Andrew Carnegie, once the richest man in the world, was worth hundreds of millions of dollars when he passed away on August 11, 1919 at the age of 83.  His fortune during the final years of his life was estimated to somewhere north of $400,000,000.

Carnegie was not worth nearly that much when he died, however.  He had set out on a forthright path to attempt to give all of his money away during his twilight years.  And, by gosh, he almost did it.  He shed more than $350,000,000 of his fortune (about 90%) to his favorite charities, organizations, and foundations.  In today's dollars the Scottish-American industrialist got rid of ten billion dollars of his wealth.

To his everlasting credit, one of his pet projects was getting public libraries into the hands of small-town America.  He financed thousands of libraries across the land (and world) and many of them were in small towns.  He financed 107 Carnegie Libraries in New York State alone with many of them located in rural Upstate New York. This list looks at a gallery of a selection of still standing Carnegie Libraries across the Upstate region.  These all came about during a fruitful 25-year period in Mr. Carnegie's life at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

As you can see, these were not just ordinary structures.  If a town successfully applied for a new Carnegie Library, they usually ended up being one of the grandest buildings around.  And many of them are not only still active public libraries but are also still elegant windows to the past.

Check It Out! Upstate New York's Fabulous, Fantastic Carnegie Libraries

The great industrialist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) decided in the last years of his life to give his money away. And it was a ton of money! It is estimated Carnegie gave away 90% of his $350,000,000 fortune. Carnegie Libraries are a wonderful testament to this great man. He donated funds to build 2,500 public libraries all across the country. More than half of them are still standing. Here are some of the 107 public libraries he financed in New York that are located in the "Upstate region."

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio

Find Your Records From the Past At These 18 Upstate New York Classic Vinyl Shops

Vinyl is back bigger than ever. Now one of the top ways to enjoy your music, vinyl records (and those wonderful old record players) are a must for Baby Boomers and newcomers to the field! Here are a bunch of great new and used vinyl record stores in Upstate New York!.

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio

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