The Athenaeum

The Athenaeum features a curved, yellow-grey sandstone facade that anchors the corner of Church Alley. Established in seventeen ninety-seven, it began as a gentlemen’s club and library for the city’s merchant class. William Roscoe, a prominent abolitionist and historian, founded the institution to provide a quiet space for study. During the Second World War, the library staff famously moved the most valuable manuscripts to a cellar for safety, and they stayed there while bombs fell on the street outside.