The Old Library By Lake Afton, Yardley, Pennsylvania

This is one of the cutest little buildings in historic Yardley, Pennsylvania. Sitting on the banks of Lake Afton, The Old Library is in the center of... more

by Liesl Walsh

Title

The Old Library By Lake Afton, Yardley, Pennsylvania

Artist

Liesl Walsh

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

This is one of the cutest little buildings in historic Yardley, Pennsylvania. Sitting on the banks of Lake Afton, The Old Library is in the center of town only a few blocks from the Delaware River in Bucks County. It's an iconic landmark in town. I drove by this library all the time on my way to work as an art teacher years ago. It adds so much poetic charm to the city. In the distance you can see the steeple of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.

The library has a very interesting history. It was built in 1878 on land donated by the heirs of William Yardley who settled in the area in 1682 on land purchased from William Penn. The building style is carpenter Gothic with a steep gable roof, decorative slate work, and pointed arched windows. The design might have been copied from an old 18th century volume of poetry. The original Yardleyville Library Company was established in 1845 and was located in a room over Samuel Slack's general store (the site of the present Continental Tavern). Mr Slack was the librarian with an annual salary of $1.00.

The Old Library was a small space so its 75,000 collection of books were stuffed from floor to ceiling, and stored in the basement and balcony. One of the librarians Doris Chapman says, "Where would you find a more picturesque scene in the summer than little boys fishing on the banks of the Lake or parents on their way to the Library with small children and bags of corn or bread to feed the ducks, or the children in the house across the lake paddling their canoe to the Library or watching the growth of families of ducks in the spring. When we saw cars backed up with patient motorist, we knew the problem. A duck decided to rest in the middle of the road and was reluctant to move. Often we guided them to the Lake. We were labled by some of the Library patrons as the "Keepers of the Ducks."

In the winter when the pond was frozen people would ice skate, even at night when flood lights were installed. It was hectic sharing the parking spaces with library patrons. Skaters blocked the porch steps while putting on their skates. Librarians would rescue frozen ducks on the ice.

The library used the building on Lake Afton for 100 years from 1878 to 1978 when it moved to the Bucks County Library outside of town in Lower Makefield Township.

Since 1977 the Yardley Historical Association has been maintaining the Old Library and is using it as its headquarters. They rent out the space for special events.

I have a few versions of this photo that are both in color and black and white, and each have another painterly version made with brush strokes and canvas texture.

Featured by the following FAA Groups:
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Uploaded

August 3rd, 2022