Southworth Library is a historic

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

building located at Dryden in

Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca, New York, Ithaca. The name is ...

. It is a -story masonry building with a steeply pitched gable roof. It features a prominent

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

with a Seth Thomas clock and circular windows include carved stone

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s. It is a distinctive, small scale example of Eclectic style civic architecture.''See also:'' It was designed with open grid flooring in stack rooms to facilitate air circulation and two reading rooms. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1984. The library was founded by Jennie McGraw. It opened in an existing building on South and Main Streets on September 25, 1884 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. 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.

References

External links

Southworth Library, Dryden New York, Finger Lakes Library system
Library buildings completed in 1894 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Tompkins County, New York Education in Tompkins County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Tompkins County, New York {{TompkinsCountyNY-NRHP-stub