Pelham, Ga., is moving to rescue one of the oldest public buildings in its small downtown: the 1908 Carnegie Library on Hand Avenue West, a two-story brick landmark that has spent decades slowly losing its battle with water, aging wiring, and a failing roof.
The city is hiring a contractor to carry out a full historic restoration of the building, working under the strict preservation standards required to protect the library's character and, likely, its eligibility for historic tax credits and grants. The project notice is posted through the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission, whose involvement points to regional or federal funding flowing into the effort.
The scope of work reflects how much ground needs to be made up. Inside, about 2,000 square feet of original asbestos floor tile must be carefully removed before restoration work can begin on the plaster walls, original wood trim, tongue-and-groove ceilings, and wood stairways. Outside, crews will repoint and clean the brick, restore the original wood windows and entrance doors, and rebuild the copper gutters, fascia, and soffits. The entire HVAC system will be replaced. All of it must meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for historic preservation.
The library was a gift made possible by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who funded roughly 1,689 public libraries across the United States between 1883 and 1929. Georgia received 24 of those grants, and Pelham was among the smallest towns to qualify. In 1908, it was a rural cotton community of only a few thousand residents with no realistic prospect of building a library on its own. Carnegie's grants required towns to provide the land and fund ongoing operations, a condition that brought public library access to places that otherwise would have gone without.
About half of the original Carnegie libraries are still standing. The ones that survive are now between 100 and 120 years old, and many, like Pelham's, are hitting the same crisis simultaneously: roofs, plaster, wiring, and mechanical systems failing all at once, while small-town budgets strain to respond.
For Pelham, a city of roughly 3,600 people in Mitchell County with a poverty rate around 30%, the commitment is a significant one. Mayor James Eubanks is personally serving as the city's representative on the project, a sign of how much political weight the restoration carries. The library sits directly across Hand Avenue from City Hall, making it a central piece of whatever Pelham's downtown becomes next.
Contractor bids are due in early October 2026. If the timeline holds, work could begin before the end of 2026.
This project has been in the works for some time: we reported earlier this year on the city's plans as the project took shape.
