Williamsburgh Branch, Brooklyn Public Library
240 Division Avenue | also 226 Division Avenue | South Williamsburg | built 1905
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1901
Williamsburgh is picked among the first sites for a Carnegie-funded Brooklyn branch library
Andrew Carnegie's gift to New York City included $1.6 million to build twenty branch libraries in Brooklyn. The Williamsburgh site was one of the first chosen, because the district had a huge population and an urgent need for a new library.
“The Williamsburgh site was among the first chosen because of the huge population in the district and the tremendous need for a new facility there.”
- 1903
A cornerstone ceremony for the Williamsburgh library stands in for all the new Brooklyn branches
On November 28, 1903, the cornerstone of the Williamsburgh Branch was laid at a large ceremony chosen to represent all the new library sites. The triangular lot between Division, Marcy and Rodney Avenues held many small shops and dwellings, which the library replaced, while a charities bureau stood nearby and a high school and a YMCA were being planned.
“The cornerstone for the Willliamsburgh Branch was laid with great ceremony on November 28, 1903. ... the library replaced numerous small shops and dwellings…”
- 1905
The Williamsburgh Branch opens as Richard A. Walker's red-brick, Y-plan library on a triangular lot
Opened in 1905, the branch was the second Brooklyn library completed with Carnegie money. Richard A. Walker of Walker & Morris, one of five Beaux-Arts-trained architects chosen for the Brooklyn branches, gave it a brick and limestone French-inspired design. Its wide Y-plan, with a rounded rear pavilion for the book stacks, suits the odd triangular site where three streets meet, and it was called the finest of all the branch buildings.
“Opened in 1905, the Williamsburgh Branch ... was the second Brooklyn library building completed with funds from the large gift given by Andrew Carnegie…”
- 1999
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Williamsburgh library a city landmark
On June 15, 1999, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the library, with its whole tax lot, as a landmark. The commission described it as the largest and finest of the Carnegie branches in Brooklyn, set on an impressive triangular lot that lets the building be seen from every side.
“…the Williamsburgh branch was the largest and "finest" of the Carnegie branches, set on an impressive triangular lot which allowed the building to be seen from all sides…”
Nearby
- Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom284 Rodney Street | 4 entries
- St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church306 Rodney Street | 4 entries
- Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar (Rodney Street)152 Rodney Street | 2 entries
- New England Congregational Church179 South 9th Street | 7 entries
- Forman Building195 Broadway | 7 entries
- Williamsburgh Trust Company Building (Holy Trinity Cathedral)177 South 5th Street | 6 entries