Journey Into Fairfield’s Colorful Past
Fairfield’s Carnegie Museum was the first Carnegie library west of the Mississippi River endowed by Andrew Carnegie. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Journey into the past as you enter the Carnegie Historical Museum. This Iowa Century Museum’s collection dates back to 1876 making it one of Iowa’s five oldest museums.
The Carnegie Historical Museum is located on the first and third floors of the former Fairfield Public Library. The Fairfield library has seen many different homes since its founding in 1853. It was United States Senator James Falconer Wilson, of Fairfield, who saw the need to establish a permanent home for the library. Wilson was willing to provide the land but needed funding for the building itself. He approached his friend Andrew Carnegie to subsidize a permanent home for a library and both parties agreed in December of 1891. Built in 1892, this building marked the first time Andrew Carnegie had funded a library in which he had no personal ties. This gift initiated the funding model used by Carnegie for 2,800 additional libraries around the world.
“ The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”
― Winston S. Churchill
