed of pink granite and the interior is completed in red oak.

When James Phinney Baxter moved the Baxter House to its present location and built Baxter Memorial Library where the house once stood, his intent was that the library and house/museum should stand as a memorial to his father, Dr. Elihu Baxter.

The library is now a department of the Town of Gorham, governed by town ordinance and advised by a nine member board of trustees.

With the opening of a new addition in February of 2003, and the re-opening of the original building in May of 2003, the library has added considerable space while blending the old with the new in a complimentary manner.

The library continues to preserve the Baxter family legacy in our collections, including J.P. Baxter's journals and the Maine Collection, an accumulation of Gorham history, Maine history, and books written by local authors.

Read James Phinney Baxter's obituary online or in Sprague's Journal of Maine History, Volume 9, April, May, June, 1921 No. 2.