Criterion A: Education and Social History
Criterion C: Architecture
Period of Significance: 1924 - 1971
Local Level of Significance
The Kezar Falls Circulating Library is a two room Colonial Revival-style building in the village of Kezar Falls within the Town of Parsonsfield, York County. John Calvin Stevens and John Howard Stevens Architects designed the building in 1923 with construction complete in 1924. A local subscription library association was formed in 1896 but was housed in small temporary quarters until the erection of this building. Local monetary, material and labor donations provided for the library building's construction. The Kezar Falls Circulating Library meets the registration requirements outlined in the Multiple Property Submission "Maine Public Libraries: ca. 1750 -1938" which provides the historic context for evaluating the property. The building is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criteria A for its association with education in the Village of Kezar Falls and for its connection to the nationwide social history trend of philanthropic support for library creation in the 20th century. The property is also eligible under Criteria C as a significant Colonial Revival-style library design by John Calvin Stevens and John Howard Stevens Architects. The library is also eligible as a building type for its two-room interior with a tri-partite division of function. The library retains its original exterior and interior design. A relatively minor alteration with limited impact was the replacing of a window with a door and adding a ramp for accessibility. The building retains a high degree of integrity of materials, workmanship, design, setting, location, association and feeling. The library is significant at the local level with a period of significance from 1924 to 1971, the year of construction to fifty years before the present day.