Laughlin Memorial Library through the years

Here are three vintage postcards showing Laughlin Memorial Library, which was dedicated in 1929, through the years. The only thing that seems to have changed on the postcard views is the landscaping.

I'm not sure of the date of the first postcard, but I'm guessing it's the earliest of the three because the trees in front are the smallest, and there's no other landscaping except for grass.

Laughlin Memorial Library
postcard
circa early 1930s?

This next postcard does have a postmark. It was mailed from Ambridge on June 13, 1942. The tree--only one remains on the west corner--along 11th Street is taller, there's a new tree on the Church Street side, plus plantings around the base of the building and a hedge around the lawn have been added.

Laughlin Memorial Library
postcard
postmarked June 13, 1942

I don't have a date for the next postcard, but I'm going to guess mid-1950s to early '60s.

The tree along 11th Street was a ginkgo which turned bright yellow in the fall. If I remember correctly, ginkgos also grew along Maplewood Avenue next to the library. Whenever I had to collect leaves for a school or girl scout project, I always made sure to include a fan-shaped ginkgo leaf from one of those trees.

Laughlin Memorial Library
postcard
circa 1950 - 1960

I took the photo below on a June 2013 visit to the library. It's still a breathtakingly beautiful building, inside and out. The ginkgos and hedges are gone, and so is something else: the two ornate lamps topped by glass globes which once flanked the front steps. Some horrible thief or thieves who were never identified yanked the lamps right off their bases. However, a librarian told me that the thief/thieves got away with only one of the lamps, the other one, badly damaged, was left behind and is still in storage at the library.

I've been trying for a long time to find a date for the theft without success, but I know it happened after I moved away in 1970. In addition to searching newspapers, I've asked about the theft at the library, but no one could give me even an approximate date. A guess from an Ambridge resident was the early 1970s. If you know more about the theft and when it occurred, please leave a comment.

Of all the things that have happened in Ambridge that have both angered and saddened me, the theft of those beautiful, irreplaceable lamps from my favorite building is up near the top.

Laughlin Memorial Library
June 23, 2013
credit: Nancy Knisley

If you haven't yet donated to the library's 2015 Fund Drive, please give if you can. The library especially needs financial help this year since its old boiler had to be replaced this past winter. The library's address is 99 Eleventh St., Ambridge, PA 15003.