Three moves in six years: Bayless, Brackenridge, Elektron

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Libraries

1895–1904

Bayless house: In September 1895 the library moved to the former Sol D. Bayless property at the southwest corner of Wayne and Clinton streets, reopening on 7 October 1895; the site later held the Strand Theatre. By 31 July 1896 the collection stood at 4,161 volumes.

Brackenridge house: In July 1898 the trustees bought the Eliza Brackenridge home at Wayne and Webster streets for 14,000 dollars — paid, under banker-trustee Samuel M. Foster's scheme, out of interest on the school fund. In October 1898 some 10,000 books moved in, and a card catalog replaced the printed finding list.

Elektron Building: In July 1901 the library took temporary quarters on the second floor of the Elektron Building on East Berry Street. There it ran its first children's corner and its first experiments with open stacks; in 1903 its reading room recorded 24,000 visits.

Sources:

Slater-Putt, Beyond Books (1995), ch. 2 — the three moves, the Brackenridge purchase and its financing, the Elektron experiments.
Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, libraries page — the Brackenridge purchase price and the City Hall tenancy to 1898.

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Using this page? Copy a credit line. Last updated November 10, 2026.

Source: Three moves in six years: Bayless, Brackenridge, Elektron, Moosed History by Project Moosed, https://history.projectmoosed.com/usa/midwest/indiana/fort-wayne/libraries/three-moves-in-six-years-bayless-brackenridge-elektron/

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  title        = {{Three moves in six years: Bayless, Brackenridge, Elektron}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://history.projectmoosed.com/usa/midwest/indiana/fort-wayne/libraries/three-moves-in-six-years-bayless-brackenridge-elektron/}},
  organization = {Project Moosed},
  note         = {Moosed History. Last updated 2026-11-10. Accessed 2026-11-10},
  year         = {2026}
}