The unique Library complex reflects the history of the area in its two historic buildings.
The original library building, was built by John Lounsbery around 1798 and was purchased from the Lounsbery family by Cornelius Hasbrouck in 1859. The building passed in turn to his brother, Garret Decker Hasbrouck, in 1861 who lived here with his wife, Julia Lawrence Hasbrouck. It was the childhood home of their daughter, Julia Hasbrouck Dwight, who presented it to the community in 1909 to be used as a library in memory of her parents. Two original fireplaces as well as hardware and woodwork date to the house’s construction. A large entrance hall with the typical two-section Dutch door and a banistered stairway rising to a turn at the halfway landing highlights the unusual floor plan.
The main entrance today is through a wood and glass addition that joins the original building to the Wood-Elmendorf House which the Library bought in 1978. This house was built in the early 1800’s with Dr. Isaac S. Hasbrouck as the earliest confirmed resident. A porch and Victorian dormer as well as interior trim and woodwork were added to the house apparently sometime after a court-ordered sale in 1868 when the property was described as “…fences very much out of repair and the buildings old.” Fillmore and Mary Wood bought the house in 1890 and it remained in the family until the deaths of the two Wood daughters, Jennie Sutton and Grace Elmendorf.
with thanks to Charles Cullen
For additional information contact the Library Director, Jody Ford 687-7023 ext 104. to see the Local History Boxed Collection.
