Danforth Memorial Library

About this property

Danforth Memorial Library, also known as the Paterson Free Public Library, is located at 250 Broadway in the city of Paterson in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The library was built in 1905 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 1, 1984, for its significance in architecture, education, and social history. The Library sits on a 1.5 acre property and houses the city's art collection, mostly of painting 19th century paintings donated to the city. The Paterson Free Public Library was established in 1885. Although Paterson had many libraries and reading rooms across the city as early as 1828, most were accessible only to those who paid subscription fees. It wasn’t until 1884, when New Jersey Assemblyman William Prall introduced the New Jersey General Library Act to the State Legislature and called for the establishment of free public libraries across the state. On April 13, 1885, residents of Paterson voted in favor of the Act. It is the oldest public library in New Jersey, and citizens of Paterson created it. Danforth Memorial Library is the current location of the main library branch, and is located at 250 Broadway after the Great Fire of 1902 destroyed the first two libraries. Some 40,000 books in the original Danforth Library were destroyed in the fire, the only books that survived were some on loan by patrons in their homes. The devastating fire left some 500 families homeless and destroyed several city buildings including City Hall, police station, high-school, two banks, five churches, a theatre, among others. In 1888, Mary Elizabeth Danforth Ryle funded the historical building in memory of her father, Charles Danforth, a leading industrialist in Paterson and the inventor of the frame used in Cotton-spinning machinery. Mrs. Ryle gifted the funds under two conditions: that the building be used solely for the city’s Free Public Library and to bear the name “Danforth.” Mrs. Ryle died in 1904, before being able to see the library construction completed in memory of her father. When the cornerstone of the library was laid in October of 1903, Patersonian and Vice Chancellor Eugene Stevens, of the New Jersey Chancery Court said at the ceremony, “…This building will be the home of the Free Public Library of Paterson. It will be an architectural ornament to our city. It has been skillfully designed to meet all the requirements of the most efficient modern library work.” During the laying of the cornerstone ceremony, several items were deposited in the corner stone, including; a photograph of Mrs. Mary E. Ryle, an engraved portrait of the late Charles Danforth, a scrap-book with outlines of the history of both the old and new Danforth Libraries, the Great Fire of 1902 and the Great Floods of 1902 and 1903, silver coins on 1902-1903, and others.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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