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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Belfast Free Library

public library in Maine

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2025
Entity authorityQ22059325 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Belfast Free Library is a public library in Belfast, Maine. The library was established in 1887 by act of the Maine Legislature following donations from Paul Hazeltine and Nathanial Wilson.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Belfast Free Library” as public library in Maine. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1887—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Belfast, Free and Library can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as public library in Maine. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q22059325. VIAF identifies the subject as 133897045. The Library of Congress control number is n2004039160. Authority coordinates are 44.425, -69.005. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Belfast Free Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Belfast Free Library primary sources, Belfast Free Library archive and Belfast research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Belfast Free Library”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Belfast Free Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.