History of the Library

Chappaqua library hand drawn sketch

In 1879, the year Thomas Edison invented the incandescent electric light, the little farming community of Chappaqua had a small library with approximately 475 books. Its history is fragmentary but we know it had ceased operations by 1897.

The history of the library as a continuing institution really begins in 1922 when Elise Hewitt Bayley had organized a committee of women volunteers to operate a library in a former grocery store. It was located on the west side of the railroad tracks near the current northbound entrance to the Saw Mill River Parkway. The library was open two afternoons a week. Inside there were a few long tables painted black, several Windsor chairs painted turquoise, and six low bookcases. By the end of the year, there were 2,683 volumes on the shelves, mostly gathered from people's attics and barns.

Library Directors


Elise Hewitt Bayley 1922
Maida Gedney Mills 1925
Bernice Merritt 1944
Margarete Handley 1950
Alice W. Grafflin 1966
Doris B. Lowenfels 1973
Mark P. Hasskarl 1984
Pamela Thornton 2007
Andrew Farber 2020
Robert Conrad 2022
Jennifer Daddio 2024

Senter Street

Chappaqua Library on Senter Street

South Greeley (1976)

Chappaqua library building 1976

South Greeley (2023)

Chappaqua Library Exterior 2023