The 1902 Queen Anne building that housed alligators

In 1902, the city of Lynchburg received a gift from Randolph Guggenheimer, a local resident who later lived in New York City. The gift was a multi-sided Queen Anne-style exhibition house designed by the local architectural firm Frye & Chesterman in Miller Park.

The building was designed to house seven cages of diverse wildlife. The original roster included monkeys, cockatoos, Australian doves, parrots, and canaries. Notably, one of the cages contained at least a half dozen healthy alligators.

The Aviary underwent a series of changes over the years, eventually becoming a branch library and later serving as an office structure for the city Department of Parks and Recreation. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Today, the distinctive structure stands at 402 Grove Street. It remains a surviving piece of early 20th-century design that transitioned from a wildlife habitat to a library.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons