Southworth Library

Southworth Library is a historic library building located at Dryden in Tompkins County, New York. It is a ​1 1⁄2-story masonry building with a steeply pitched gable roof. It features a prominent bell tower with a Seth Thomas clock and circular windows include carved stone gargoyles. It is a distinctive, small scale example of Eclectic style civic architecture.[2] It was designed with open grid flooring in stack rooms to facilitate air circulation and two reading rooms.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[1]

Southworth Library
Southworth Library, January 2010
Location24 W. Main St., Dryden, New York
Coordinates42°29′26″N 76°17′58″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1894
ArchitectMiller, William Henry; Allington, J. & Son
MPSDryden Village MRA
NRHP reference No.84003195[1]
Added to NRHPJune 08, 1984

The library was founded by Jennie McGraw. It opened in an existing building on South and Main Streets on September 25, 1884[3] and later in a building constructed for the library in 1894. McGraw was the granddaughter of John Southworth of Dryden, who became a millionaire working as a farmer.[4] She used money to create a memorial to her mother and grandfather by establishing a $30,000 trust fund to build and maintain a library in Dryden. On April 22, 1883, the Southworth Library Association was incorporated.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Karen Glazener (1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Southworth Library". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2009-11-10.See also: "Accompanying six photos".
  3. "Jennie McGraw". Southworth Library. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  4. George E. Goodrich (1898). "The McGraw Family in Dryden". Centennial History of Dryden. J.G. Ford. pp. 113–114, 217. Retrieved February 8, 2017.


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