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Boston Public Library, McKim Building

Architects
Philip Johnson Charles Follen McKim
Year
1887
Style
Renaissance Revival
City
Boston, MA
Boston Public Library, McKim Building
Photo: Fcb981, CC BY-SA 3.0
See it on the map

The McKim Building is the original home of the Boston Public Library, occupying a full city block on Copley Square in Back Bay. The Massachusetts legislature set aside the land in 1880 after the library, founded in 1852, outgrew its earlier quarters; following a failed design competition, Charles Follen McKim was hired in 1887 to design a building in the Renaissance Revival and Beaux-Arts styles. Cost overruns delayed construction, and the building opened in February 1895, though its artwork took two more decades to finish.

the building

Twenty years to finish the art. Even after doors opened in February 1895, it took two decades to complete the building's artwork program.

Research collection, one block. The McKim Building occupies a full city block on Copley Square and holds the library's research collection, distinct from the adjoining Johnson Building, added later by Philip Johnson in the Brutalist style for the circulating and rare-books collections.

the style

The McKim Building is a textbook exemplar of Renaissance Revival and Beaux-Arts architecture, and it stands as one of the first great public library buildings in the United States, a typological milestone for civic architecture.

More on Renaissance Revival

the architect

Charles Follen McKim, a landmark figure of American architecture, was hired in 1887 to design the building after an earlier architectural design competition failed to produce a plan.

significance

The McKim Building is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the Boston Public Library complex it anchors draws 4 million annual visitors, as of 2024.

nearby

All 282 buildings in Boston