Derby’s main public library building, the Harcourt Wood Memorial Library, is located a few blocks from the city’s downtown on a unique triangular lot formed by Elizabeth and Caroline Streets. The one-story library is one of the finest of its period in all of New England and is built primarily out of Ansonia granite. The library was designed by architect Hartley Dennett and is notable for its Colonial Revival style porticoed entrance and distinctive rounded Flemish gables on the side walls. The interior is said to retain most of its original woodwork and many of its original furnishings. The building was constructed in 1902 following the donation of land and funds for its construction by Hamilton Holton Wood, a native of Montreal who made his fortune operating Derby’s streetcar railway system. The library is named in honor of Wood’s son Harcourt, who died at the age of 12 in 1897. The community does a great job at preserving the structure, which is one of the finest of its type in the region.
Buildings of New England 
The siting of this building is absolutely remarkable. One might have expected a Flatiron type building (referring to the triangular icon in New York City) angled to a point on the corner, but architect Hartley Dennett chose to create a frontal façade terminus for the Seymour Avenue axis instead. Just beautiful.
If I had to criticize something about the design (as if I had a fraction of Hartley Dennett’s talent) it would be the left-over triangles of land that sit along the sides of the building. They don’t appear to have ever been utilized in any fashion and they create an awkward transition to the residential neighborhoods to the south. Thoughtful landscaping could probably solve that concern.
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The small grass areas were likely to make its setbacks fit closer within the surrounding context. I could not get over how unique this library is, from the siting, to the materiality, to those amazing gables!
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