Richmond Hill Branch
New York, Queens County, New York
Marker Inscription
Queensboro Public library enlightenment of the community Ella Flanders a member of the 20th century Club initiated a free circulating library in 1899 located in Arcanum Hall on Jamaica Avenue and 1 16th St. one of the first trustees was Jacob Riis.
The Story
In 1899, as the free public library movement swept American cities, Queens resident Ella Flanders — a member of the civic-minded 20th Century Club — launched a free circulating library out of Arcanum Hall on Jamaica Avenue, planting the seed of what became the Richmond Hill Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library. Women's clubs like hers were the quiet engines behind countless early American libraries, raising funds and stocking shelves at a time when tax-supported reading rooms were still a novelty. Among its first trustees was Jacob Riis, the reformer and photojournalist whose exposés of tenement life had made the case that knowledge and opportunity should reach every neighborhood.
Why it matters
It captures how ordinary citizens — especially women's clubs — built the free public library into a bedrock American institution, opening the doors of learning to a fast-growing, immigrant-rich borough.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- South Street Seaport Museum9.0 mi away · 12 Fulton Street
- Hall des Lumières9.1 mi away · 49 Chambers Street, New York, NY
- 81 Leonard Gallery9.1 mi away
- Small Editions9.1 mi away · 60 Sackett Street, Brooklyn, NY
- Bureau9.2 mi away · 112 Duane Street
- Gerben Fine Art9.3 mi away
Attractions
- Brooklyn Flea8.5 mi away
- Brooklyn Bridge8.6 mi away
- Brooklyn Heights Promenade8.7 mi away
- Kayak Brooklyn8.7 mi away
- Brooklyn Heights Promenade8.7 mi away
- Bloody Angle8.8 mi away
Food & drink
- Maman10.6 mi away
- Bluestone Lane10.6 mi away
- Sweetgreen10.6 mi away
- Yaso10.6 mi away · 30 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ
- Semicolon Cafe10.7 mi away
- Krispy Pizza10.7 mi away · 33 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ
Places to stay
- Holiday Inn Express9.2 mi away · 126 Water Street, New York, NY
- Hotel Indigo9.2 mi away · 120 Water Street, New York, NY
- The Wall Street Hotel9.2 mi away · 88 Wall Street, New York, NY
- Hyatt Centric9.2 mi away · 75 Wall Street, New York, NY
- Radisson Hotel New York Wall Street9.3 mi away · 52 William Street, New York, NY
- Holiday Inn9.3 mi away · 51 Nassau Street
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Related people
- · Ella Flanders
- · Jacob Riis
Themes & tags
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