Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library, Victorian city hall and public library in Ouray, Colorado, United States.
Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library is a two-story building on 6th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, built as a smaller replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia with a clock and bell tower. It houses the city administration and, on the second floor, a library donated by Thomas Walsh, owner of the Camp Bird Mine.
Built in 1899 as a scaled-down copy of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the building originally held the city offices, jail cells and a fire station. Thomas Walsh of the Camp Bird Mine paid for a second floor to house a library. A January 1950 fire gutted it; volunteers rebuilt it without the historic facade, and it joined the National Register on 16 April 1975. The 1988 restoration brought back the facade, clock and bell tower.
Thomas Walsh, owner of the Camp Bird Mine, funded the second floor that housed the library, which served as the town's reading room. The bell made unusable by the January 1950 fire is displayed in front of the city offices, a local relic visitors can still see.
The building is located on 6th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets and is easily accessible from the main part of town. It welcomes visitors who wish to explore the spaces or use the library resources available to the public.
The bell that the 1950 fire made unusable is displayed in front of the city administration offices. The 1988 restoration, led by mayor Bill Fries, also rebuilt the clock and bell tower that the utilitarian three-year rebuild by volunteers had left out.
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