Morrisania Library

610 East 169th Street | also 1264 Franklin Avenue | Morrisania | built 1908

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1902

    December 4

    Over 1,500 Morrisania residents petition the library for a Carnegie branch near 169th Street

    Competing with other neighborhoods for a Carnegie-funded branch, a Morrisania mass meeting adopted resolutions on December 4, 1902, signed by more than 1,500 people, asking for a branch at or near 169th Street and Boston Road. They noted that a traveling-library outpost on 169th Street, open four hours a week, had lent about 20,000 books in two years. Edward J. Goodwin, principal of the new Morris High School, added a letter backing the request.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1908

    December 1

    The McKinley Square Branch opens as the Bronx's fourth Carnegie library

    The branch opened on December 1, 1908, as the Bronx's fourth branch, and the city's twenty-eighth, paid for by Andrew Carnegie's 1901-02 gifts for 65 neighborhood libraries. It was designed by Babb, Cook & Willard, the firm that had designed Carnegie's own house on East 91st Street. Originally called the McKinley Square Branch, it later took the name Morrisania.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1908

    A carved city seal crowns the library's limestone entrance portico

    The freestanding two-story library has a T-shaped plan with lower side wings, on a curving lot where East 169th Street meets Franklin Avenue. Its red brick, laid in Flemish bond, sits on a pink Milford granite base with limestone trim. Above the central stone portico is a large carved seal of the City of New York, and arched windows with keystones light both floors.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1995

    A two-year renovation redesigns the interior and adds a ramp at the Morrisania Library

    In 1995-96 the library's interior was redesigned and its exterior altered, including a new ramp for wheelchair users. The building has served as a public library without a break since opening in 1908.

    “In 1995-96, the interior was re-designed and a number of exterior modifications took place, including the installation of a handicap ramp…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 55 buildings with stories in Morrisania