After attempts by Yoakum officials to purchase existing electric power facilities failed, the city voted in 1930, at a commission meeting attended by about 300 local residents, to build its own municipal power plant. This building was designed by the firm of Montgomery and Ward engineers of Wichita Falls and built by F. O. Crawford of Yoakum in 1932 on land purchased from the Spencer-Sauer Lumber Company.
The building housed Yoakum's sole electric power plant until 1938 and continued in use as an auxiliary electric plant until the early 1960s. From 1964 to 1989 the building served as a municipal machine shop.
In 1988 city officials offered the "Friends of the Library," a local organization organized in 1978 to promote the city library, an opportunity to utilize the building. The organization made use of state funds and generous donations by local citizens to convert the building into a public library. The project has earned recognition as a fine example of restoration and adaptive use of a historic building. The building is an excellent example of an industrial facility. It features a 3-bay primary facade, large metal sash windows, a 5-part parapet with incised name block, and gable roof with protruding clerestory windows.
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