National Park Seminary, Miller Library, 2801 Woodstock Avenue, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD

Significance: The Miller Library was constructed to house the rare book library and archives of Jahu DeWitt Miller, a friend of the Cassedys who was a Chautauqua circuit speaker and a part-time NPS lecturer. The collection of over 10,000 items was owned by Miller, but it was available for the students use. Miller willed it to Cassedy at his death in 1911. The school's main library was in Main. This building was used more like a reading room than a circulating library. The architecture of the building is an example of the Craftsmen shingle-style design. The use of natural materials, such as the exterior wood shingles and rough-hewn stone entry portal, gave the building a rustic and picturesque quality so valued in the late nineteenth century. Small window frames, probably used to protect the collection from sunlight and to optimize shelf-space within it, made it appear a little less like a dwelling house than its character and size suggest.
Survey number: HABS MD-1109-Q
Building/structure dates: 1901 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1924 Initial Construction