New Company Photos
We retook our company photographs last week, and we want to thank Cumberland Title for once again allowing us to use their gorgeous building.
The Old Library Building, commonly known as the Carnegie Building, is a historic landmark located at 200 E. 8th Street at the corner of Georgia Avenue in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Funded by a $50,000 donation from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it was constructed specifically to serve as the city’s public library. Work began around 1903, the cornerstone was laid on April 15, 1904, and the library officially opened to the public on July 17, 1905. Designed in the Classical or Neoclassical Revival style—sometimes described as Beaux-Arts Classical—the building is widely attributed to prominent local architect Reuben Harrison Hunt, though this attribution remains somewhat debated. Built with a raised stone basement and upper floors of marble, it features grand columns flanking the main entrance and finely detailed classical ornamentation.
From its opening in 1905 until around 1940, the structure served as Chattanooga’s main public library. After the library relocated, the building housed several organizations over the decades, including a YMCA youth center, charitable groups, and various private offices. It was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 (NRHP # 73001776), recognizing its architectural and cultural importance. Locally, it has often been praised as one of Chattanooga’s hidden architectural treasures—an early and elegant example of a purpose-built civic library in the city.
In 2020, the building was sold to new owners, Todd and Christy McClain, for approximately $3.1 million, with plans to make needed improvements and continue its adaptive reuse. Today, the Carnegie Building remains in use as office space and stands as a symbol of Chattanooga’s early 20th-century civic development. Its preservation highlights both the city’s commitment to its architectural heritage and the broader legacy of Andrew Carnegie’s library philanthropy across the United States and beyond.
Cumberland spent years renovating this building and moved their title company into it a few years ago. It is always a pleasure to attend closings in this one of a kind space, and the staff here is just as amazing. They have been helping us and our clients for over a decade and are always a pleasure to work with.
