The Story
The Hearst Free Library was presented to the City of Lead on December 25, 1894, a gift from Phoebe Apperson Hearst, widow of Homestake co-founder George Hearst. Its dedication drew over 1,000 residents — too many for the library itself, so it was held in the Miners Union Opera House. Because Lead's workforce was drawn from dozens of immigrant communities, Phoebe Hearst personally selected hundreds of foreign-language volumes for the opening collection of more than 10,000 books. It still serves roughly 30,000 visits a year.
Surprising Facts
→ The 1894 collection included thousands of foreign-language volumes for Lead's immigrant miners.
→ The dedication drew over 1,000 people — held at the opera house because the library couldn't hold them.
→ It still serves about 30,000 visits a year, more than 130 years later.