Osage, IA - For generations, residents of Osage have walked past the brick building on Main Street that today houses Subway, often without realizing they are passing one of the community’s most historically significant structures - Osage’s first library.
Built in 1876, the Sage Library Building represents an early chapter in the development of libraries west of the Mississippi River. According to the research published by the Mitchell Country Historic Preservation Association, the two story yellow brick building was originally constructed at a cost of $6,000.00 during a time when many towns had no formal libraries at all.
The building takes its name from Orrin Sage, a Massachusetts native who became one of Osage’s earliest benefactors. Sage donated $2,000.00 toward construction of the library, along with 600 acres of land to help establish the town itself. His name still appears high on the building’s title block above the cornice, a detail many people notice.
“People will ask why it says Sage Library up there,” said John Walker, whose family has owned the building for decades. “That name goes back to Orrin Sage and what he gave to Osage at the time when small towns were just taking shape.”
From the beginning, the building was designed with a fairly practical model. The library occupied the second floor, while the street level space was rented to businesses. Income from those rentals help fund the library’s maintenance and expansion.
“That was part of the original concept,” Walker explained. “The library was upstairs and the store below helped pay for it.”
The library featured distinctive gothic arch windows on the second floor, flooding reading rooms with natural light. Membership fees helped sustain the collection of books and detailed records were kept as documents of who used the library and what materials were checked out. This information later became valuable to scholars studying early literacy in the Midwest.
“There was even debate back then about whether novels should be allowed,” Walker noted. “Some people worried fiction would lower literacy levels.”
By 1910, Osage had outgrown the space and the library collection was moved into the new Carnegie Public Library, now Osage City Hall. The Sage Library Building continued its life as a commercial and residential space. Over the years, the first floor housed jewelry stores in the late 1800s, a restaurant in the early 1900s and eventually Cromer’s Fine China. In 1950, the Walker family opened their family business, Walker’s Gift Center and was in business for 40 years, while living in the upstairs apartment.
“I have a lifetime of memories in the Sage Building. I can even remember as a little boy climbing those stairs to our apartment home, which was the original library, holding onto the original mahogany hand railing. I rejoice that it is still there now just as it was then.” Walker said.
When renovations uncovered original brick walls once hidden beneath plaster, the Walkers chose to preserve and showcase the craftsmanship rather than conceal it. “We didn’t even know what was behind the walls at first,” Walker said. “Once we saw it, there was no going back.” Walker used a chisel and hammer and worked countless hours and days on the project.
Today the building remains a living piece of Osage history, with the Walker family living there present day. The Sage Library Building is part of Osage’s Commercial Historic District and was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. More than a former library, the building stands as a reminder of Osage’s early commitment to education and community investment. A place where history isn’t just remembered, but still lived in.
Photo of Sage Library from 1903. Photo provided by John Walker