The northwest section of the Noblesville City Hall is the former Carnegie Library building built in 1912. It was used as the city library until 1986.
Carnegie libraries were funded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie across the United States between 1883-1929, with 164 built in Indiana. This was the location of the library when it received donations of artwork from the Brehm brothers, Francis Brown, Lee Offutt, and Floyd Hopper.
Two of the donated artworks were created as part of a Depression-era New Deal program -- the Civil Works Administration (CWA). The CWA was a job-creation program to assist out of work Americans in finding employment during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The first CWA artwork is a painting originally created by Francis Brown (1908-1992) for the library in 1934 called Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. The Civil Works Administration's Indiana Artist’s Association paid for it. Brown also taught CWA art classes. The painting is presently hanging in the new Boys and Girls Club building at 1700 Conner Street.
Brown was also commissioned through this program to create a painting for the Hamilton County Courthouse, although it is unlikely that it still exists. Another 1934 CWA painting titled Rip Van Winkle was done by Lee Offutt (1908-1966) and given to the library, but its whereabouts are unknown.
Another artist who donated artwork to the library was Floyd Hopper. Hopper (1909-1984) was a noted Indiana watercolor artist who also did wall murals and illustrations for local projects. He did the illustrations for the history of Hamilton County published in 1976, titled Remembrances.
Presently, there is a Floyd Hopper mural created in 1967 hanging in the atrium of Noblesville City Hall. It is of an autumn scene looking toward the city from the hill at Forest Park. It is 6 feet, 4 inches high and 26 feet long and originally hung in the American National Bank, then at Forest Hill School, before being moved to City Hall.
There are several other Hopper murals around Noblesville. One was created in 1967 for Riverview Hospital (now Riverview Health). It was 5 feet high by 23 feet long and a version of it still hangs today. The largest local Hopper mural is on the exterior of Arbuckle’s Railroad Place (1151 Vine Street) and shows the trains that used to run by the store on the Midland Railroad. Hopper is buried at Oaklawn Cemetery in Fishers.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/472473ffed0fdeb927c5b8a5bbd9e389.jpg":{"id":2139,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"City Hall","description":"Noblesville City Hall moved into the original library building in 1985 and expanded the building considerably. The original 1913 Carnegie Library section of the building is seen to the left of the main entrance in this photo. | Image courtesy of the photographer | 2020 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/472473ffed0fdeb927c5b8a5bbd9e389.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/66a29962a49938f26677ecb0fff3cf30.jpg":{"id":2140,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Carnegie Library","description":"This is how the library looked between its opening in 1913 and its expansion in 1971. This building was one of over 1600 library locations in the US funded by Andrew Carnegie between the 1880s and 1920s. It became the City Hall after the library moved in 1985. The present City Hall building is a larger expansion. | Roberts Collection, Hamilton East Public Library | ca 1920s","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/66a29962a49938f26677ecb0fff3cf30.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/6c730be94e4569626cbc039dcb25eb57.jpg":{"id":2141,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Francis Brown Painting","description":"This 1934 painting, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by Francis Brown, is meant to show the progress of Noblesville from its pioneer roots, depicted in the foreground, to a future of gleaming skyscrapers seen in the background. Many of the older structures in the middle are recognizable and can still be seen today.
| Image courtesy of Noblesville Boys and Girls Club | 2019","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/6c730be94e4569626cbc039dcb25eb57.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/5562088cc9b75c31086d66335f189f9d.jpg":{"id":2142,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Floyd Hopper","description":"This photograph of Floyd Hopper was used for his obituary. He painted the large mural of an autumn scene in the atrium of City Hall. More of his work can be seen at the Noblesville branch of the Hamilton East Public Library. | Floyd Hopper Obituary, Noblesville Ledger, July 3, 1984 | 1984","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/5562088cc9b75c31086d66335f189f9d.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/b420b3d30ba168f1c3720962f43c789e.jpg":{"id":2143,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"City Hall Mural","description":"This image shows a mural Floyd Hopper created in 1967. The viewpoint in this autumn scene is looking toward Noblesville from the hill at Forest Park. It is 6 feet, 4 inches high and 26 feet long and originally hung in the American National Bank, then at Forest Hill School, and now in the atrium of City Hall. | Image courtesy of the photographer | 2020 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/b420b3d30ba168f1c3720962f43c789e.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/0abe4c72d98c6b0f5a9ccd339bb9557a.jpg":{"id":2144,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Riverview Mural","description":"This image shows a version of the mural Floyd Hopper created in 1967 for Riverview Hospital (now Riverview Health). The actual mural is 5 feet high by 23 feet long, and presently hangs in a lower level of the hospital. It shows an idyllic autumn scene with a young boy in overalls walking near a river with a dog. This is a smaller version that hangs in an upper hallway. | Image courtesy of the photographer | 2020 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/0abe4c72d98c6b0f5a9ccd339bb9557a.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/84d8363dd05752d42e41d509baa6d6fa.jpg":{"id":2145,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Arbuckle's Mural","description":"A large mural based a Floyd Hopper painting is on the exterior of Arbuckle’s Railroad Place at 1151 Vine Street in Noblesville. It shows the trains that used to run by the store on the Midland Railroad. This mural was created by Bob Arbuckle using a smaller painting that Floyd Hopper had given to him. | Image courtesy of photographer | 2020 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/84d8363dd05752d42e41d509baa6d6fa.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/af8080adc824e324ba20050d8acf72d7.jpg":{"id":2146,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Floyd Hopper Gravestone","description":"Floyd Hopper died in 1984 at the age of 75 and is buried with his wife Hazel in Oaklawn Cemetery in Fishers, Indiana. | Image courtesy of photographer | 2020 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/af8080adc824e324ba20050d8acf72d7.jpg"}}}