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The Washington Heights Branch of The New York Public Library, a four-story brick structure, was designed by Carrere and Hastings.

The first Washington Heights Library opened in 1868. The library moved twice before a generous gift from J. Hood Wright, a New York philanthropist, made its collection available free of charge to all residents of Washington Heights. In 1914, the library moved to its present quarters at 1000 St. Nicholas Avenue. The facility houses an adult, young adult, children's, and reference collection. A multi-use auditorium is available for community group meetings as well as library programs. Contact us!

Read more about the early history of the New York Public Library including that of the Washington Heights Branch in Harry Miller Lydenberg's History of The New York Public Library, which has been digitized in NYPL's Digital Collections (or download the PDF directly, 659mb).

Also available: Washington Heights, Manhattan: Its Eventful Past, by Reginald Pelham Bolton (download the PDF directly, 47mb).