Sylacauga in Talladega County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

The B.B. Comer Memorial Library

Talladega County

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 2, 2019

1. The B.B. Comer Memorial Library Marker

Inscription. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Sylacauga community, and the state of Alabama, constructed this library in 1939. The building is the result of $16,588 from raised local funds including a $5000 donation for furnishings from the family of the late Gov. Braxton Bragg Comer, for whom the library is named. The WPA donated $11,391 and included labor and supplies. The city dedicated the new library on November 21. 1939, on March of Progress Day, a day set aside to celebrate city growth and accomplishments. Because of this centrally located library. twelve county library stations opened, with two locations being available to African-American library patrons. After the close of the WPA in 1943, American Legion Post No. 45 purchased a bookmobile to circulate among the county stations. The library is an excellent example of Moderne architecture and is distinguished by locally quarried Alabama marble. The WPA commonly used this architectural style when designing public buildings. The city rededicated the library as the Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and Arts Center on February 28, 1982.
Listed in the National Register

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of Historic Places on September 5, 2005.

Erected 2019 by the City of Sylacauga.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Notable Buildings. A significant historical date for this entry is February 28, 1982.

Location. 33° 10.643′ N, 86° 15.048′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. It is at the intersection of North Broadway Avenue (Alabama Route 21) and West 8th Street, on the left when traveling north on North Broadway Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 711 North Broadway Avenue, Sylacauga AL 35150, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in East Alabama. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

The former B.B. Comer Memorial Library and the marker. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 2, 2019

2. The former B.B. Comer Memorial Library and the marker.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Gantts Quarry Post Office (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hightower Brothers Livery Stable (approx. 0.4 miles away); Sylacauga Historic Commercial District (approx. 0.6 miles away); Marble City Cemetery Sylacauga (approx. 0.6 miles away); Sylacauga Cemetery (approx. 0.7 miles away); a different marker also named Sylacauga Cemetery (approx. 0.7 miles away); Fort Williams (approx. 0.7 miles away); Sylacauga Marble (approx. ¾ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sylacauga.

More about this marker. Although noted as installed in 2018, it actually was installed in March, 2019.

Also see . . . The B.B. Comer Memorial Library. The current location of the city library is at 314 North Broadway, about 2100 feet south of the museum. It is also named B.B. Comer Memorial Library. (Submitted on April 2, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

The former B.B. Comer Memorial Library. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 2, 2019

3. The former B.B. Comer Memorial Library.

Now the Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and Arts Center. A large cut piece of locally quarried marble is on the far right and a sculpture using the marble is at front of Museum.

Credits. This page was last revised on September 3, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 2, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 667 times since then and 55 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 2, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.