NY J01654

Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library celebrates its 150th anniversary, having been founded in 1876 as the Port Chester Free Reading Room in the Brundage Building on Main Street

Jared Valentine Peck, a wealthy lumber dealer and former U.S. Congressman, donated the original three-story building to house the library

A $60,000 bequest from Captain William Dixon Burnham's estate in 1920 funded construction of a new library building, dedicated on June 26, 1926

A $270,000 bequest from trustee John W. Diehl's estate in 1963 funded a 9,000 square foot expansion dedicated to his memory

In 2008, Port Chester and Rye Brook entered an inter-municipal agreement to jointly fund the library, with a major renovation completed in 2012 funded by a bequest from Douglas and Elise Lefferts