Slatington Public Library (A. S. Haines Building)

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Alvin S. Haines operated a successful general store in the Slate Belt town of Slatington. In 1897, he built a new three-story brick store across the street from his existing one on Main Street. The store's upper floors were rented to some of the area's prospering slate businesses. The Haines Building was regarded as the town's finest. Faced with brown brick, the facade has two slightly projecting bays that rise to gables and flank a central entrance bay. Dark stone voussoirs over second-floor windows and brick corbeling form a base for the top story. Within, a skylight illuminated the building's center. After the slate industry went into decline, the large spaces on the second and third floors were used for dances and social clubs. In 1921 a fire partially destroyed the building and put the Haines store out of business. It was rebuilt and the ground floor became a dime store until the 1960s. The facade is now handsomely restored, and the ground floor accommodates Slatington's public library.