A notice carried in the Roxboro Courier of November 6, 1901, reported that Lazenby Brothers of Statesville had the contract to build the $25,000 Carnegie library. It was to be “of the French renaissance style.” The Manufacturers’ Record of November 7, 1901, noted that “Lazenby Brothers of Statesville” had received a $25,000 contract to erect a proposed Carnegie Library in Charlotte, a prominent edifice designed by Wheeler, McMichael, and Company (the short-lived partnership of Oliver Wheeler and James M. McMichael). The accompanying postcard image shows the library on the right, and First Baptist Church on the left.

In a time-honored practice, the Wilkes County building committee visited courthouses in Laurinburg and Statesville (both by Wheeler’s firm) and selected that design model, the architect, and even the same builder, L.W. Cooper and Company of Charlotte.