:Albert Spencer Wilcox Building

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Albert Spencer Wilcox Building

| nrhp_type =

| image = Kauai-AlbertSpencerWilcox-building-facade.JPG

| caption = Kaua{{okina}}i Museum

| location = 4428 Rice Street
Līhuʻe, Kaua{{okina}}i, Hawaii

| coordinates = {{coord|21|58|29|N|159|22|6|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Hawaii

| built = 1924

| architect = Hart Wood

| architecture =

| added = May 31, 1979

| area = {{convert|0.5|acre}}

| refnum = 79000760{{cite web |title= Kauaʻi Museum nomination form |author= Nathan Napoka |work= National Register of Historic Places |date=April 1979 |publisher= U.S. National Park Service |url= {{NRHP url|id=79000760}} |accessdate= September 18, 2010 }}

| designated_other1 = Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places

| designated_other1_abbr = HRHP

| designated_other1_date = February 17, 1979

| designated_other1_number = 50-30-11-09344{{cite web |title=Historic Register Counts |url=https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/shpd/ |website=Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Division |publisher=State of Hawaii |date=February 1, 2022 |access-date=February 19, 2022}}

| designated_other1_num_position = bottom

}}

Image:Kauai-AlbertSpencerWilcox-building-rearangle.JPG

The Albert Spencer Wilcox Building is a historic building in Līhuʻe, Kaua{{okina}}i, Hawaii. Originally a library when it opened in 1924,{{Citation|last=Gobetz|first=Wally|title=Kaua'i - Lihu'e: Albert Spencer Wilcox Memorial Building|date=2010-05-21|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/4680811086/|access-date=2019-12-12}} it was later converted into the Kaua{{okina}}i Museum.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kauaimuseum.org/|title=Kaua`i Museum|website=Kaua`i Museum|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-12}} It has exhibits on the history of the island of Kaua{{okina}}i. It was added to both the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Library

The first library on the island of Kaua{{okina}}i was probably established by Reverend John Mortimer Lydgate in 1900 at his church in Līhuʻe. After moving to a temporary home in 1921, a permanent home was needed.{{cite news |title= Island History |author= Hank Soboleski |newspaper= The Garden Island |date= April 25, 2008 |url= http://thegardenisland.com/news/article_5b4e07aa-bb25-51f8-a33f-0dc8e88ae86c.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120718081232/http://thegardenisland.com/news/article_5b4e07aa-bb25-51f8-a33f-0dc8e88ae86c.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 18, 2012 |accessdate= September 23, 2010 }} On February 3, 1922, Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox, widow of businessman and politician Albert Spencer Wilcox (1844–1919) offered US$75,000 for a public library on Kaua{{okina}}i.{{cite book |author=Stormy Cozad |title=Kauai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8EVlUo5rFUC&pg=PA115 |date=August 2008 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-5644-4 |page=115}} In October 1922 architect Hart Wood was selected to design the building named in honor of Wilcox. Built with John Hansen as general contractor, it opened in 1924 to house the first public library on the island.

Museum

In April 1954 a committee started raising funds for a museum to be built next to the library. Juliet Rice Wichman was chair of the committee. A granddaughter of businessman and politician William Hyde Rice, she had married Frederick Warren Wichman after the death of her first husband Holbrook M. Goodale.{{cite web |title= Rice Family Papers 1838–1964 |editor= Marylou Bradley |year= 2002 |publisher= Kauaʻi Historical Society |url= http://www.kauaihistoricalsociety.org/assets/finding_aids/ms_7_rice_family_papaers.pdf |accessdate= September 28, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029222639/http://kauaihistoricalsociety.org/assets/finding_aids/ms_7_rice_family_papaers.pdf |archive-date= October 29, 2013 |url-status= dead }}{{cite book |author=Hawaiian Mission Children's Society |title=Annual report |volume= 70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jABNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48|year=1922 |pages=47–48}} The new building was designed by architect Kenneth Roehrig and named for Rice.{{cite web |title= Kauaʻi Museum |work= official web site |url= http://www.kauaimuseum.org/ |accessdate= September 22, 2010 }} Wichman became the museum's first director, and would later co-found the National Tropical Botanical Garden and donate land to become the Limahuli Garden and Preserve to the garden.{{cite web |title= Limahuli Valley, a Living Legacy |work= Hawaii Stream Research Center web site |publisher= University of Hawaii |url= http://www.hawaii.edu/hsrc/home/valley.htm |accessdate= September 23, 2010}} The first manager of the museum was Dora Jane Isenberg Cole (1917–1988), a second cousin of Wichman sharing great-grandfather William Harrison Rice (1813–1862) but Paul Isenberg (1837–1903) as her paternal grandfather.{{cite web |title= Finding Aid for Isenberg Collection |work= Kaua’i Historical Society |year= 2010 |author= Marylou Bradley |author2= Carolyn Dettling |url= http://www.kauaihistoricalsociety.org/assets/finding_aids/ms_57_isenberg_collection.pdf |accessdate= September 23, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726213819/http://www.kauaihistoricalsociety.org/assets/finding_aids/ms_57_isenberg_collection.pdf |archive-date= July 26, 2011 |url-status= dead }}

On December 3, 1960, the museum opened to the public in the Rice building. In 1969 the state of Hawaii built a new library building, and the Wilcox building was converted to house additional exhibits of the Kaua{{okina}}i Museum, opening in December 1970.

Preservation

The Wilcox building was listed on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places as state historic site 50-30-11-9344 on February 17, 1979. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii on May 31, 1979, as site 79000760.{{cite web |title= National and State Register of Historic Places on Kaua'i |publisher= Hawaii Historic Preservation Division |date= June 2009 |url= http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd/register/regka.pdf |accessdate= September 22, 2010 }}

It is located at 4428 Rice Street, {{coord |21|58|29|N| 159|22|6|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI |display=inline |name=Kauai Museum}} in Līhuʻe.

Family tree

Gallery

File:Kauai Museum, 4428 Rice Street, Lihue, Hawaii.jpg|Kauaʻi Museum, 4428 Rice Street, Lihue, Hawaii

File:The Gift Shop in the Kauai Museum.jpg|The gift shop in the Kauaʻi Museum

File:Kauai Museum in the Albert Spencer Wilcox Building.jpg|Kauaʻi Museum in the Albert Spencer Wilcox Building

File:Captain James Cook Lands at Waimea Bay, Kauai on January 20, 1778, an exhibit at the Kauai Museum.jpg|Captain James Cook Lands at Waimea Bay, Kauai on January 20, 1778, an exhibit at the Kauaʻi Museum

:Albert Spencer Wilcox Building

Library

Museum

Preservation

Family tree

Gallery

See also

References

External links