
McMillan Memorial Library
Neoclassical hall guarded by stone lions, once reserved for Europeans under its own colonial law.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi opens with an odd fact: it is the only building in Kenya protected by its own act of parliament, passed in 1938 to keep it reserved for Europeans only. It follows Lady Lucy McMillan's neoclassical hall, built to honor her hunter husband Northrup, through the segregation years and the 1958 opening of its doors to everyone. Two stone lions, a gift from a family friend, have guarded the entrance since it first opened in 1931.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
National Archives Moi Avenue
Former colonial bank vault guarding a collection almost sold abroad after a legal showdown.
Kenya Cultural Centre
Colonial-era playhouse turned home of Kenyan theatre, once site of a banned play's defiant restaging.
Kipande House
Former colonial registration hall where African workers were fingerprinted for identity passes.
Karen Blixen Museum
Colonial-era farmhouse and coffee estate turned museum, filled with the original owner's furniture and photographs.
Nairobi Gallery
Colonial-era records office housing a black marker from which all of Kenya's road distances are measured.
Denys Finch Hatton Grave
Stone obelisk on a Ngong Hills hillside, marking the grave of a Kenyan settler-era aristocrat and hunter.